PHOENIX PARADOX
PHOENIX PARADOX
A theatrical dance work exploring resilience, shadow, and collective transformation
2025 & 2026: Residency & Development
Spring 2027: World Premiere
Currently seeking commissioning and presenting partners
Phoenix Paradox, choreographed by Oakland based Babatunji Johnson and produced by SOZO, reimagines the myth of the phoenix as a theatrical dance work exploring shadow, contradiction, and collective transformation. Johnson’s choreography merges the precision of ballet and contemporary technique with the vitality of street dance, forging a movement language that is visceral, architectural, and emotionally charged.
The production conjures a fantastical world of larger-than-life characters—beings who reflect both inner landscapes and the external realities of a place in flux. Design carves the stage into stark monochrome underworlds and bursts of saturated color, echoing Oakland’s blend of upheaval and creative resistance. At once intimate and epic, Phoenix Paradox offers audiences a mythic yet deeply human meditation on resilience—what it costs, what it heals, and how we rise together.
Phoenix Paradox is supported by Gerbode Foundation, Rainin Foundation and SOZO Artist Venture Fund. A 2025 National Dance Project Award finalist
ABOUT BABATUNJI JOHNSON
Babatunji Johnson is an Oakland-based dance artist blending ballet, contemporary, breaking, and hip-hop into a distinct movement language. Originally dancing on the streets of Hilo, Hawai’i, he trained at LINES Ballet and later joined the company. He has performed with numerous Bay Area and international companies and created works for Berkeley Ballet Theater, Boston Dance Theater, LINES Ballet Training Program, and SF Danceworks, earning him the Princess Grace Award, Chris Hellman Award, and Gerbode Dance Award. He recently danced opposite Misty Copeland in her film set in Oakland, Flower.
