Silk Worm Presents “The Jaws of All Are Red with Gore”

August 11-13, 2022 at 8PM PT • 80 Turk St, SF, CA •  www.counterpulse.org/redwithgore

Remixing your favorite Saturday morning cartoons with drag and butoh, with performances by Silk Worm, Frank Leasing, and Hiroko Tamano 

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – San Francisco-based artist and drag queen Silk Worm presents a world premiere at CounterPulse this fall. The jaws of all are red with gore takes the classic cartoon series Looney Tunes as its source material. Loosely representing Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, three performers (Silk Worm, Frank Leasing, and Hiroko Tamano of Harupin-Ha Dance Theater) activate the stage with lip-sync, stage combat, butoh, clowning, projections, and live singing. The result is an atmospheric and zany piece of physical theater that turns the levity of Looney Tunes on its head.

This event is presented through CounterPulse’s curated Co-Production Program. CounterPulse is a dynamic movement of experimental art that sparks personal transformation and builds enduring community. 

For more information, please visit www.counterpulse.org/event/redwithgore/  

The jaws of all are red with gore is supported by the San Francisco Arts Commission’s San Francisco Artist Grant, Dancers’ Group’s CA$H Dance grant program, the Dresher Ensemble Artist Residency, and a Fresh Meat Productions FRESH WORKS! Commission. 

About the Artists

Silk Worm straddles the worlds of drag, theater, and dance. Silk has presented her work at /, Berkeley Art Museum, the Cantor Center for the Arts, 2727 California Street, and Fierce! Festival in Birmingham, UK. Her practice emerges from eight years of engagement with the Bay Area’s queer nightlife as a drag queen and producer.

Frank Leasing is an interdisciplinary artist, somatics facilitator, and designer based in Oakland. Their performance practice collides movement, archival media, and written and spoken word. Their performance and installation work has been presented at The Lab, 2727 California Street, Underground SF, and HIT Gallery, among others.

Hiroko Tamano (Butoh artist) was born in Fukuoka, Japan. In the early 1970s she entered the studio of Butoh founder Tatsumi Hijikata in Tokyo. With the partnership with Koichi Tamano, who first brought Butoh to the USA in 1976, she is based in Berkeley, California. Her motto is: “Never too late!” For more information, you can find her on Facebook (Berkeley Butoh Harupin-Ha and Koichi Tamano) and Instagram (@tamanokoichi).

WHAT: “The Jaws of All Are Red with Gore” by Silk Worm featuring Frank Leasing and Hiroko Tamano

WHERE: CounterPulse • 80 Turk St, San Francisco, CA

WHEN: Thursday, August 11 through Saturday, August 13, 2022 at 8PM

TICKETS: $20-$35 at www.counterpulse.org/event/redwithgore/ (Thursdays are NOTAFLOF)

For information about CounterPulse’s health and safety protocols, please visit www.counterpulse.org/covid19.