Jess Curtis/Gravity
2000-Present
Gravity was founded by choreographer-director Jess Curtis, whose distinctive body of work ranges from the underground extremes of San Francisco warehouse performances with such iconic companies as Contraband and CORE in the 1980s, to the exuberance of French circus tents with Compagnie Cahin-Caha and the formal refinement of European state theaters in Berlin, London, Glasgow, and other major cultural centers.
Curtis’ choreography has been widely recognized for its excellence, originality, and inclusiveness; in 2011, he was honored with the Alpert Award for Choreography and the Homer Avila Award for innovation in physically inclusive dance. Additionally, Gravity has been recognized with six Isadora Duncan Dance Awards and a ‘Fringe First’ at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
These works consistently engage with issues of embodied diversity including gender, sexuality and disability, making compelling cases for the value that different bodies contribute to society,and include: Fallen (2001); Under the Radar (2007); The Symmetry Project (2006-2010); The Generation Project: Jess Meets Angus (2010); Dances for Non/Fictional Bodies (2011); The Way You Look (at me) Tonight (2016), a duet created and performed by Curtis and self-identified disabled artist Claire Cunningham in collaboration with philosopher Alva Noë; Sight Unseen (2017); and (in)Visible (2019).
Jess Curtis/Gravity creates, produces, and tours original body-based art; educates young professionals, students, and members of the public with physically accessible workshops in cities throughout the US and Europe; nurtures emerging artists through artistic mentorship, professional guidance, and fiscal sponsorship; fosters international exchange through co-productions that mobilize our international network to bring international artists to San Francisco and help San Francisco artists present work abroad; and supports emerging choreographers through our Pop Up Performance Project, which commissions site-specific work for presentation on city streets.
Image Description: Jess Curtis wears a black tee shirt and silver earrings. He has a shock of white hair and looks into the camera. (photo: Sven Hagolani)
jess curtis
Artistic/Executive Director
Jess Curtis is an award-winning choreographer and performer committed to an art-making practice informed by experimentation, innovation, critical discourse and social relevance at the intersections of fine art and popular culture. Curtis has created and performed multidisciplinary dance theater throughout the U.S. and Europe with the seminal group Contraband, the radical performance collective CORE and the experimental French Circus company Cahin-Caha, Cirque Batard. From 1991 to 1998 he co-directed the ground-breaking San Francisco performance venue 848 Community Space with Keith Hennessy and Michael Whitson. In 2000, Curtis founded his own trans-continental performance company, Jess Curtis/Gravity, based in Berlin and San Francisco. In 2011 he was presented the prestigious Alpert Award in the Arts for choreography and the Homer Avila Award for innovation in physically inclusive dance. He holds an MFA in Choreography and a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of California at Davis.
Image Description: a headshot of Aiano from the shoulders up with layered black hair just below her shoulders, platinum blonde bangs, pear drop earrings, and facial piercings. She is wearing a top with black straps and gold necklaces.
Aiano Nakagawa
Director of operations & Communications (SF)
Aiano Nakagawa is a multidisciplinary artist, producer, and educator whose work explores the intersection of art, queer homemaking, and power analysis. Aiano is deeply curious about the role of art-making, curation, and design in the act of new world building. Their practice is rooted in the belief that we must practice liberatory ways of existing on a small scale in order to create radical change on a larger scale. Aiano’s work envisions and embodies the possibilities of the new world that is being born through collective imagination, organizing, creative disruption, and a commitment to creating the futures we need to exist.
Image Description: A headshot of Michael, smiling with short gray hair wearing a dark red shirt, standing against a black and gold background.
Michael Whitson
Managing Direcor (SF)
Michael Whitson (he/him) is a disabled, mixed-race Native American musician and poet with a long San Francisco history of community arts engagement. He was a co-founder of 848/CounterPulse in 1990 and co-director from 1990-2007. He is a co-founder in 2009 of Yuba Libre, a 30 acre community-based land project integrating ecological stewardship with the generative process of bringing Bay Area artists and teachers to a "wild and scenic" protected section of the Yuba River. Michael has been the Managing Director/Gravity Access Services since October, 2022.
Image Description: Headshot of Tiffany, a white woman in her 30s with curly brown hair, freckles, green eyes and a broad smile delicately curls her hand next to her face. She wears a sleeveless top with an anchor pattern.
Tiffany Taylor
Visual Access Consultant
As a blind woman with a BA degree in Theatre, Tiffany uses her lived experience of disability and performance to challenge ablest practices in performance spaces. She advocates for increased access to performance events for blind audiences and authentic casting and employment for disabled workers in the performing arts.
As a Visual Access Consultant, Tiffany tests the usability and accessibility of websites for performance venues, ensuring they cater to the needs of blind and low-vision audiences. In her role as an audio description consultant and coauthor, Tiffany facilitates blind and low-vision audiences having access to quality professional audio description.
Tiffany has performed in San Francisco and Berlin with Gravity in In-Visible, and Into the Dark. As well as in Sight Unseen in San Francisco.
Additionally, Tiffany has served as part of the grants review process for the National Endowment for the Arts Musical Theatre Panel, leveraging her expertise to shape funding decisions that support a diverse array of artistic endeavors. She has participated in the flagship training program Access Acting Academy for blind and low-vision actors and the Axis Dance Choreography and Performance Lab. Currently, she sits on Gravity’s board of directors.
Allison Wyper
Website Consultant
Los Angeles-based interdisciplinary performance artist Allison Wyper founded Rhizomatic Arts in 2014 to provide customized design services, professional coaching, and community to help creative people work independently, not alone. Rhizomatic Studio, the creative wing of Rhizomatic Arts, produces socially-engaged, collaboratively-oriented performances and workshops in public and private spaces.
Board of Directors
Gabriel Christian (President)
Dress Wedding (Treasurer)
Tiffany Taylor (Secretary)
Jess Curtis, MFA, PhD.
Sophia Green
John Link, PhD.