San Francisco, March 30 2009—Continuing more than three decades of creating innovative, site-specific and collaborative movement theater works, choreographer/director Joe Goode presents the world premiere of Fall Within in two performances May 16 and 17 at an internationally acclaimed architectural sculpture by Ann Hamilton in Geyserville, CA. Goode explores the contrasts between darkness and light in Ann Hamilton's double-helix staircase tower, in collaboration with the San Francisco Girls Chorus. Hamilton's tower is part of a private collection at the Oliver Ranch in Sonoma County. Performances will be given Saturday, May 16, at 4 p.m. followed by a benefit reception and Sunday, May 17, at 2 p.m. Parking for the performance site is located at Geyserville Park & Ride, Hwy.128 at Remmel Rd., Geyserville, CA 95441, one block East of Geyserville Ave. next to the Rail Road tracks. Audience members must arrive no later than half an hour before performance time and will be shuttled to the performance by bus after parking.

This is a unique opportunity to visit the Ann Hamilton Tower, which is rarely open to the public, and to witness a one-of-kind performance created especially for this space.

"To be able to be anywhere near an Ann Hamilton piece is a thrill," says Joe Goode. "And the challenge of making a kinetic piece on a stairway is too delicious to pass up. Viewers and dancers will be in such close proximity that they can almost reach out and touch one another. I wanted to make something that reflects the medieval, mysterious quality of this place that to me is very much about playing with darkness and light, intimacy and separation."

"When you go into the tower you feel completely dislocated from the rest of the world, like you are in another time and place. I want to heighten this sense of dislocation by creating an aural and kinetic environment that allows the viewer to drift in an unreal space, to 'fall within' a memory or fantasy that is private and personal."

Fall Within will feature the six Joe Goode Performance Group performers and 42 young women of the San Francisco Girls Chorus on one of two adjacent but unconnected spiral staircases in the tower with audience members standing and sitting on the opposite spiral facing the performers.

About the Ann Hamilton Tower:

http://architecturelab.net/2008/05/31/ann-hamilton-tower-by-ann-hamilton-jensen-architects/

http://www.jensen-architects.com/work/ann_hamilton_tower/ann_hamilton_tower.html?mode=all

http://www.kqed.org/arts/programs/spark/profile.jsp?essid=18240

About Joe Goode Performance Group

Joe Goode Performance Group, formed in 1986, tours regularly throughout the U.S., and has toured internationally to Canada, Europe, South America, Africa, and the Middle East. Joe Goode is known as a master teacher; his summer workshops in "felt performance" attract participants from around the world, and the company's teaching residencies on tour are hugely popular. He is a member of the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley in the department of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies. Goode's most recent work, Wonderboy, received its premiere at San Francisco Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in June 2008, and will enjoy upcoming seasons on tour in the US and abroad.

In 2007 Joe Goode was awarded the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship; he has also received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, and the James Irvine Foundation. This year he was awarded a USArtist Fellowship as one of only five choreographers so honored. Goode and his work have been recognized with awards for excellence by the American Council on the Arts, the Business Arts Council/San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, the "Heritage" award from the California Dance Educators Association, a New York Dance and Performance Award ("Bessie"), and Isadora Duncan Dance Awards ("Izzies"). Joe Goode Performance Group has been generously funded by Grants for the Arts/The San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Jamieson Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Fleishhacker Foundation, Bernard Osher Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation, Charles Schwab Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, and individual donors.

About the San Francisco Girls Chorus

Celebrating 30 years of extraordinary music with its 2008-2009 season, the three-time Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Girls Chorus is recognized as one of the world's most respected vocal ensembles. Its level of training, performance, quality and range, passion and leadership in commissioning music for treble voices are lauded by musicians, critics and audiences. Founded in 1978, and now under the artistic direction of Susan McMane, the San Francisco Girls Chorus has become a regional center for choral music education and performance for girls and young women ages 7-18. More than 300 singers from 160 schools in 44 Bay Area cities participate in this internationally recognized program. This season saw the Girls Chorus perform on stage at the Inauguration of President Barack Obama in Washington DC and the Chorus makes its New York debut April 13 at Lincoln Center. www.sfgirlschorus.org

What to expect at the Performances

Tickets must be bought in advance, and audience members must arrive 30 minutes before performance time - no latecomers will be allowed on the Ranch. After parking, audience members will board a shuttle for a short drive to the site, followed by a 10 minute trail walk to the Ann Hamilton Tower. Please wear comfortable shoe and clothes. This is a true installation piece, and audience members may be sitting or standing on concrete for more than 30 minutes with no immediate access to restrooms, which are available at the shuttle stop/trail head.

Tickets

Tickets for the May 16 performance and benefit reception are priced $100, a portion of which is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Tickets for the May 17 performances are priced $45. Tickets for both performances must be purchased at www.joegoode.org or by calling 415-561-6565.