Contraband
Sara, Brenda, Nina (1988). Photo: Marty Sohl.
During the seventies, Sara was artistic director of the Halifax Dance Co-Op in Nova Scotia. She began working with a combination of Canadian and American artists performing and working in both countries. In 1979, she formed CONTRABAND, a group of collaborative artists dedicated to the evolution of an interdisciplinary dance vision.
In 1985, CONTRABAND created Evol and over the next decade, under her direction, the company staged seven major, full-evening works: Religare, The Invisible War, Oracle, Mandala, Mira-Cycle I, Mira-Cycle II, The Fall, and Return to Ordinary Life: Mira-Cycle III.
The Mira Cycles is a dance/performance epic comprising three full-length works based on the life of 16th century Indian poet, politician and saint, Mirabai. This trilogy represented the creation of a complex interdisciplinary performance style and the development of a dance vocabulary that significantly influenced the evolution of contemporary Bay Area dance.
CONTRABAND members in 2015: Lauren Alder, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Keith Hennessy, Sara Shelton Mann, Jess Curtis, Kim Epifano, Norman Rutherford, Julie Kane
Archival Photos • Click for detail
Archival Videos
Excerpts from Religare (1989)
Eddy St Project version*
Plaza West housing projects, San Francisco
Directed & choreographed by Sara Shelton Mann
Visual Design: Lauren Elder
Soundscore and Musical Direction: Norman Rutherford, Richard Klein, and Gwen Jones
Performed by Sara Shelton Mann, Lauren Elder, Keith Hennessy, Jess Curtis, Kim Epifano, Jules Beckman, & Julie Kane
*A previous version of Religare occurred in 1986, staged in the Gartland Pit at 16th and Mission, San Francisco.
Excerpt from Mira Cycle I (1990)
Directed & choreographed by Sara Shelton Mann
Visual Design: Lauren Elder
Sound Design: Norman Rutherford and Jules Beckman
Performed by Sara Shelton Mann, Keith Hennessy, Jess Curtis, Kim Epifano, Julie Kane, and women's chorus.
Excerpt from Oracle (1988)
Theatre Artaud, San Francisco
Directed & choreographed by Sara Shelton Mann
Visual design by Lauren Elder
Sound by Rinde Eckert
Dramaturg: John O'Keefe
Performed by Sara Shelton Mann, Keith Hennessy, Jess Curtis, Brenda Munnell, Jules Beckman, Nina Hart
Oracle (full performance)
Like Wind in Miras Hair (1992)
Film by Tim Boxell based on Mira Cycle I
Created by Contraband: Sara Shelton Mann (Artistic Director) with Jules Beckman, Jess Curtis, Kim Epifano, Keith Hennessy, Julie Kane and Norman Rutherford and Marintha Tewksbury, Chinzla Speron Gloekler, Stanya Kahn, and Jennifer Jensen
Choreography by Sara Shelton Mann in collaboration with the company
Music by Jules Beckman and Norman Rutherford
Words by Sara Shelton Mann
Set Design by Lauren Elder
Costume Design by Ariel Jones
Lighting by Jack Carpenter and Elaine Buckholtz
Religare Gartland Pit (1 of 2)
Religare Gartland Pit (2 of 2)
EVOL
Mira Cycle I
Mira Cycle II
Mira Cycle III
Mira Cycle III (finale)