Eveoke Dance Theatre has been entertaining San Diego audiences for 10 years. If you know the company, you have already been eveoked. If you don’t know the company, then it’s high time you got eveoked.

This is a no-nonsense, activist dance company, whose mantra seems to sing to the creation of dance as well as dialog – dialog that will awaken new perspective while at the same time shattering stereotypical thought.

From recent offerings of dance such as Funkalosophy, which took on the meat market paradigm of the hip-hop club scene, to their current production, Parting the Sea, Artistic Director Gina Angelique leads the way in her company’s compassionate cultivation of social action.

Eveoke is not a shy, conservative, lets-make-them-all-happy ensemble of dancers and educators. No, it’s more a creative, eye-popping, slightly in-your-face black sheep born of other more conservative dance venues.

Though burning the candle at both ends with ongoing community educational programs and participating in tech rehearsals for Parting of the Sea, I spoke with Angelique by telephone. It was amazing how articulate and alive she was in our very early morning conversation.

Gay & Lesbian Times: For those who don’t know, would you tell us the origin of the company’s name?

Gina Angelique: As one might expect, the name is derived from the word evoke. It is a calling up, an eliciting of the heart and emotions to bring about a catharsis; in many instances, regarding socially unacceptable mores or emotions. At the same time, we wanted to take back the meaning of Eve (Garden of Eden), who is often looked upon as the origin of sin, rather than associated with the origin of creation.

The name of the company is well chosen: all of Angelique’s choreographed pieces are evocative, innovatively creative, and many take on the anguish of the many “Eves” walking some winding path on our planet. For example, Eveoke’s recent docu-drama Mothers addressed the heroism and extraordinary circumstances of eight mothers. Each mother had to confront huge emotional obstacles: raising a child with brain deformities, ending life support for a comatose child, or another diagnosed with leukemia. Dance may be just the medium to explore such heartfelt anguish, because words so often are incapable of speaking to the pain within a mother’s heart.

GLT: Can we look forward to more docu-dramas like Mothers?

GA: Our second show of the season is one called Hips. It explores the subject of single parenting. This documentary piece, as the title suggests, speaks from the place where each child came from and how one must learn to give freely to another individual.

GLT: Apart from your choreographed shows, how does Eveoke reach out to the community as a whole, and specifically to the gay community?

GA: We’ve always had a gay agenda, but it’s interwoven within our overall program. One of our co-founders, Nikki Dunnan, is a proud lesbian. She’s our administrative director and one of our featured dancers – a hidden treasure. But Eveoke is not just gay, not just feminine and not simply black. We balance what we know and feel and make choices for the company that encompasses all walks of life. Our outreach program currently has 27 onsite locations, mostly downtown, and 22 offsite locations in such places as Encanto and San Ysidro, where we cultivate social action through arts education and performance. We do this with six full-time staff members and two part-time members.

GLT: It seems that you are out there in an attempt to mentor the community, and most especially the younger community.

GA: If you can stimulate kids, just as they do in sports programs when they are young, then we will be opening up their minds and hearts to the creative process wide enough to hopefully last their entire lives. In this way we can sustain a long-lasting dance culture in the community.

GTL: You are a longtime dance company survivor. How have you managed to stay alive, and so vibrantly alive at that?

GA: Like most small companies, such as Diversionary Theatre, we have very limited funds for advertising and promotion. And like most theater companies of this size, we’ve felt cuts from city funding as well as a loss of grant monies. We rely – to a large extent –upon word of mouth and reputation.

Eveoke has been critically acclaimed for productions throughout its 10 years of operation. Many who value the arts are eager to participate and attend performances on a regular basis. The company is very much aware of the segregated cultural pools within San Diego and tries to work within these astounding demographics to change the landscape of segregation. Angelique seems to have no fear in taking on challenging subject matter.

GLT: You recently took on the prison industrial complex in two recent works. Could you tell us about that experience?

GA: You are talking about Blood Money and The Raggedy Dances. It’s an ugly topic but somebody’s got to talk about what’s happening in the prison environment, and we did. It’s everyone’s responsibility to take responsibility when the community fucks up.

GLT: Are you still looking for a permanent space for the company?

GA: We are renting a space in what was part of the Old Wonder Bread Factory, right in the center of redevelopment hell. Eveoke is looking for a space to buy. Ownership is our major goal. In this way we can serve our students and patrons better by offering them security, shelter and their own personal catharsis. After shelter, we simply require their mind, body and spirit. It’s an uplifting process for all ages.

Eveoke’s Parting of the Sea opens on March 5 and will run through March 26.

Choreographed by Gina Angelique, it’s said to be an all-ages fairy tale. It’s about borders and fences and the spirit of its inhabitants. The inspiration comes from a five-year photographic project by immigrant Maria Fernandez, who shot pictures of the full distance of the U.S./Mexican border.

Utilizing actualism along with hip-hop, Butoh and modern dance genres, this work draws upon the myths of both Sisyphus and Narcissus and the work of Umberto Boccioni. Look for a child to gather seashells on a beach, to confront strange beach visitors and then to purposely block their obsession with one another with a barrier. Visit the production to see if the creatures become one again.

Call (619) 238-1153 for tickets, or visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link to their website. Eveoke Dance Theatre is located in the Old Wonder Bread Factory at 147 14th St.