Plus, the San Francisco Film Festival opens and a tomato market at Bon Air Center.
Featured: ODC’s Dance Downtown
Mar 31–Apr 10
Packing five decades of choreographic adventure and exuberant dance into two weekends of programming hardly seems enough for San Francisco’s seminal dance troupe. Founded by artistic director Brenda Way at Oberlin College in Ohio, the company moved to San Francisco in 1976. “Celebrating our 50th-plus anniversary gives us the opportunity to pause and reflect on the journey we’ve traveled over these many decades and how much art contributes to a dynamic civic culture,” Way says. The events at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, organized around the themes of renewal and reflection, include world premieres by guest choreographers Dexandro Montalvo and Amy Seiwert alongside works by Way. The world premiere of Montalvo’s Vámonos and Way’s Speaking Volumes jumpstart the Renewal series on March 31, followed by the 50+ Anniversary Gala with seated dinner and performance. The world premiere of Seiwert’s No Alibi and Way’s Investigating Grace, part of the On Reflection series, runs April 7–10.
April 1 Edwardian Ball
Rescheduled from its original February dates, a fully immersive party devoted to the delights and attire of another era celebrates with a Revival theme, ballroom dancing, stage shows and absinthe cocktails for the adults in the crowd, through April 2.
April 2 The Last Supper Party
An evening named for the title of a large-scale 1985 painting by artist Felerine Bongolan and the opening night of a monthly Spoken Word performance series that honors the work begins with a reception and segues to performance artists and poets, from the San Francisco International Arts Festival.
April 3 Chamber Music
The San Francisco Symphony has returned to the Legion of Honor’s Gunn Theater for a small ensemble performance that will include Bach’s Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord in A Major and Beethoven’s Piano Trip in B-flat Major, “Archduke.”
April 4 Fefu and her Friends
Utilizing the multi-storied, multi-roomed Strand Theater as nontraditional theater space, this story is told as the audience, broken up into groups, tour Fefu’s home. Here, a comedy-drama of eight women gathering at a New England country home in 1935 unfolds in gossip, flirtations and provocations, through May 1.
April 5 The Summit
Featuring prominent thinkers in the field of social and racial justice, including Ibram X. Kendi and Resmaa Menakem, an immersive experience for learning and sharing new approaches to trauma-informed care from the Hanna Institute runs through April 6.
April 6 Ice Show
New work by Marin-based artist Bill Russell uses the iceberg as a visual metaphor to communicate the brutal changes wrought by climate change in an educational series of multidisciplinary works.
April 7 The Book of Dust
A live recording from the National Theatre in London captures La Belle Sauvage, a piece of Philip Pullman’s trilogy. It’s set in a fantastical world where two young people and a tiny child find themselves at the center of a terrifying manhunt while they fight off powerful adversaries attempting mastery of Dust. The program repeats on April 9.
April 8 Stone Foxes
After a two-year hiatus, the San Francisco band is back on the road in Sebastopol to debut new music as well as to play some old favorites.
April 9 Sister’s Easter Catechism
America’s beloved ruler-wielding nun is back in the habit for an audience-participation-slash-spontaneous stand-up routine inspired by the 1960s-era Catholic school experience.
April 10 New Esterhazy Quartet
The quartets of Franz Josef Haydn played on period instruments is the idea behind a group dedicated to reproducing the unique sound Haydn intended.
April 11 Nature x Humanity
Bringing together knowledge, principles and tools from art, architecture, design, engineering and science, a review of Oxman Architects from 2007 to the present asks: What is the role of an architect in the age of climate change?, through May 15.
April 12 The Art of the Brick
Walk beside a 20-foot-long T-Rex dinosaur skeleton, come face-to-face with a giant skull or marvel at a sculpture of a man ripping his chest open with thousands of yellow — you guessed it — LEGO bricks cascading out in an all-things LEGO exhibition from contemporary artist Nathan Sawaya, through May 30.
April 13 Hotter than Egypt
Set in the aftermath of the Egyptian Revolution, a play looks at a couple’s journey to Cairo to celebrate their 24th wedding anniversary, where troubles brew, drawing in their newly engaged Egyptian tour guides, through April 24.
April 14 Place and Time
Wood sculptor and arborist Ido Yoshimoto honors the lives of trees and the local places where they stood in an exhibit of new works, through June 5.
April 15 Off the Grid
After a two-year hiatus, the food truck extravaganza is back on Fridays at Fort Mason Center, featuring 25+ food trucks, a bar and a live entertainment stage, plus a weekly heartfelt celebration of resilience, community and the small businesses that make San Francisco so vibrant, through November.
April 16 Easter Parade
A parade down Sausalito’s Caledonia Street kicks off a morning of events including an egg hunt at Dunphy Park, live entertainment and an Easter bonnet contest judged by the Sausalito Woman’s Club.
April 17 Terra Incognita
Step away from Easter madness with three decades of Oakland-based artist David Huffman’s Traumanauts (characters who traverse the galaxy) series explores science fiction, formalist abstraction and social justice movements of the late-20th century in a range of media including large-scale canvas, works on paper, ceramics, video and printmaking, through August 21 at MOAD.
April 18 Volunteer Day
Shake off the excesses of an Easter or Passover feast, or Ramadan break-the-fast with a day supporting the community at Slide Ranch.
April 19 Nigel Ng
This Malaysian standup went viral in July 2020 for his portrayal of “Uncle Roger,” a middle-aged Asian man reviewing an egg fried rice video. He brings his schtick, a.k.a. The Haiyaa World Tour, to San Francisco, through April 20.
April 20 Tootsie
The Tony award-winning story of a talented but difficult actor who struggles to find work until one show-stopping act of desperation lands him the role of a lifetime is on stage in San Jose, through April 24.
April 21 Sharknado
A film that sparked a global sensation and, in case you were wondering, digs into a real thing called “animal rain,” in which “tornadic waterspouts” pick up small animals and carry them through the air for several miles. The screening will be followed by a discussion with a special guest.
Apr 22 Falconry in the Garden
Join Rebecca Rosen of Authentic Abatement for a falconry experience where Rosen provides insight into how falcons, hawks and owls hunt, fly and see. She also explains how raptors help Napa’s Bouchaine Vineyards during harvest, which is followed by pictures and a wine tasting, through April 24.
April 23 Tomato Market
A curated selection of nearly 3,000 tomato starts from the UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program is the highlight of an annual sale at Bon Air Center. Grown in Marin, heirloom and hybrid varietals are selected for exceptional taste, disease resistance and performance in Marin’s microclimates.
April 23 Point Reyes Birding & Nature Festival
An educational program and annual fundraising event from the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin daily lunch and learn programs (virtual and in-person), field outings and a family fun day.
Apr 24 Earth 2050
Including art exhibits, talks, games and music, an Earth Day community event at the Mill Valley Community Center invites guests to learn about actions we can take to build a more just and sustainable world.
April 24 Carmina Burana
The Marin Symphony closes out the Masterworks season with Orff’s magnum opus, as conducted by Alasdair Neale, through April 24.
April 25 San Francisco Film Festival
A film showcase from SFFILM includes virtual and in-person events, including at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre, through May 1.
April 26 Coming Soon
A boldly sex forward and brutally honest pop-rock musical comedy the boldly sex forward and brutally honest pop-rock musical comedy, through April 30.
April 27 Imagination Unlimited
With more than 25 beloved puppets and more than 150 artifacts, this show attempts to capture the groundbreaking work of Jim Henson and his creative teams as they built stories and worlds that represented the breadth and diversity of the very messy real world.
April 28 Weaving Stories
Bringing together nearly 45 examples of 19th and 20th century textiles from Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia, this exhibit explores how fabrics are woven into the daily lives of the peoples of Southeast Asia, including archival photographs and multimedia displays, through May 2.
April 29 Spring Wine Weekend
Raise a glass of wine and mingle with with Napa Valley’s top vintners and winemakers while fundraising for the Alzheimer’s Association, through May 1.
April 30 Ridge to Bridge
Pick your hiking distance – 6, 12 or 20 miles – or a 25-mile bike ride to and from Fort Baker, or an 8-mile equestrian jaunt from Gerbode Valley in the Marin Headlands at a supported in-person event while supporting the building of the Bay Area Ridge Trail.
For more on Better:
- A Sanctuary for Thought-Provoking, Society-Changing Writing: Mesa Refuge in West Marin
- A Novel About the Turbulent 1960s and ’70s, From Professor, Social Justice Advocate and Writing Coach Cathy Rath
- Stewards of a Historical Gem: How the Sweetwater Music Hall Was Re-invented as a Nonprofit to Preserve a Legendary Venue
Christina Mueller is a long-time Bay Area food writer. She hails from the East Coast and has spent way too much time in South America and Europe. She discovered her talent as a wordsmith in college and her love of all things epicurean in grad school. She has written for Condé Nast Contract Publishing, Sunset, and the Marin Independent Journal, among others. She volunteers with California State Parks and at her child’s school, and supports the Marin Audubon Society, PEN America, and Planned Parenthood. When she is not drinking wine by a fire, she is known to spend time with her extended family.
