Performance in Progress

Performance in Progress commissions local, national, and international artists to present groundbreaking live work and offers a platform for artists and audiences to come together to examine the creative process. Follow the artists in the Performance in Progress group show from their site visits in the fall to their return in the spring. The wide range of complementary programing includes open rehearsals, previews of works-in-progress, as well as talks, panel discussions, and casual happy hour mixers with the artists. Join us for unique behind-the-scenes access and insight into the dynamic process of developing performance-based work.

The artists in this season—Desirée Holman, Naomi Rincón Gallardo, and Jacolby Satterwhite—draw on the look and story arcs of science fiction and fantasy to create alternative futures. Instead of blockbuster superheroes and starships, however, their imagined spaces are filled with personal stories, heroes, and locales. A cappella recordings from Satterwhite’s mother, Patricia, are remade for an immersive, dance floor–like universe; the assassinated Mixtec activist Alberta “Bety” Cariño’s transformative journey through the underworld is illuminated in Rincón Gallardo’s work; and the true believers of Northern California mysticism passing civilization on to a new human race is explored in Holman’s project. Through their fictional worlds, the artists offer epic possibilities for the real world.