Press & Reviews
Photo credit: Andrio Fong
What People Are Saying
"Dana Lawton's work is sublimely magnificent. What this group offers is a glimpse at the rich multiplicity of human lives." — Santa Barbara Independent
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Critical Acclaim for The Farallonites
"An ethereal piece of movement-based storytelling that captures the isolation and strenuous physical nature of life on the Farallons, and celebrates the kinship between the few families that subsisted on the island."
— The Santa Barbara Independent, February 2023
"Not only a beautifully staged, danced and produced theater event, it presents an opportunity to learn California history and geography."
— The Bay Area Stringer, September 2022
Photo credit: Andrio Fong
"The most compelling dance performances challenge the audience experience. DLD extends beyond the black box theater.…The work weaves dance with an original musical score, spoken word and visual art to build a world of 'harsh physical conditions, repetitive hard labor and near total isolation.' If you've never considered the human spirit of lighthouse keepers and their loved ones, this performance is sure to make you think the next time you hear San Francisco's fog horns."
— KQED Arts, August 2022
"The unlikely association between lighthouse keepers on the Farallon Islands in the mid-1800s and dancers in 2022 swirling, spinning, cavorting and counter-balancing is made clear."
— The East Bay Times, August 2022
Photo credit: Andrio Fong
"A blend of text, music, light and movement, the evening-length piece told the story of the dedicated lighthouse keepers who lived on the Farallon Islands in the 1800s — an uninhabitable archipelago twenty-seven miles off the coast of San Francisco."
— In Dance, January 2021
Acclaim for Earlier Works
"What this group offers is a glimpse at the rich multiplicity of human lives — moments of connection between performers come as unexpected thrills: tiny triumphs of the human heart over the distances that separate us."
— Santa Barbara Independent, 2014
Photo credit: Dianne Jones, @diannejphoto
"This is a group of artists who truly delight in one another."
— Critical Dance, 2017
Photo credit: Piro Patton
"An outstanding solo, danced and costumed by Jerry Lin, entitled 'Dream of the Cherry Blossom,' was beautifully performed. Lin has an elegant lyrical quality that wound and unwound across the stage in smooth long phrases that offered a satisfying opening number."
— Explore Dance, 2016
Photo credit: David Gaylord
"A beloved dance educator who has inspired and nurtured countless young artists... Lawton is also an accomplished dance maker whose work has been seen at the San Francisco International Arts Festival, West Wave Dance Festival, Women on the Way Festival, and numerous other local venues."
— Janice Garrett, In Dance, October 2013