SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA SECRETS: Mary Sano

This series highlights wonderful things to see and do in the San Francisco Bay Area that don't make it into the guidebooks and don't cost much money.

My friend Mary Sano is a dance and performance artist with a stunning studio space in the heart of San Francisco. Mary is made of style -- in the way she moves, the way dresses, the way she responds to her surroundings. But her work and her life are also serious study and a passionate call for universal peace and understanding. As it should be, since Mary straddles Pacific Rim between her native Japan and her adopted city of San Francisco, both in her life and in her art.

This week she is hosting a Noh Seminar Series, featuring master artists from Japan. I went to one of the performances on Friday night, a Noh interpretation of an ancient Japanese legend. As all Mary's performance, which happen three or four times a year, she converted her studio into a salon-like performance space, so the audience and the performers are very close.

I rarely miss an event, because I can be sure to be surprised and moved by whatever creative work Mary is up to at the moment. I also love to watch the audience -- and international mix of interesting faces. .... whom I can get acquainted with at the wine reception after every performance.

Mary is pictured here (center) with two of her collaborators: Moira Roth and Shonosuke Okura.