Viewing Market Street from the United Nations Plaza in San Francisco, you can see a huge TRUTH stenciled onto the side of a building.
I had always assumed that the slogan was part of some pop-art installation, but TRUTH turns out to be one of the three values held dear to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a 19th-century freemasonry group which owns the building at the southwest corner of 7th and Market.
The first, very grand, San Francisco Temple was built in 1849, destroyed in the 1906 quake, and rebuilt in 1910.
Though Odd Fellow lodges still exist and meet in the building, the major use seems to be by the SF Dance Center...
...with various dance troupes renting rehearsal space...
...from the top dog tenant, Alonzo King's LINES Ballet of San Francisco.
The dance studios are such beautiful spaces that one can almost forget the dregs of humanity dealing drugs and god knows what else on the corner below.
The cast for this weekend's upcoming Ensemble Parallèle production of the Philip Glass opera, "Orphée" has been rehearsing all weekend in one of the dance studios prior to moving into Herbst Theatre for two performances this weekend.
And of course we have been very careful NOT to spit in the drinking fountain while rehearsing.
They are a great organization. I have friends from several organizations who found a home here after being evicted from other spaces during the dot com boom. There are also Tuesday night drawing classes for those of us who can't dance with our feet but dance with pencil, brush and pen.
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered about that TRUTH. Thanks for filling me in.
ReplyDeleteLooks like fun esp. if you ever wanted to run away from home and join the circus.
ReplyDeleteOh cool, another mystery solved -- the Truth sign...
ReplyDeleteAnd I never spit into a drinking fountain and I seldom practice my tap dancing other than in the studio, so I guess everything is cool...
I love those please do not posters. Especially the flamenco and tap one. I need one for my office.
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