The Bay Area's Hub for Asian Pacific American Community Arts Since 1972
Featured Artist: Sammay
Sammay Dizon is a choreographer/producer and interdisciplinary performing artist of Kapampangan, Ilokano, and Bikol descent. She defines her body as a “tool of resonance” for spiritual intercession and envisions a future in which our indigenous traditions co-exist with(in) our urban landscapes. Sammay is the founder of URBAN x INDIGENOUS: an inter-generational multi-disciplinary arts festival and was a guest artist through A/P/A Institute at NYU for the first ever Indigenous Dance Forum curated by Jack Gray. She is a two-time recipient of the “Presented by APICC” Artist award and Performing Diaspora 2016 Artist-in-Residence at CounterPulse.
Showcase Artists
Naina Shastri
Naina Shastri is a Bharatanatyam dancer, performer, choreographer and teacher. She has trained in India and currently teaches in San Ramon and Pleasanton at her academy, Ushanjali School of Dance.
She has a Vidwat(Master's level) degree in Bharatanatyam and regularly perform at various Indian dance festivals in the Bay Area and India.
Kimberly Requesto
Kimberly Requesto is a multi-disciplinary artist and has been a part of the Filipino Folk dance community for a decade. Currently, she is a principle dancer at Parangal Dance Company based in San Francisco and trains under Master Artist and Kalinga cultural bearer Jenny Bower Young, under a contract from the Alliance of California for Traditional Arts. As a principle dancer and apprentice, Kimberly shares her passion by teaching folk dance for different colleges, high schools, and middle schools.
Joseph Nontanovan
Originally from Washington, D.C., Joseph Nontanovan is committed to spreading his love for music, movement, food, and self-expression. He is the former artistic director of Culture Shock Dance Troupe, D.C. & Los Angeles. He has taught throughout Canada, Europe, and India. He currently resides, teaches, and performs in the Bay Area, and is the program organizer for Bay Area Diggs Deeper, a freestyle dance community event.
Johnny Nguyen
Johnny Nguyen is a second generation Vietnamese-Canadian now residing in San Francisco. Originally beginning with breaking (breakdance) at the age of 23. Since then, he has expanded his dance practice to include house, vogue, and contemporary. He has recently begun his foray into performance art with his solo debut, BANANA. The goals of his work are to activate awareness and discussion, and ultimately, healing and action.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar Bhutto is an artist of mixed Pakistani and Lebanese descent. His work explores political queerness and how it exists in a constant in-between and non-aligned space along with issues of state violence and how that violence resonates in the collective memory.
Caroline Calderon
Caroline Calderon is a queer Pinay originally from Los Angeles but currently residing in San Francisco. Caroline works with the Bill Sorro Housing Program of the Veterans Equity Center helping individuals and families find affordable housing and teaches with Pinay Educational Partnerships teaching Ethnic Studies to students at the University of San Francisco. When she is not fighting in the belly of the beast, she is at home spittin' poetry and writing songs for the people.
Himiko
Himiko began her study of classic ballet and Japanese calligraphy at age three. Her dance studies now include Contemporary, Duncan, Butoh and Ballroom dance. She has been a member of the Mary Sano Duncan dancers since 2008. She received her teacher's license for Japanese calligraphy from Koyo Endo in Tokyo, and teaches Japanese calligraphy classes in the San Francisco Bay Area. Himiko now collaborates with other artists to bring together her own style of dance with Japanese calligraphy to create new works of art.