Best Dance Company
Dance Brigade
Choreographer Krissy Keefer is a rabble-rouser, and her company, Dance Brigade, has been at the helm of issue-oriented performance for the past two decades. The group's motley assortment of multidisciplinary works includes pieces that meld art and politics into an effortless goulash of sexy movement covering topics ranging from violence against women to the psychological implications of war. Keefer's provocative raison d'�tre is archetypes that apply to modern women. Dance Brigade shows are unabashed in their sexuality and opinions, but also offer mystical displays of Buddhist ritual and iconography and a mythic menagerie of prefeminist characters like Pandora and the Queen of Sheba. Time-honored audience favorites include Revolutionary Nutcracker Sweetie, a radical revision of the Tchaikovsky ballet with a revamped jazz score and a multicultural cast. The company's arresting blend of dance, music, and theatrical brouhaha is marked by a sensibility that's accessible, sassy, and entirely San Franciscan.