NAME: Kadyk, Peter (a.k.a. Peter Overton)

BIRTH DATE/LOCATION:
25 September 1968, Georgia

DEATH DATE/LOCATION:
17 April 2001, San Francisco, age 32

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Peter Kadyk in Frankfort Michigan (1990).
Photo: Mike Smith.

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  • 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:
    Peter Kadyk (born Peter Overton) was an experimental choreographer, performer, and visual artist deeply ensconced in the Bay Area’s AIDS/arts movement. Kadyk moved to San Francisco in 1987 after a childhood spent in Georgia and rural Michigan and a visual art education at Chicago’s Columbia College. Though Kadyk trained and identified primarily as a visual artist, he worked consistently in the Bay Area as a dancer with such choreographers as Rick Darnell, Sara Shelton Mann, Jess Curtis, Tracy Rhoades, Julia McCamy, and Kim Epifano. According to his own 1990 biographical statement, Kadyk learned to dance without formal training but simply by "performing the choreography of those [he] worked with." In particular, he developed an ongoing choreographic relationship with choreographer/director Anah-K Coates. The two married in 1996 and continued to create together until shortly before Kadyk’s death from AIDS-related causes.

    KEY CONTACT PERSON(S)/EXECUTOR OF ESTATE:
    Anah-K Coates, wife and collaborator
    Madrid, New Mexico
    anakarelia@hotmail.com

    Mike Smith, friend
    159 North Racine, Second Floor
    Chicago, IL 60607
    encroach@mindspring.com

    HUMAN REPOSITORIES OF THE WORK
    (name and contact info, relationship to the artist and the work, assessment):
    Anah-K Coates, see above.

    VIDEO DOCUMENTATION
    (location, format, condition, assessment):
    Anah-K Coates holds video documentation of all of Kadyk’s choreographic work in a storage space in the Bay Area. She will be able to access these beginning in January 2004. Additionally, Mike Smith has super-8 footage of Kadyk that he plans to transfer to videotape.

    PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION
    (location, format, condition, assessment):
    The San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum (SFPALM) holds one untitled color slide. Anah-K Coates has additional photographic documentation of Kadyk stored in San Francisco and Mike Smith holds personal photos.

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

    PRODUCTION MATERIALS
    (scores, sound recordings, set/costume designs):
    Anah-K Coates has sound recordings and costumes stored in San Francisco.

    ORAL HISTORY:
    None identified.

    PERSONAL PAPERS
    (location of newspaper clippings, printed programs, press releases, notes, files, diaries; assessment):
    SFPALM maintains a single file containing a one-page biography and a resume from 1990.

    IMMEDIATE NEEDS
    (archival assistance? storage? other?):
    Anah-K Coates has identified that financial support is necessary to maintain the website of Kadyk’s life.

    OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION:
    Kadyk stayed involved in the visual arts throughout his life; documentation of his artwork can be viewed on-line at www.peterkadyk.org. Further, his involvement in the Chicago group Environmental Encroachment can be seen at www.encroach.net and additional artwork can be viewed at www.onlineartforsale.com.

    In an email dated 1 July 2003, Mike Smith writes, "Peter was involved in many kinds of un-documented performances, both dance and musical." Smith indicates Kadyk’s organization of a marching band that paraded through the Mission district as well as his involvement with the Chicago-based group Environmental Encroachment during its 1997 San Francisco tour as evidence of a creative physicality that may fall outside of concert dance conventions.

    PARTIAL LIST OF WORKS
    (title, premiere date, music, production notes, performers):

    Welcome Home (1990)—duet with Joel Murphy; Studio 4, San Francisco

    The Twenty-two Television Dance (1990)—solo choreographed for video project directed by Anah-K Coates, San Francisco

    Untitled Duet (1991)—choreographed in collaboration with Anah-K Coates; 1800 Square Feet Studio, San Francisco

    Solo for KALEVALA RUNOXVII (1993)—choreographed solo in work directed by Anah-K Coates; Footwork Studio, San Francisco

    Solo for Myra Cycle 2 (1994)—choreographed solo in ensemble-created show for Contraband; directed by Sara Shelton-Mann; Theater Artaud, San Francisco

    Pictures for Children (1996)—evening length solo; Ward Eleven, San Francisco

    Naked Solo (2000)—solo; Studio Valencia, San Francisco

    BIBLIOGRAPHY:

    • Campbell, Karen. 1995. "Contraband’s Collaborative Spirit Shines." Boston Herald (17 February).
    • Holmes, Anne. 1993. "Anything Goes with Eclectic Contraband." Houston Chronicle (8 November).
    • Tucker, Marilyn. 1992. "Tracy Rhoades Unveils an Up-to-Date Salome." San Francisco Chronicle (25 July).
         		 
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