Anne Bluethenthal

Anne Bluethenthal is founder and Artistic Director of ABD Productions, a multiethnic and multicultural modern dance company, committed to activism in the arts. A woman-centered, collaborative dance ensemble, ABD is dedicated to creating a language of movement that breaks the ordinary paradigm of Western dance and to presenting choreographies that face difficult issues with eloquence and passion. Through her choreography and community collaborations, Bluethenthal has presented work on subjects such as Palestine-Israel, globalization, the environment, genocide, and the gift economy. ABD received the SF Chronicle’s Best of 2001, SF Weekly’s Black Box, the SF Bay Guardian’s Goldie Award for Achievement in Dance, and the Rhinette Award for Best Choreography.

Bluethenthal founded and produced the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Dance Festival as well as the Dancing the Mystery series, a festival of dance, music, and poetry celebrating women’s spiritual traditions. Certified by the American and London Societies for Teachers of the Alexander Technique, Bluethenthal maintains a private teaching practice. From 2005–2008, she served as co-director of the MFA Creative Inquiry, Interdisciplinary Arts Program at New College of California.