Out There :: A Column Named Desire

Erotic desires, aspiring dancers, ambitious theatre plans, and lip-syncing drag queens - it's quite a full house in the old Out There column this week!

First up, the Center for Sex and Culture is presenting the group exhibition "Dark Desires: The Erotic Lives of Black Women" through Nov. 15, with an opening reception on Fri., Oct. 10, from 7-10 p.m. Gallery director Dorian Katz says the theme of the show is, "What is the role of desire in the lives of black women -- cis, trans, and woman-identified? 'Dark Desires' answers this question by exploring the history of the black erotic, broadly speaking, with a particular interest in black female-identified sexual subjectivities. 'Dark Desires' features a selection of material from the Center's library and archive.

"On Sat., Oct. 11, from 7-9 p.m., we will screen 'A Good Day to Be Black & Sexy,' which we will follow with a Q&A of director, writer, producer Dennis Dortch and co-producer and Dark Desires artist Numa Perrier." The show and screening take place at the Center for Sex and Culture, 1349 Mission St., SF. More info is at sexandculture.org/gallery.

Stars of the Future

It's that time of year when the San Francisco Ballet School announces the deserving recipients of the Bob Ross (B.A.R. co-founder) Scholarship, the Keith White (B.A.R. dance writer) Memorial Scholarship, and the Eric Hellman (B.A.R. arts writer) Memorial Scholarship for the 2014-15 school year.

The Bob Ross Scholarship was awarded to 18-year-old Nathaniel Remez, from Washington, DC, who attended the SFBS 2013 and 2014 summer programs and 2014-15 school year. The Keith White Memorial Scholarship was given to 16-year-old Kamryn Baldwin , from Indianapolis, who attended the 2013 summer program and 2013-14 school year. And the recipient of the Eric Hellman Memorial Scholarship is 16-year-old Sarah Drake, who attended the 2013 and 2014 summer programs and 2014-15 school year. Congratulation, young dancers!

Meanwhile, A.C.T. gave journalists a hard-hat tour of their renovation of the Strand Theater on mid-Market St. last week, and Out There was in the house. The former grindhouse will make a spectacular showcase for the theater when it opens at the start of their 2014-15 season, with genius playwright Caryl Churchill's Love and Information, a play about our apparently boundless appetite for data - pretty appropriate for Twitterville, no?

The new Strand will keep the 95-year-old building's historic facade and the feel of its architectural fabric, but add a double-story lobby with a glass wall overlooking Market, a gigantic LED screen that will function as a "community billboard," and beautiful facilities. The neon letters from the old marquee will spell out STRAND on an interior wall. Watch for more to come on this game-changing project in these pages.

Queens for A Day

Tranimation Studios stages so-called "Dragsical" productions, stage plays that pay homage to different film genres. A cast of drag celebrities performs fully lip-synced productions of titles such as "The Next Element," "Batman is Dead," "Freeway" and "Heathers." This season's Dragsical, "Swan Queen," explores the perils of perfection in a tribute to all things dance. The fourth Thursday-night performance at the Supperclub in San Francisco happens tonight (Oct. 9). Drag queens will appear on pointe and up in the air: Scary!

The cast includes Joshua Thake (Chastitiy Belle) of Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo, as the Swan Queen; Suppositori Spelling as the Black Swan; Trixxie Carr as the Dying Swan; Raya Light as the Queen; Rahni NothingMore as Veronica; Glamamore as the Mistress; Nic Candito as the Gentleman; Travis Rowland (Qween ) as Fantasia; and Joseph Copley as the Prince. The playwright-producer-director is Jason Hannan, and costume design/artistic consultant is Mr. David. For tix, go to swanqueen.eventbrite.com