One might almost miss the small, unassuming CounterPULSE sign hanging near the entrance of 1310 Mission St., if it were not for the brightly painted doorway, a burst of color along a row of otherwise muted storefronts.
Perhaps the nonprofit’s distinct exterior in the SOMA District parallels the unique art that is cultivated within the studio walls.
“Almost everything that happens in that room has never existed before,” reveals the executive and artistic director, Jessica Love. “So we’re bringing it into existence.”
The room to which Love is referring is the CounterPULSE stage, a large, high-ceilinged room with the potential to seat approximately 100 guests — depending upon the performer’s spatial preference.
“Sometimes the performing artist will choose to have the audience seated on the stage, and the performer is on the risers where the chairs would traditionally go, or the artist might have everyone seated around him, on the stage and up in the balcony. One year we even had a woman who danced in the rafters above the restrooms,” said Shamsher Virk, the communications and community relations manager, as he gestured to the far left wall of the theater.
Artists involved in CounterPULSE are encouraged to push the boundaries of performance. The Artist Residency Commissioning Program — ARC — seeks out Bay Area artists who are creating innovative, movement-based performance, using mediums such as dance, dance theater, physical theater, or butoh.
Every year four artists — two per term — are selected to participate in the program, a five-month process that provides rehearsal and performance space, as well as ongoing community feedback.
While in residency, the artists provide work-in-progress showings every month before a panel audience, using a 4-step critical response format developed by Choreographer Liz Lerman. Using this process, the audience first discusses their observations about the piece with the artist — what they liked, what they did not like, et cetera.
Next, the artist asks the audience questions, such as: Did they like the costumes? What impression did they get from a particular part in the choreography? Then it is the audience’s turn to ask the artist questions about the performance, and finally the audience is allowed to offer their opinions and possible suggestions, to which the artist is free to accept or decline.
Along with these showings, artists are continually receiving feedback through the CounterPULSE media outlets — artists’ blogs, a YouTube channel, and a Facebook and Twitter account.
“They share everything from thoughts about reading material that they are feeding into their process — to videos of rehearsals, anything about the material that they are using to inspire the work that they are doing,” listed Virk.
“The staff and the community of CounterPULSE engage with artists in a way that you cannot always find in other residencies. Often, a residency is built around the idea of creating a quiet, reflective space for an artist,” explained Kegan Marling, who was a resident artist from December 2010 through April 2011.
“This can be wonderful for building a certain type of work, but I knew that the work I was starting needed to be immersed in community, not isolated from it, Marling said. “CounterPULSE excels at that.”
With its increasingly well-regarded reputation – the CounterPULSE ARC Program has been present for ten years, and the application process is competitive. There were 60 candidates for two spots available for the summer 2012 residency, which extends from May to September of this year.
Months before a residency begins, Letters of Intent are accepted via email submissions. These letters, which state the artist’s proposed project, are then narrowed down to ten. The ten finalists are then asked for a full application and a video sample of their work. Finally, the entire CounterPULSE staff reviews the ten top submissions and selects the two artists for residency.
“I really believe because we are a small organization, everyone on staff has to pull together to produce the show, and so giving everyone on staff the opportunity to participate in the selection; we have a tremendous amount of emotional investment in the artist we select and present,” Love stated.
At the end of a residency, artists present the work they have developed during one weekend of shared performances. Production costs are covered by CounterPULSE, and the artists receive payment for their work.
ARC’s summer 2012 residents are Seth Eisen and Xandra Ibarra. Eisen’s current work celebrates the life of Sam Stewart, a queer tattoo artist, author, and college professor. Through puppetry, live music, video and physical theater, Eisen will explore and contrast contemporary queer culture with that of the early mid-20th century, which required significant risks for survival. Ibarra, aka La Chica Boom, portrays a queer Chicana performer exiled from her burlesque community. Pushing racial, political, sexual, and gender boundaries, La Chica Boom presents a nontraditional, satirical form of burlesque and ethnic drag.
Love explained, “We look at artists who we think will benefit each other’s work, so they’ll be in dialogue with each other. They’re not necessarily similar, but they’re basically going to push each other farther.”
CounterPULSE, and the ARC Program in particular constantly strives to push-push societal boundaries, push the artists to their highest potential, and push artists to push boundaries. A nonprofit, ARC is funded by support from the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, the Ken Hempel Fund for the Arts, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
“It was three performance artists who rented a space with a really big living room and decided to start putting on performances,” recalled Love about CounterPULSE’s humble beginnings.
Now, 20 years later, CounterPULSE is a fully-functioning operation with multiple programs and projects, presenting over 300 performances a year.
Perhaps Program Director Julie Phelps puts it best: “I love working for CounterPULSE. I love being able to support something that I think really matters — experimentation, risk-taking, and arts in general — in the professional work I do. It is not always easy to have so much overlap between my personal passions and the way I make money, but I would not trade that.”
More information about CounterPULSE can be found at www.counterpulse.org/.
