$50,000

She Who Is Queen will be an evening-length dance piece with live music by choreographer Susana Arenas Pedroso, artistic director of Arenas Dance Company. An expansion of her Manos de Mujer a la Obra (Women’s Hands at Work), Susana’s new work will be based on the tale of Ochún Ada Ara, and draw from her expertise in Afro-Cuban folkloric sacred dance. CubaCaribe will present the new work with a cast of approximately 25 in San Francisco, either as part of its annual CubaCaribe Festival of Dance and Music or a stand-alone weekend of performances. This work will premiere in the Spring of 2020

cubacaribe.org

Photo: Brooke Anderson

$50,000

The Big Reveal is a multi-faceted participatory, day long performance event created by Fog Beast directors Melecio Estrella and Andrew Ward for a cast of seven. Presented at the Asian Art Museum, The Big Reveal drew on family histories and immigration stories to consider questions of access and belonging, revealing unspoken collective agreements that we all share. The museum setting was transformed between an interactive learning environment and an immersive dance theater performance with an original musical score performed live by Ben Juodvalkis. This work premiered on July 18, 2019.

dancersgroup.org

Photo: Tony Nguyen

$50,000

Between Underground and Skyworld (BTW US), emerges from Dancing Earth’s director Rulan Tangen inviting diasporic intergenerational communities for gatherings to envision a collective, Indigenous-centered future that considers practical, spiritual, and cultural expressions of renewable energy. Interdisciplinary Indigenous artists translate these diverse intertribal perspectives into an embodied story experience that moves from outdoor urban nature space to indoor ritual theater dreamscape, following the journey of escapees from apocalypse to remembering ancestral wisdom, becoming Indigenous eco-warrior superheroes! This work will preview in Fall 2020 and premiere in Fall 2020.

dancingearth.org

$50,000

Kekeli (Enlightenment) is a coming of age story that follows a 17 year-old African-American male dancer who, seeking enlightenment, takes a journey through ancient cultural traditions of Ghana. Inspired by a real life student of his, CK Ladzekpo, a venerable scholar, master dancer, drummer, and choreographer, will collaborate with his student, Aziza, to weld hip-hop, aerial dance, Afro-Pop and Anlo-Ewe dance/drumming rituals into a searing look at acceptance, personal identity, and heritage through the lens of a dance: the “blood and bone of African culture.” This work will premiere in Spring 2019.

eastbaycenter.org

$50,000

Living in the Belly of the Eagle is a dance theater piece created by Alleluia Panis in collaboration with composer Joshua Icban and media artist Wilfred Galila that explores the painful legacy of internalized racism and misogyny that manifests in overt and stealth exploitation and xenophobia within the Pilipino community in pursuit of the American Dream. This project will explore the ways Pilipinos ‘live in the belly of the eagle’—a metaphor for our lives and labor in the United States and the harsh, exploitative realities of human trafficking within our community. This work will premiere in Spring 2021.

kularts-sf.org

$50,000

Through Butoh, modern dance techniques, multimedia and performance art, POOLREADY! will explore the complexities of climate change, and the futility of individuals being able to act collectively in their self-interest and for the good of humanity. Ledoh will choreograph and perform in the piece as a slightly comic character, prepared for the next Noachian flood-at the ready, with floaties, snorkel and fins. This performance will take place within an immersive video environment and LED light-framed cube that can facilitate site-specific staging. This work premiered in May 2019 in a co-production with Circuit Network.

ledoh.org