Marco Goecke’s Äffï for SFDanceworks
Photography by Amber Bliss
NRC Interview:
Rena Butler: 'The label black, bisexual, female choreographer is much too limited'
Translation:
"These are our photographers' favorite photos from 2024: Dancers aren't shy and afraid to take a pose that gives the photo something extra. This image eventually became the cover of the supplement."
Äffi, a solo choreographed by Marco Goecke set to music by American music legend, Johnny Cash. This solo embodies pain, grief and loss, paired with quintessential aesthetics found in Goecke’s choreography. This solo was performed for SFDanceworks’s Season 7 series in November 2024 at San Francisco’s Z Space Theater.
Rena’s artistic craft is prompted by the curiosity to converse with world events and the constant sliding scale of its proximity to the personal. Her aim is to create a creative dialect imbued with fluidity, athleticism, humility, and enlightenment that is accessible to many, illuminating stories that are reflective of the multifaceted scope we exist in.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Her irrepressible energy and individuality make Rena Butler a dancer who is said to immediately draw eyes to her among hundreds of others.
Although there are still a couple of choreographers on her dancing wish list, she now spends most of her time creating her own work. So who is this flamboyant American, who is making her Dutch debut as a choreographer in Generation Dance?