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Renée Lillian Leballister Berg

(January 27, 1951-), hippy dancer and a cultural figure in San Francisco during its the late Sixties and Seventies, popularly known as "Dancing Girl" and briefly as "['Miss' Renée]".

Leballister, as "Dancing Girl" was known for promoting dance as major art form through her performances with the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Starship, Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Ace of Cups, and others at the Fillmore Auditorium, the Avalon Ballroom, the Longshoremen's Hall, Golden Gate Park, Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley, and other venues, particularly with Family Dog On The Great Highway.

As "Miss" Renee, she briefly toured Europe with Hawkwind.

Renée has 4 film credits listed in IMDbhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0510386/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Early Life

Born Renée Lillian Leballister in Alameda County, California, USA on January 27, 1951 to Katherine and Tom Leballister. Her parents divorced shortly later. Renée was raised in Walnut Creek, California by her mother, and her grandparents, Frank and Lillian Kavert. Her mother managed the San Francisco office of California governor George "Pat" Brown. Renée left home, and moved to Berkeley, California in about 1964, where she briefly attended Berkeley High School. Based on financial need and academic achievement, she was offered a full scholarship and briefly attended UC Berkeley from ******.

Early San Francisco Years

Leballister met Jerry Garcia at ******* while she was attending UC Berkeley. She

After arriving in San Francisco in 1962, he scrounged a living various ways, including selling marijuana, an occupation that caused him to go to a boardinghouse at 1090 Page Street. The house was in Haight-Ashbury, then a rundown, low-rent neighborhood. Having met many musicians in his trade, and appreciating the vibrant music scene in San Francisco, he instinctively recognized the need for a forum for musicians to jam. When he saw the large basement at Page Street, he began organizing jam sessions for the local bands and musicians. Helms, a gifted organizer, made those sessions popular and started charging an admission fee of 50 cents. His career as a rock concert promoter began. Big Brother and the Holding Company formed and Helms functioned as their low-key manager. He teamed up Janis Joplin with Big Brother for jam sessions in the Haight-Ashbury basement.

In February 1966 he formed a loose connection with the Family Dog a commune of hippies living at 2125 Pine street who threw open dances and wild events. Helms was the ideal person to help this group organize their presentations and he moved into the Family Dog house. Their first formal production was a concert at Longshoremen's Hall.

In February 1966, Helms formally founded Family Dog Productions to begin promoting concerts at The Fillmore Auditorium, alternating weekends with another young promoter, Bill Graham. As the concerts became more popular, inevitable "conflicts" arose between the two promoters, based in part on the notion that public conflict and controversy could generate free publicity. Within a few months Helms secured the permits necessary to host events at the Avalon Ballroom, an old dancehall located at the corner of Sutter and Van Ness. Big Brother and the Holding Company debuted there in June 1966. Later Helms would get them the appearance that made them famous, the Monterey Pop Festival where Albert Grossman spotted Joplin and offered her a contract.

Avalon Ballroom

The Avalon Ballroom, 1268 Sutter Street, San Francisco became the Family Dog's main venue. Here the Family Dog held a series of legendary concerts between April 1966 and November 1968. Their shows were a mix of artists, from rock to blues, soul, Indian, to rock and roll. To promote their concerts, Family Dog published a series of innovative psychedelic posters, handbills and other ephemera, created by a group of prominent young San Francisco artists including Alton Kelley and Stanley Mouse (Mouse Studios), Rick Griffin, Steve Renick and Victor Moscoso. Often printed using intensely colored fluorescent inks, they typically featured a mixture of found images and specially drawn artwork. The posters of Griffin, Mouse and Kelly, in particular, were known for the intricate and highly stylized hand-lettering in which the concert details were written out, which sometimes took considerable time and effort to decipher. Original Avalon posters are now collector's items.

Helms was also involved in joint productions/promotions at the Fillmore, Longshoreman's Hall, and Haight Street's Straight Theater (not all formal Family Dog Dance-Concerts).

Style as performer

Leballister was described in a June 30, 2012 interview with Nik Turner of Hawkwind for It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine as "the American modern dancer/acrobat/contortionist"

Family Dog Concerts

In the context of the Avalon's "anti-business model," and loose ambience, Helms' Family Dog would always carry great shows, with premier musical acts. The list is long, compiled from the memory of having been there and from poster art websites. It is presented here:

Family Dog Speakers/Poets and Heroes of the Hour

Sometimes Helms cast the music promoter role aside and the Family Dog would feature speakers Alan Watts, Dr. Timothy Leary, Stephen Gaskin, poet Allen Ginsberg), and other counter-culter gurus. Helms is linked in San Francisco lore with Graham, the Diggers (theater), Emmett Grogan, Ken Kesey, Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Michael McClure, Neal Cassady, Kenneth Rexroth, Ralph J. Gleason, and others.

Evolution

Bill Graham Presents shows evolved more into high-power, professional lineups of better-known headline bands that made him known as the can-do guy that he was, while Helms, although managing to produce top-flight bands, still showcased bands that tended to be hipper and local. Helms didn't seem to have the need to hire zealous uniformed security guards, so teenagers found it easier to sneak into his dances. Helms ultimately allowed free admission after midnight. The San Francisco Family Dog dances later re-emerged in a new location, the former Ocean Beach Pavilion turned Slot car track that was right next door to the old skating rink and "Bull Pup Enchiladas" at Ocean Beach, at 660 The Great Highway in San Francisco's Richmond district.

In his career Helms used other locations like ventures in Denver, Portland, and joint productions/promotions at the Fillmore, Longshoreman's Hall, and Haight Street's Straight Theater (not all formal Family Dog Dance-Concerts), etc.

Later years

Helms left the concert business in 1970 except for managing a few later events: Tribal Stomp at Berkeley's Greek Theater (1978); Tribal Stomp II at the Monterey County Fairgrounds (1979); a concert series at San Francisco's Maritime Hall in 1995 under the Family Dog name; and a 30th Anniversary celebration of the Summer of Love in Golden Gate Park (1997), a free event attended by 60,000 people.

Helms became an accomplished art dealer, selling American and European paintings and sculpture at his Atelier Doré art gallery on Bush Street in San Francisco, from 1980 until 2004. True to his nature, he never turned down a request for money and helped countless in that period. Although having a great eye for artwork his philanthropy never guaranteed the rent on time. When he retired in 2004 he was suffering from Hepatitis C. After suffering a mild stroke he died within days, on June 25, 2005. Helms is memorialized in a "bright niche decorated with photographs and memorabilia" at the Neptune Society Columbarium.

Chet Helms Memorial

On October 30, 2005, San Francisco celebrated Helms' life with a free nine-hour Sunday rock concert in Golden Gate Park, named the "Tribal Stomp" attended by tens of thousands, and featuring a full lineup of bands, including the old core San Francisco rock bands, and others including: The Turtles, Canned Heat, Dan Hicks (singer), the Charlatans, Country Joe McDonald, Barry Melton, Blue Cheer, Jefferson Airplane's Paul Kantner, "It's a Beautiful Day'"s David LaFlamme, Quicksilver Gold (derived from Quicksilver Messenger Service), Lee Michaels, Lydia Pense Cold Blood, Pete Sears, Nick Gravenites (Electric Flag), Harvey Mandel, Jorge Santana, Narada Michael Walden, Merle Saunders, Moby Grape Jerry Miller, and Wavy Gravy (from Ken Kesey's "Merry Pranksters" fame).

Chet Helms Memorial - Speedway Meadows, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, October 30, 2005

On July 24, 2005 a fundraiser and Tribute concert to Chet was held at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. The show was organized by Dawn Holliday (Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival organizer), Roger McNamee (who put together a collection of posters from major bay area artists) and Pete Sears who was responsible for finding and organizing the musicians. Kathy Peck of the H.E.A.R. foundation organized the online auction. Pete Sears had been talking with Chet while he was sick in hospital and offered to help get a benefit together to take care of some pressing bills Chet was concerned about. Chet wholeheartedly gave the benefit his blessing. The concert details were well underway and most artists in place when Chet died. They decided to carry on with the fundraiser anyway and turned the concert into a tribute to Chet. The show sold out in just a few days, leaving many lined up outside unable to get in. But the concert obtained its primary goal which was to raise funds to pay off Chet’s bills…all money raised was given to Chet’s brother John. The concert was highly successful and featured such artists as: T Bone Burnett, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, David Nelson, Country Joe McDonald, Leigh Stephens, Bobby Vega, Joli Valenti & Friends, and the Flying Other Brothers.

External links

• "A Tribute to Chet Helms and SF Bands"
• "Chet Helms, aka Family Dog, celebrated along with his era"

Category:1942 births Category:Culture of San Francisco Category:2005 deaths Category:Deaths from hepatitis Category:American music industry executives Category:People from Santa Maria, California Category:People from San Francisco Category:People from Texas Category:Media people from California Category:History of San Francisco Category:Infectious disease deaths in California