Barefoot Boy | 2026 SF Dance Film Festival

Barefoot Boy

A trailblazing choreographer returns home to reconcile who he was with who he’s finally become.

Barefoot Boy traces the extraordinary life of Bill Evans, a trailblazing choreographer who transformed early adversity into a lifetime of dance innovation.

Born in 1940s Lehi, Utah, an ultra-conservative farming town outside Salt Lake City, Bill found in dance an escape from isolation, a form of self-expression, and eventually, a career. He danced his way from the U.S. Army to the Joffrey Ballet in New York City, and back to Utah, where he helped launch the influential Repertory Dance Theatre before founding his own company, which became the most-booked dance company in America. Yet beneath the acclaim, Bill spent decades reconciling his queer identity with his Mormon community, suppressing who he was by marrying and raising a child long before he felt free to live openly.

Directed by Stéphane Glynn, Barefoot Boy is a story of resilience, reckoning, and what it costs, and finally gains, to live an authentic life in the open.

Followed by a live Q&A with Bill Evans and director Stéphane Glynn, moderated by Ellen Bromberg.

Directors: Stéphane Glynn, Jared Ruga
Choreographer: Bill Evans
(United States, 2025) 93 minutes

Tickets purchased at the door will cost $1 additional per ticket.

2:30p | House Opens

3:00p | Program begins

Runtime: 96 minutes

Venue Accessibility: Brava Theater is located at 2781 24th Street. Curb cuts for the sidewalk to the Brava Theater Center are located on the corner of York and 24th Street. The entrance of the theater is on the ground floor and there is an elevator to seating in the upper level of the theater.

About the 2026 San Francisco Dance Film Festival: 

The San Francisco Dance Film Festival marks its seventeenth year this fall with over 80 films celebrating dance in all its forms, from world-class ballet to endangered folkloric traditions. Eighteen in-person screenings run October 23 through November 8 at venues across San Francisco, complete with artist Q&As, panels, and community gatherings, followed by an Online Festival from November 9 through 30 featuring short film programs and online-only features. Join SFDFF 2026 for intimate documentaries, dazzling screendance, and thrilling live performance captures that celebrate the ever-evolving intersection of dance and film.

For more info please visit our website.