World Arts West Celebrates 45th Annual Dance Festival
Sundays, August 25, September 1 & September 8
Expanded festival includes three weekends illuminating the theme of Dance as Activism
WHAT IS IT:
San Francisco, CA (August 1, 2024) – World Arts West celebrates its 45th annual dance festival this year! The festival includes artist dialogues and dance workshops at Dance Mission Theater on August 25 and September 1, culminating in a day of free live performances that center culture, wisdom and beauty through global dance and music at the Presidio on Sunday, September 8 from 1pm - 4pm.
Dance is driving social change! The theme of the 2024 Festival is “Dance as Activism” – reflecting the power of cultural dance to challenge societal norms, preserve cultural heritage, and inspire social change.
Quote from Dr. Anne Huang, Executive Director of World Arts West
“There's a cultural movement in the Bay Area that’s building solidarity amongst holders of ancestral knowledge. To meet this current historical moment, 13 dance and music ensembles are telling stories of resistance and revolution. Each performance is a coded blueprint for survival, resilience and evolution.”
World Arts West is telling stories that demonstrate dance as more powerful and persuasive than shackles and guns or fear and violence. Through dance, cultural communities retain storehouses of knowledge and wisdom for how we can persist and resist today. Culture bearers from Africa, the Middle East, the Americas – all calling to the ancestors, calling to their peoples, calling for unity and action.
World Arts West Dance Festival Weekend One, August 25, 2024
Weekend One opens up with our NEW Artist Dialogue Series + Dance Workshops at Dance Mission Theater. The Artist Dialogue Series centers on themes such as dance as a form of resistance, female empowerment, the evolution of traditional dance in contemporary settings, and exploring queer identity within traditional dance. All dialogues will be moderated, recorded and include an audience Q+A at the end.
The day-long event includes the panel, “Queer identity & Cultural/Traditional dance” with Akhil Joondeph, Amit Patel, Arturo Magana, and Snowflake Arizmendi-Calvert, discussing how queer dance artists from a variety of cultural backgrounds center queerness within their work. How artists both look to and break from tradition to celebrate queerness in their dance.
The second panel, “Dance as resistance/protest..past and present” features Dr. Anne Huang, Alleluia Panis, Portsha Jefferson, and Kiazi Malonga focusing on how dance artists are using their work to resist the oppressive forces of colonialism upon the lands, traditions, values, and existences of their Indigenous cultures.
Both panels are followed by dance workshops, Contemporary Indian with Amit Patel (Ishami Dance Company) and Haitian Dance with Portsha Jefferson (Rara Tou Limen).
World Arts West Dance Festival Weekend Two, September 1, 2024
Weekend Two includes Artist Dialogues + Dance Workshops at Dance Mission Theater.
The day-long event includes the panel, “Evolution + Preservation: evolving traditional dance in contemporary settings” with Kiazi Malonga, Vanessa Sanchez, Philip Agyapong, and Ishita Mili exploring the push and pull relationship between evolution and preservation. Panelists will unpack the necessity of preserving traditions while acknowledging the importance of adapting to the times.
The second panel, “Female empowerment through dance” with Andréa Spearman, Ishika Seth, Suhaila Salimpour, and Jennifer Anolin will focus on the contribution of women in historical dance cultures, addressing the everpresent sexism, and investigating personal stories of growth and influence.
Both panels are followed by dance workshops, AfroPop with Philip Agyapong, Belly Dance with Suhaila Salimpour, and a closing community cypher led by Jennifer Anolin (of Mix'd Ingrdnts).
World Arts West Dance Festival Weekend Three, September 8, 2024
Event Listing:
Event: 45th Annual World Arts West Dance Festival
Date: Sundays, August 25, September 1, September 8
Time: Varies
Location: Dance Mission Theater & Presidio Tunnel Tops, San Francisco, CA
Admission: Free
Website: https://www.worldartswest.org/
Description: World Arts West celebrates its 45th Annual Dance Festival! The three-weekend festival showcases culture, wisdom, and beauty through global dance and music, with a theme this year of “Dance as Activism.” The festival will include artist dialogues + dance workshops at Dance Mission on August 25 and September 1 and a day of live performances at the Presidio on Sunday, September 8!
Event link: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/2024-world-arts-west-dance-festival-3392519
About World Arts West:
Founded in 1978, World Arts West is a nationally-recognized leader in advocating for cultural arts communities. Serving one the largest world dance networks in the United States, World Arts West is a wraparound cultural artist service provider based in San Francisco, serving as a hub for comprehensive capacity-building artist services. World Arts West pioneered the first city-sponsored multicultural dance festival in the USA. Now in its 46th year, World Arts West continues this legacy of presenting a vital platform for cultural artists to build recognition, visibility, and intersectional solidarity.
Media Contacts:
Anne Huang, Executive Director, World Arts West, [email protected], 510-520-3348
Andréa Spearman, World Arts West, [email protected], 510-473-7363
World Arts West Celebrates 45th Annual Dance Festival
Sundays, August 25, September 1 & September 8
Expanded festival includes three weekends illuminating the theme of Dance as Activism
WHAT IS IT:
San Francisco, CA (August 1, 2024) – World Arts West celebrates its 45th annual dance festival this year! The festival includes artist dialogues and dance workshops at Dance Mission Theater on August 25 and September 1, culminating in a day of free live performances that center culture, wisdom and beauty through global dance and music at the Presidio on Sunday, September 8 from 1pm - 4pm.
Dance is driving social change! The theme of the 2024 Festival is “Dance as Activism” – reflecting the power of cultural dance to challenge societal norms, preserve cultural heritage, and inspire social change.
Quote from Dr. Anne Huang, Executive Director of World Arts West
“There's a cultural movement in the Bay Area that’s building solidarity amongst holders of ancestral knowledge. To meet this current historical moment, 13 dance and music ensembles are telling stories of resistance and revolution. Each performance is a coded blueprint for survival, resilience and evolution.”
World Arts West is telling stories that demonstrate dance as more powerful and persuasive than shackles and guns or fear and violence. Through dance, cultural communities retain storehouses of knowledge and wisdom for how we can persist and resist today. Culture bearers from Africa, the Middle East, the Americas – all calling to the ancestors, calling to their peoples, calling for unity and action.
World Arts West Dance Festival Weekend One, August 25, 2024
Weekend One opens up with our NEW Artist Dialogue Series + Dance Workshops at Dance Mission Theater. The Artist Dialogue Series centers on themes such as dance as a form of resistance, female empowerment, the evolution of traditional dance in contemporary settings, and exploring queer identity within traditional dance. All dialogues will be moderated, recorded and include an audience Q+A at the end.
The day-long event includes the panel, “Queer identity & Cultural/Traditional dance” with Akhil Joondeph, Amit Patel, Arturo Magana, and Snowflake Arizmendi-Calvert, discussing how queer dance artists from a variety of cultural backgrounds center queerness within their work. How artists both look to and break from tradition to celebrate queerness in their dance.
The second panel, “Dance as resistance/protest..past and present” features Dr. Anne Huang, Alleluia Panis, Portsha Jefferson, and Kiazi Malonga focusing on how dance artists are using their work to resist the oppressive forces of colonialism upon the lands, traditions, values, and existences of their Indigenous cultures.
Both panels are followed by dance workshops, Contemporary Indian with Amit Patel (Ishami Dance Company) and Haitian Dance with Portsha Jefferson (Rara Tou Limen).
World Arts West Dance Festival Weekend Two, September 1, 2024
Weekend Two includes Artist Dialogues + Dance Workshops at Dance Mission Theater.
The day-long event includes the panel, “Evolution + Preservation: evolving traditional dance in contemporary settings” with Kiazi Malonga, Vanessa Sanchez, Philip Agyapong, and Ishita Mili exploring the push and pull relationship between evolution and preservation. Panelists will unpack the necessity of preserving traditions while acknowledging the importance of adapting to the times.
The second panel, “Female empowerment through dance” with Andréa Spearman, Ishika Seth, Suhaila Salimpour, and Jennifer Anolin will focus on the contribution of women in historical dance cultures, addressing the everpresent sexism, and investigating personal stories of growth and influence.
Both panels are followed by dance workshops, AfroPop with Philip Agyapong, Belly Dance with Suhaila Salimpour, and a closing community cypher led by Jennifer Anolin (of Mix'd Ingrdnts).
World Arts West Dance Festival Weekend Three, September 8, 2024
- Chinyakare Ensemble - Chinyakare presents traditional dance, music, and culture of Zimbabwe and Southern Africa that weaves colorful stories that show scenes from everyday life, while teaching important life lessons, such as goal-setting, perseverance, and thankfulness.
- Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company - Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company (DAYPC) is a diverse group of teens that collaborates with professional artists to create dynamic, original productions that combine hip hop, modern and aerial dance, theater, song, and rap, telling stories that stem from their lived experiences and express their commitment to advancing inclusivity, equity, and justice.
- Destiny Muhammad (harpist) - Recording/Performing Artist, Band Leader, Composer & Producer. Her genre ranges from Celtic to Coltrane, is cool and eclectic with a feel of Jazz & Storytelling to round out the sonic experience.
- Ensamble Folclórico Colibrí - Under the artistic directorship of Arturo Magaña, Ensamble Folklórico Colibrí’s mission is to promote the pride of identifying as an LGBTQ+ Latinx through the art of Mexican Folklórico dance.
- Fua Dia Kongo - Founded in 1977, Fua Dia Kongo is a nonprofit cultural arts organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Kongolese cultural legacies worldwide.
- International Performing Arts of America - A non-profit dance group based in the Bay Area that is passionate about celebrating East Asian culture through motion and choreography.
- Ishami Dance Company - Ishami Dance Company is a South Asian Contemporary dance company whose mission is to explore, unite and amplify the diverse voices, stories and histories of the South Asian diaspora and dismantle social and cultural constructs by combing movement, music and aesthetics of Western forms like modern, contemporary and jazz with South Asian dance forms like Bharatnaytam, Kathak, Garba and Chhau.
- Ishita Mili - Ishita Mili is a Bengali-American director, choreographer, educator, and iconoclast that founded IMGE dance company, that unravels cultural roots to thread together global stories that encompass dynamic imagery, mudra storytelling, and percussive footwork to confront social and cultural constructs.
- Kitka - Kitka is an American women’s vocal arts ensemble inspired by traditional songs and vocal techniques from Eastern Europe and Eurasia.
- La Mezcla - La Mezcla is a rhythmic ensemble of womxn of color that explores historical narratives and social justice through tap dance, Mexican zapateado and Afro-Caribbean rhythms.
- Noorani Dance Company - Founded by international Kathak artist, Farah Yasmeen Shaikh, Noorani Dance exemplifies Farah’s unique artistic expression and vision coupled with the classical and innovative influence and style of Farah's Guru, the late Pandit Chitresh Das.
- Parangal - Parangal’s mission is to give tribute to Philippine heritage by preserving and promoting ethnic attire, music, and dance through research, workshops, and performances.
- Suhaila Salimpour & the Salimpour Collective - First-generation Middle Eastern (Kurdish, Sicilian, and Greek) American belly dancer Suhaila Salimpour is known not only for creating the first certification program in belly dance in the world, but also for the global influence of her own format on belly dance performance and instruction.
Event Listing:
Event: 45th Annual World Arts West Dance Festival
Date: Sundays, August 25, September 1, September 8
Time: Varies
Location: Dance Mission Theater & Presidio Tunnel Tops, San Francisco, CA
Admission: Free
Website: https://www.worldartswest.org/
Description: World Arts West celebrates its 45th Annual Dance Festival! The three-weekend festival showcases culture, wisdom, and beauty through global dance and music, with a theme this year of “Dance as Activism.” The festival will include artist dialogues + dance workshops at Dance Mission on August 25 and September 1 and a day of live performances at the Presidio on Sunday, September 8!
Event link: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/2024-world-arts-west-dance-festival-3392519
About World Arts West:
Founded in 1978, World Arts West is a nationally-recognized leader in advocating for cultural arts communities. Serving one the largest world dance networks in the United States, World Arts West is a wraparound cultural artist service provider based in San Francisco, serving as a hub for comprehensive capacity-building artist services. World Arts West pioneered the first city-sponsored multicultural dance festival in the USA. Now in its 46th year, World Arts West continues this legacy of presenting a vital platform for cultural artists to build recognition, visibility, and intersectional solidarity.
Media Contacts:
Anne Huang, Executive Director, World Arts West, [email protected], 510-520-3348
Andréa Spearman, World Arts West, [email protected], 510-473-7363