Robert dekkers, artistic director
Founder and Artistic Director Robert Dekkers is dedicated to inspiring artists and audiences with his passion for movement, imagination, curiosity, and commitment to the craft of ballet. Named “25 To Watch” by DANCE Magazine and celebrated for his direction of multi-disciplinary collaborations that are “inventive, focused, sophisticated, and anything but risk averse” by SF Chronicle, Robert is also Artistic Director of Berkeley Ballet Theater, the official school of Post:Ballet.
Robert danced professionally with Ballet Arizona, ODC/Dance, Company C Contemporary Ballet, and Diablo Ballet, where he was nominated for an Isadora Duncan award for “Outstanding Performance- Individual” in 2013. He danced leading roles in works by George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, José Límon, KT Nelson, Val Caniparoli, Lar Lubovitch, Jodie Gates, Trey McIntyre, Dominic Walsh, Septime Webre, and Paul Taylor before transitioning fully into teaching, choreographing, and directing.
Robert’s choreography has been presented at Jacob’s Pillow, San Francisco International Arts Festival, Tanzsommer Festival, Ballet Builders Showcase, Against the Grain Festival, and WestWave Dance Festival. Commissions include Kansas City Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, sjDANCEco, Smuin Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet (with co-choreographer Vanessa Thiessen), and Diablo Ballet, where he was resident choreographer from 2013-2018 and created critically-acclaimed works including Carnival of the Imagination, AnOther, and Red Shoes. He’s also created new works for the dance departments at Stanford University, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Richmond. He choreographed and directed a full-length Alice in Wonderland for Contra Costa Ballet in 2012, and has created short new works with youth companies across the country. He’s choreographed and/or directed over a dozen new collaborations with Post:Ballet, including evening-length productions such as Do Be and Lavender Country; one-act works including Milieu, Mine is Yours, When in Doubt, and field the present shifts; and short films like Tassel and Coming Home, which was commissioned by the San Francisco Dance Film Festival for its 2017 Co-Laboratory program.
Robert choreographed and directed a full-length production of Firebird set to an orchestrated score based on the music of Radiohead for Quixotic Cirque Noveau in 2017, and is also Director of Choreography for Art Haus, a Playa performance group whose first production featured a reimagined Rite of Spring with full orchestra and over 40 performers at Burning Man 2017. In 2018, Art Haus presented his contemporary work We, Human set to Reich’s Eight Lines and in 2019, presented his interpretation of Firebird with a full orchestra playing the original Stravinsky score. Robert regularly teaches company class for LINES Ballet, Smuin Ballet, and ODC/Dance, and he also holds a degree in business from Rio Salado College.
VAnessa Thiessen, Resident choreographer
Vanessa Thiessen is Resident Choreographer for Post:Ballet, where she has created original works including Junction, Incandescent Body, and Lavender Country, which was nominated for Best Dance Performance in 2017 by SF Classical Voice. Together with Robert Dekkers, she has co-choreographed works for Grand Rapids Ballet and Post:Ballet, and is a frequent guest teacher at Berkeley Ballet Theater.
Vanessa has assisted Bay Area choreographer KT Nelson in the creation of works for Sacramento Ballet, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, RAWdance, Owen/Cox Dance Group, LEVYdance, and Opera Parallél. She danced with ODC Dance, Smuin Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Post:Ballet, and Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, and Skinner|Kirk Dance. Vanessa is from Portland, Oregon, and teaches at Reed College, Northwest Dance Project, BodyVox, and Oregon Performing Arts School.
ANDY Meyerson, Music Director
Called “outstanding” by SF Chronicle, “transcendent” by Charleston City Paper, and “a fully distorted perpetual motion of awesome” by I Care If You Listen, The Living Earth Show (guitarist Travis Andrews and percussionist Andy Meyerson) is a megaphone and canvas for some of the world’s most progressive artists. One of the premiere contemporary chamber arts ensembles in the United States, The Living Earth Show received the grand prize in the SAVVY Chamber Arts Competition and runner-up in the open division of the M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition, has commissioned and premiered over 60 new works by some of the most vital composers in the world, and released two critically acclaimed albums, and has performed, lectured, and given masterclasses across the country.
Memorizing every work it performs, The Living Earth Show thrives on pushing the boundaries of technical and artistic possibility in its presentation of commissioned electro-acoustic chamber music. It has presented seasons of commissioned multimedia productions since 2011, working with dance companies, visual artists, sculptors, poets, and other musicians to craft compelling, immersive, San Francisco-centric work. The ensemble has commissioned and premiered works by such composers as Anna Meredith, Timo Andres, Nicole Lizée, M. Lamar, Raven Chacon, Christopher Cerrone, Alireza Mashayekhi, Jacob Cooper, Brian Ferneyhough, Samuel Adams, Ken Ueno, Luciano Chessa, Danny Clay, Sharmi Basu, Ted Hearne, Sarah Hennies, Morgan Craft, Adrian Knight, Ava Mendoza, Alden Jenks, and Zachary James Watkins. Many of these commissions can be found on the group’s critically acclaimed albums High Art (Innova Records, 2013) and Dance Music (New Amsterdam Records, 2016).
Christian squires, creative advisor
Christian Squires, originally from Charleston, South Carolina, began his artistic career as a professional dancer, performing soloist and principal roles with Boston Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theater, Smuin Ballet, Diablo Ballet, and Post:Ballet. He is currently a member of ODC/Dance, and has danced in works by Helen Pickett, George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Val Caniparoli, and Twyla Tharp. In addition, Christian has performed in and restaged ballets for choreographers including Amy Seiwert, Adam Hougland, and Robert Dekkers.
In 2012, he designed his first costumes for Post:Ballet, and has since designed and created costumes for companies including sjDANCEco, Grand Rapids Ballet, Kansas City Dance Festival, and Diablo Ballet. In 2015, Christian designed and constructed costumes for Quixotic Cirque Noveau's celebrated Firebird production, and most recently, he designed costumes for Louisville Ballet's new evening-length Romeo and Juliet. He is also the costume designer for Art Haus, a Playa-based performance ensemble that presents live music, dance, and structural art collaborations at Burning Man. With Art Haus, he has costumed reimagined versions of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Firebird as well as We, Human, a contemporary work set to Reich’s Eight Lines.
A natural evolution of his work as a dancer, costume designer, and repertieur, Christian was appointed Creative Advisor of Post:Ballet in 2016, where he collaborates intimately with the artistic team to bring the company's programming to life. Christian's extensive experience in all aspects of dance, together with his wildly imaginative creative voice, has enabled him to unite his passions for fashion and movement into cohesive, meaningful, and moving performance experiences.