Lighting

Production Activities – Lighting design, technical director, production director, and faculty

While pursuing a career in modern dance choreography and performance, Ken started working on stages to learn more about lighting. Studying under Doris Einstein Siegal started him on his path of designing for dance.

Over 30 years, Mr. James designed lights for a wide range of productions from studio theaters, site specific work, and installation works, to stage and multimedia productions, Ken James offers artistic collaborations with artists and directors in dance, music, theater and more. As a choreographer himself, Mr. James has a feel for the flow and worlds dance lives in.

Adjunct Faculty:

Mills College, MFA program 2007-8. Production Classes.

Technical Director:

Ririe Woodbury Dance Company, January 2022- January 2023

Dancer’s Group, San Francisco, 1996-8

Freelance Lighting Designer, Production Manager:

1993-present

Lighting Design

Over 25 years of lighting, I have lit well over 100 dance artists, music, experimental instrument builders, theater, and the occasional wedding or event. Some of the people I have done lighting for include:

Dance artists and companies:

Anna Halprin, Ruth Zaporah, Bob Ernst, Ririe Woodbury Dance Company, Li Chiao Ping, Keith Hennessy, Molly Helloer, Cat and Fish, Stephanie Skura, Huckabay McAllister Dance Company, Joanne Nurenberg, Kathleen Hermsdorf, Scott Wells, Onsite, POTRZEBIE Dance Project, Maureen Flemming, John Henry’s Singing Myself a Lullaby, Polly Motley, Sara Shelton Mann, Remi Charlip, K.J. Holmes, David Zambrano, Kim Epifano, Julie Kane, Joe Goode Performance Group, Michelle Ellsworth, 100+ others

Music:

Mobius Operandi, Peter Whitehead, Mark Growden, Miguel Frasconi, Heartland Marimba

Lighting Design Theater:

Deke Weaver, Rhodessa Jones, Pomo Afro Homo, Tim Miller, Kristin Larson (Grandview College)

Lighting Design and Technical Directing Festivals:

San Francisco:

Tribute to Lucas Hoving , Tribute to Ed Mock, The Edge Festivals, The E-Festival, Visceral Video Festival (The original San Francisco screendance festival), The Field 1994-1997, The Local 7 series 1994-1997

San Francisco Bay Area:

Women on the Edge, A Month of Sundays (A low tech performance series over 30 weeks including over 100 artists presenting works in progress in theaters throughout the San Fransisco Bay Area)