Co-presented by Zaccho Dance Theatre and Dancers’ Group with funding generously provided by Hewlett 50, The People’s Palace is a site-specific installation performance inside San Francisco’s iconic City Hall.

The People’s Palace premiered on May 9, 10 & 12, 2024, as an artistic intervention with City Hall’s Beaux-Arts architecture. Designed by architect Arthur Brown, Jr. and coined as the People’s Palace by Mayor James “Sunny Jim” Rolph in 1915, San Francisco City Hall, is the seat of government for the City and County of San Francisco. Yet, despite more than 59% of San Franciscans identifying as non-White, this historic building still under-represents the diversity of San Francisco.

Aerialists and performers were suspended in the air, flying through the rotunda, and interacting with the architecture and large scale projections, transforming these symbols into new, more inclusive narratives that more accurately reflect San Francisco's diverse and dynamic cultures and community. Through performance, music, storytelling, and immersive technologies, The People’s Palace invites the audience to be part of something magical and transformative as they actively engage these new narratives, seeing themselves within the broader context of the city and appreciating the richness of diverse perspectives.

For blind and visually impaired audience members, Zaccho Dance Theatre partnered with Gravity Access Services to offer live audio description and a Haptic Access Tour for the Friday, May 10th performance at no extra cost. Audio description is a live audio track spoken by a professional audio describer to audience members with visual impairments through a wireless headset system. It provides clear and engaging descriptions of the meaningful visual details of a performance. Haptic access tours (20-30 minutes) are a live pre-show tour that allows patrons to experience - through touch and their own movement - the space, performers’ costumes, and the original aerial set pieces in addition to key movement elements in the performance.

Collaborators
Conceived & Directed by Joanna Haigood
Composer: Marcus Shelby
Visual Artist: Mildred Howard
Scenic Designer: Sean Riley
Rigging Designer/Lead Rigger: David Freitag
Design Consultant & Fabricator: Wayne Campbell
Lighting Designer: Krissy Kenny
Projection Designer: Aron Altmark
Costume Designer: Dana Kawano
Indigenous Culture Bearers: Gregg Castro & Jonathan Cordero
Assistant to Director: Afiya “Fi.” Shani Williams
Rehearsal Assistant: Clare Whistler

Performers
Veronica Blair, Tristan Ching Hartmann, Ciarra D’Onofrio, William Brewton Fowler, Jr., Jocelyn Reyes, Nina Sawant, Saharla Vetsch

The Skywatchers Ensemble: Joel Yates, Anne Bluethenthal, Shavonne Allen, Nazelah Jamison, Shakiri, Sarah Morrisette, Shanan Noya Liu, Chassity Gantt, Dot Com, Lauren Swiger, Noelle Castro, Maurice Hudson, Regi Meadows

Marcus Shelby Quartet: Darren Johnston (trumpet/vocal), Destiny Muhammad (harp/vocal), Marcus Shelby (bass/kalimba), Phil Vieux (alto saxophone/flute)

Premiere Date
May 9, 10 & 12, 2024

Premiere Location
San Francisco City Hall 1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Pl, San Francisco, CA 94102

Funders / Commissioners
Funding for The People’s Palace was provided by a Hewlett 50 Arts Commission, with additional support from the California Arts Council, San Francisco Arts Commission, Grants for the Arts, Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Bernard Osher Foundation, Fleishhacker Foundation, and our generous community of individual donors.

Photo / Video Credits
Videographer: Focal Point Films, LLC Photographers: Bryan Gibel of Focal Point Films, LLC, Walter Kitundu Graphic Design: Charlie Formenty

All photographs, videos, and other materials on this website are owned by Zaccho Dance Theatre. All rights reserved.

Please contact Zaccho Dance Theatre at office@zaccho.org for permission to use and/or access additional materials not currently made available on this website.