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May 08, 2005
Odd Couple
The San Francisco International Arts Festival kicks off next week. The Chronicle's Sunday Pink section asked me to talk with Scott Wells and Stephen Pelton, who share a program at Dance Mission May 19-22:
"With his ruffled hair and schlumpy sweatshirt, Scott Wells looks like he's just lumbered in from the bedroom adjoining his Divisadero Street dance studio. He takes a sip of coffee and squints reflectively.
"Five or six years ago a famous choreographer was in town and a bunch of us dance people were invited to have lunch with him," he says.
"I ended up chatting with this famous guy by myself for a while, and at some point he said, 'I hate it. I get compared to Mark Morris, and I'm not as good as him.' And this guy has gigs all over the world. And that's when I thought, 'Oh. You can make it to the top and still be bitter.' That was my life lesson."
Across the table, Stephen Pelton gives a knowing laugh. In many ways, the two men could not be more different. Wells has a tousled charm; Pelton is impeccably groomed. Wells is straight; Pelton is gay. Wells makes daredevil works that send dancers hurling over furniture and slamming against walls; Pelton creates dances of tense emotions and careful musicality.
But both arrived on the San Francisco dance scene in an era when the idea of success for a choreographer here was radically changing. And the two will share a program as part of an ambitious new festival that hopes to keep talents like Wells and Pelton in San Francisco -- by helping them go abroad."
Posted by Rachel at May 8, 2005 08:32 PM
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