The Imprint of Partnering

DANCE

Nine years was enough, Tianne Frias decided. Until this season the petite powerhouse had been one of the mainstays in Robert Moses' Kin dance company. But she figured it was time to start making her own work. So she quit Kin to follow up on another passion. A ballroom dancer and teacher for the past 12 years, Frias had come to realize that the artistic practice is still thought of primarily as show dancing or entertainment. Since ballroom dancers have always competed, the fact that the genre has become an Olympic sport doesn't particularly bother her. She, however, is much more interested in exploring its expressive potential. Much like hip-hop dancers, for instance, have already discovered, Frias thinks of social dance as a vocabulary that can examine all kinds of subjects. It can go deeper than it is given credit for; she wants to elevate it to the level of modern dance. For The Imprint of Partnering, her first step on this new journey, she choreographed a dozen dancers — club, Latin, swing — to maintain ballroom dancing's improvisatory excitement yet go beyond what she calls "playacting." (Rita Felciano)

THE IMPRINT OF PARTNERING Fri/17–Sun/19, 8 p.m.

Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St., SF

$15–$20. (415) 273-4633, www.dancemission.com