Oct 23-25: Invisible Atlas

Inspired by a 2024 Los Angeles Times investigation into radioactive waste buried across the San Francisco Bay Area—largely without public awareness—the project exposes the invisible threats beneath our feet. As a Japanese artist, Artistic Director Ranko Ogura connects the collective memories of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Fukushima with the Bay Area’s own environmental reality, reminding us that the repercussions of radiation span generations, landscapes, and bodies.

Presented in site-specific environments, immersive projections dissolve the boundary between performer and audience. Movement gives form to the unseen, while live traditional instruments deepen the emotional journey. More than a performance, Invisible Atlas is an act of remembrance and an urgent invitation to reflect, resist complacency, and actively shape a safer shared future.

Choreographer /director Ranko Ogura is a San Francisco-based Butoh dancer, choreographer, and artistic director of Ranko Ogura Dance. Rooted in Zen philosophy, Butoh, and Noguchi Taiso, she developed the “Water Body” movement method, exploring harmony between the body and nature. Ogura has performed internationally at Carnegie Hall, the San Francisco International Arts Festival, and across Japan, collaborating frequently with the music ensemble Essence. Supported by the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, she creates interdisciplinary performances addressing environmental preservation and nuclear history while conducting workshops and community outreach throughout the Bay Area.