FOUNDER AMELIA RUDOLPH PASSES ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP OF BANDALOOP TO A NEW GENERATION LED BY MELECIO ESTRELLA

from Amelia:

Bringing the grace and ritual of dance together with the adventure and mystery of mountain spaces was a journey I began almost thirty years ago. This vision has grown and evolved BANDALOOP into a Bay Area dance anchor, globally recognized company, and a school hosting hundreds of students each year. I am so grateful to every one of you who have supported and challenged us to be our best. Thank you.

My decision to hand the artistic future of this amazing vehicle to a new generation of leaders has been long in coming and carefully considered. BANDALOOP continues to evolve in these uncertain times and I look forward to seeing the company inspire that boundary-dissolving disorientation and freedom I see in the eyes of audience members and students, for years to come. I am excited to witness a blossoming of the unique techniques we have developed over decades, in the bodies and movement of the next generations of dancers and dance makers who become those who bandaloop. Passing forward my role as artistic director is a central part of this evolution.

In reflecting on who will innovate while holding our core values, who understands our unique choreographic challenges and opportunities, who loves the mountains and cares about the complexities of urban communities, who knows how art can effect change, I feel that no one is better suited than the dancer/choreographer with whom I have worked for half the life of the company, Melecio Estrella. A thoughtful yet firm leader, a powerful and elegant dancer and teacher, an imaginative and nuanced creator, Melecio will make the future of BANDALOOP. I am thrilled to announce that he will be moving into this role effective immediately and I congratulate him as he sets out on the exciting adventure of leading BANDALOOP into the future. I am confident in the strength of BANDALOOP’s leadership, including executive director Thomas Cavanagh, managing director Amanda Moran and our board of directors. I am also confident in the quality of the dancers and teachers who hold the embodied language of our lineage.  BANDALOOP thrives on. 

As for me, I will continue to be “in the LOOP” in a new role as Director of Special Projects and will serve on the board of directors. I will be exploring new directions in dance and filmmaking, writing, and working at the intersection of health care and the arts as a speaker and consultant. You might catch me performing as I (still) probably have the most fun soaring through the air in that almost mystical space which reminds us that what we know is only a fraction of what is, or can be. 

Thank you in advance for your support of Melecio and the company as we move forward into this new chapter of bandalooping.

from Melecio:

I am honored to steward BANDALOOP into the future, extending the momentum Amelia has lovingly cultivated for the past 29 years. Through that time, BANDALOOP has approached many unknowns with artful courage.