• August 25, 2009

    Bihag, my choreographic take on the Hip hop Tinikling – part 2

    By Published On: August 25th, 2009

    Archival Photo of  Silayan Dance Company  featuring dancers Sandy Mendez and Mandy Burgos  from article on  "Filipino Life",   Los Angeles Times 1986 (Costume idea for Tikling Bird Goddess in "BIHAG" - look at male dancer in the back) I write in my pajamas in this late bright sunny afternoon wondering why I haven’t changed

  • August 21, 2009

    Do You Have Those in Black?

    By Published On: August 21st, 2009

    Ok so we aren't quite finished but we are nearly there.  We had to use the white because in the entire Bay Area it is apparently the only color in which they make Fire Retardant paint.  Patrick Simms and I slapped the first coat of black on before we left yesterday and I think they

  • August 20, 2009

    Approaching the Feminine – Prumsodun Ok for Performing Diaspora

    By Published On: August 20th, 2009

    "He, who is described as male, is as much the female and the penetrating eye does not fail to see it." - Rigveda It is 4.06 AM.  My eyes tell me that I need to sleep but lying in bed is proving useless as thoughts race through my head.  I was in Cambodia for ten

  • August 19, 2009

    Towards Chicano Dance

    By Published On: August 19th, 2009

    When you choreograph folk dance and work to transfer movement from its natural habitat to the stage the considerations are: : Is the representation accurate? Am I being true to the spirit of the dance? Have I accurately reflected the integrity and idiosyncracy of the music, dance and people of that area? As important as

  • August 19, 2009

    The Memo

    By Published On: August 19th, 2009

    I didn't get the memo. You know the one that breaks down the ways in which descendants of enslaved Africans have a different (but just as post traumatic stress disordered psychosis) than the descendants of colonized Africans. To be fair, I looked completely different when I've traveled abroad before (I had long hair), AND there

  • August 18, 2009

    Introduction to My New Work”From Beijing to San Francisco”

    By Published On: August 18th, 2009

    My project “From Beijing to San Francisco” at CP  is a newly commissioned musical piece, bringing the guqin, a Chinese scholarly art, into an innovative, multidisciplinary stage performance, and introducing the ancient, living tradition of the guqin into modern life. It uses a guqin player’s own story to illustrate the fate of the guqin, an ancient

  • August 15, 2009

    Live from Riser Rebuild

    By Published On: August 15th, 2009

    Hi friends, This is Jez here, Board Prez of CounterPULSE. Last week Lily wrote a blog post about our exciting new riser rebuild. If you're interested in helping out, contact Julie at 415.626.2060 or via email (julie [@] counterpulse.org) to find out more! I just got back into town and decided to stop by and

  • August 13, 2009

    Riser Rebuild

    By Published On: August 13th, 2009

    Last weekend, a small group of volunteers, including yours truly, carefully demolished the old risers at CounterPULSE. Having never used a power drill before, and in the company of those who have, I faked my way through the day, unscrewing, de-nailing, and generally having a blast. Apparently, I have a knack. The cool part of

  • August 5, 2009

    Words First: A Monthly Solo Performance Series

    By Published On: August 5th, 2009

    Wed. Aug. 5, 7:30pm, $7-10 (Members $3-5)

    Janine Brito, in "Poetry for the Pathetic & Repugnant," is having trouble surviving her day, let alone her breakup. Alex Koll lets you into the world of a balloon animal-maker in "I'm That Guy." Zahra Noorbakhsh (photo, right) is an Islamic preteen, struggling to save her mother from the fiery pits of hell in "Hijab or Hammer-Pants?" Buy Tix Now!

  • August 4, 2009

    Freedom

    By Published On: August 4th, 2009

    middle (line) Look fast. Move slow. The ground is on fire, but I don't worry myself with that anymore. If I was at home I would ask if the fumes were toxic. Now, toxic is relative and intersections are the eye of the storm. In Ghana, 'Nature' is the holy book that tells people what

  • July 29, 2009

    Ayelo yeku daba

    By Published On: July 29th, 2009

    beginning (circle) kokou katamani When I first formed my company, Ase Dance Theatre Collective, Kokou Katamani taught us a song. I'll never forget that he came all the way from California just to perform in one of my pieces. I was a student at The Ailey School then and it was my first time living away

  • July 25, 2009

    Perverts Put Out!

    By Published On: July 25th, 2009

    Sat. July 25, 7:30 pm, $10-15 (Members $5-10)

    San Francisco's long-running pansexual performance series is back for its traditional pre-Dore-Alley-Fair edition, featuring longtime faves Thomas Roche and horehound stillpoint, emcees Carol Queen and Simon Sheppard, and much more! Join your fellow pervs for some explicit, twisted fun! Photo of George Davis by Simon Sheppard. Buy Tix Now!