NAME: Everett, Frank

BIRTH DATE/LOCATION:
8 June 1964, Doylestown, Penn.

DEATH DATE/LOCATION:
8 July 1992, San Francisco Calif., age 28

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Frank Everett in Brenda Way's Loose the Thread.
Photo: Lois Greenfield, courtesy KT Nelson and ODC/San Francisco

click to enlarge   
  • identification & bio
  • key contact
  • human repositories
  • video documentation
  • photographic documentation
    		•
  • movement notation
  • production materials
  • oral history
  • personal papers
  • immediate needs
    		•
  • other relevant information
  • overview of works
  • bibliography
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    IDENTIFICATION AND BIO:
    Frank Everett was a dancer with Oakland Ballet and ODC/San Francisco, known for his playful, rakish stage persona as well as his technical command of classical ballet, jazz, and modern dance techniques. Late in his life he began to develop as a choreographer. Everett trained on scholarship at a number of schools including the Alvin Ailey School and Marin Ballet before beginning a performing career as a member of the Marin and Oakland Ballets. He also appeared in numerous music videos, television commercials and films before joining ODC/San Francisco under the artistic direction of Brenda Way in 1988. In the years before his death, Everett was transforming his skill as a dancer into a strong gift for choreography. His romantic duet for two men, Two and a Half Years—the title referred to the length of Everett’s relationship with an ex-lover—was featured at a Bay Area Dance Series gala in 1989. In 1991, he attended the Carlisle Project choreography workshop in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he impressed his colleagues with his ease and fluency. At the time of his death from AIDS-related causes, Everett was working on a new solo for Freddie Miranda, a dancer with Lines Contemporary Ballet. The dance remained unfinished.

    KEY CONTACT PERSON(S)/EXECUTOR OF ESTATE:
    Joyce Gulick, mother
    attempts to contact Joyce Gulick have been unsuccessful as of 10 November 2003

    KT Nelson, colleague and friend
    5920 Dorer Street
    Oakland, CA 94609
    510-594-0258 phone/fax
    ktnelson_choreographer@hotmail.com

    HUMAN REPOSITORIES OF THE WORK
    (name and contact info, relationship to the artist and the work, assessment):
    Freddy Miranda (location unknown)

    VIDEO DOCUMENTATION
    (location, format, condition, assessment):
    Five Stages, Two and a Half Years, Unfinished Work, and Work-in-progress, are all available for viewing on VHS at the San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum (SFPALM).

    PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION
    (location, format, condition, assessment):
    None identified at SFPALM.

    MOVEMENT NOTATION
    (location, type [including notes taken by dancers], assessment):
    None identified.

    PRODUCTION MATERIALS
    (scores, sound recordings, set/costume designs):
    None identified.

    ORAL HISTORY:
    The Legacy Oral History Project at SFPALM contains "Oral History Interview with Frank Everett, 1993," interview conducted by Jeff Friedman, introduction by Freddy Miranda, interview history and historical time line by Jeff Friedman, Jeff Friedman, editor. The edited transcript is accompanied by 12 sound cassettes (6 masters, 6 duplicates), 3 video cassettes, video log, resume, programs, diplomas and clippings.

    PERSONAL PAPERS
    (location of newspaper clippings, printed programs, press releases, notes, files, diaries; assessment):
    Resume, programs, diplomas, and press clippings are available at SFPALM as part of the Legacy Oral History Project (see above).

    IMMEDIATE NEEDS
    (archival assistance? storage? other?):
    None identified.

    OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION:
    In 1997 ODC/San Francisco Co-Artistic Director KT Nelson choreographed Frank, a memorial tribute to Everett using three of ODC’s male dancers, Kevin Ware, Daniel Levi-Sanchez, and Private Freeman.

    PARTIAL LIST OF WORKS
    (title, premiere date, music, production notes, performers):
    A complete list of works is unavailable. However, the following list was compiled from the SFPALM online catalog (the dates and locations are not verified as premieres) and an undated choreographic resume from the LEGACY collection:

    Five Stages (1990)—commissioned text by Robert Henry Johnson, music by Harold Budd, libretto by Robert Henry Johnson, performed by Claire Dixon, Footwork Studio, San Francisco

    Black Hills (c. 1990)—choreography showcase, San Francisco

    Sacred Writings (1990)—music by Arche Harold Wilson, performed by Kathryn Roszak, Summer Choreography Showcase, San Francisco

    Without Reason (c. 1990)—choreography showcase, SFIC, San Francisco

    Two and a Half Years (1991)—music by Meredith Monk, performed by Freddie Miranda and Elizabeth Gravel, Summer Choreography Showcase, Laney College

    Unfinished Work (1992)—music composed by Gabriel Roth, Summer Choreography Showcase [location unknown]

    Work-in-Progress (1992)—music by Minoo Javan, Gala Fundraiser for San Francisco Dance Theatre

    Counterpoint (date unknown)—Petaluma Dance Theater, Petaluma, Calif.

    Prisoner (date unknown)—Marin Ballet Showcase, San Rafael, Calif.

    BIBLIOGRAPHY:

    • Felciano, Rita. 1997. "New ODC: Quasi-aerobic ODC/SF Enters its Next Quarter Century." The San Francisco Bay Guardian (11 June).
    • San Francisco Chronicle. 1992. [Obituary] (16 July).
    • Tucker, Marilyn. 1991. "A Few Worthy Moments at Dance Festival." The San Francisco Chronicle (14 January).
         		 


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