CALI&CO Dance

"I am a teacher, dancer, choreographer, performer, sister, auntie, daughter, activist, friend. I am committed  to justice, equity, inclusion, and of holding an imaginative  learning space where you are able to seek your potential and be in your full agency and identities unapologetically. I am invested in creating a brave and dynamic  environment where we all learn from each other and have space to know and not know, to learn, unlearn and grow. I look forward to connecting via ZOOM soon!"

Named “one of the most ferocious, spell-binding dancers I’ve seen in this city (San Francisco)” by Rachel Howard (SF Chronicle), and nominated as Best Dance Class in SF Magazine’s “Best of 2015”, Christine Cali has been honored with commissions, grants and research awards for her creative work and teaching. Her work is rooted in embodied story-telling, original live music, collaborative community building, anti-racist, accesible and inclusive practices and pedagogies. Cali is Chair and Associate Professor of Theatre Arts & Dance at Sonoma State University, longtime faculty at ODC/San Francisco, and Director of the San Francisco based CALI & CO dance (2001). Cali performed with the Brooklyn-based Urban Bush Women in Hair & Other Stories at BRIC in NYC (2019) and directed CALI & CO’s ADAPT, a site-adaptive work performed in 20 locations in San Francisco, created in collaboration with Matt EL Music (2017-2020); ADAPT has been commissioned for The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts ChoreoFest and SIDFIT Dance Festival for summer 2021 engagements in SF and Seoul, South Korea. Since March 2020 Christine has offered SIP Somatic Dance & Wellness community classes via ZOOM, with donations supporting SF Bay Area BIPOC artists and companies. Through CALI & CO dance she has developed her popular Practice-to Performance Workshop, creating accessible, inclusive and open-to-all performance opportunities in the SF Bay Area and beyond since 2010.

Cali has taught at Alonzo King’s LINES BFA program, A.C.T. MFA Acting program, U of San Francisco, The Branson School, The Marin School of The Arts, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Sacramento State University, Scottsdale Community College, Niagara County Community College, Modesto Community College, University of Wyoming, University of South Florida, Mendocino College, Ohio University, Arizona State University, Hollins University, SungKyunKwan University/Seoul, S Korea, The Ambrit School/Rome, Italy, ROCO Dance, SF City Dance, Lewiston Dance Center, The American Dance Festival/ADF, workshops in Japan, China, and Canada; and her work has been performed at The Cowell Theatre/Fort Mason, ODC Theatre, Z-Space, Venue 9, The Garage, Safehouse for the Arts, Dance Mission Theatre, Little Boxes Theatre, Joe Goode Annex, The Supper Club, The Exit Theatre, Dancer’s Group/Foot Works, Brady Street, Marin Convention Center, ArtQuest Santa Rosa, 848/CounterPulse, Jon Sims Center for the Arts, West Wave Dance Festival, SF Summer Performance Festival (SPF7), The SF International Arts Festival (2014, 15’, 16’ 19’), Saeng Saeng Festival (2007), Seoul International Improvisation Festival (2008), The Asian Art Museum/Divine Bodies Exhibit (2019), The American College Dance Association (ACDA) and more.