April 20, 2023
For immediate release

Contact:
Andrew Wood 415-399-9554 (o) 415-305-1102 (c) [email protected]
Lucho Ramirez: (415) 425-0445 [email protected]

With the Festival's Return to the Mission
A Rich Diversity of Latinx Productions Proliferate

Calendar Editors Please Note
Who: Multiple Artists
What: 2023 San Francisco International Arts Festival
Where: BRAVA Theater, 2781 24th St, SF and Joe Good Annex, 401 Alabama St, SF (both CA 94110).
Date & Time: June 8-18, 2023
Tickets: $20 - $28 general admission. Early Bird Sale Ends April 30, 2023
Box Office and Information: https://www.sfiaf.org or 415-399-9554.

Photos Available on Request

April 20, 2023: San Francisco International Arts Festival (SFIAF) will return to the Mission district this coming June after an absence of 15 years. With three stages at BRAVA Theater Center, two in the Project Artaud complex (Theatre of Yugen and Joe Goode Annex) and a host of educational at Dance Mission Theater, the Festival program will be in the neighborhood for the first time since 2008. The relocation has attracted the attention of a number of Latinx artists and projects who have joined the lineup this year. They include local artists, internationals and expatriates and their work covers a diverse range of genres and Latin American experiences.

Individual projects include Liz Duran Boubion's research into the murders of Latina and Indigenous women in the country's western deserts with Cuantro Vientos: Middle of Nowhere and Guta Galli's treatise on the rights of women in Cup of Tea, to the semi-true story of two Mexican chefs who served the Libyan dictator, Muammar Qaddafi in Quaddafi's Cook. There are also celebrations of culture ranging from Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Spain.

Festival director, Andrew Wood said of the move to the Mission, "The SFIAF board of directors has harbored a desire to return to the Mission since it became apparent we would not be able to continue at Fort Mason after the COVID-19 Pandemic, and they formally voted to do so last summer. So we are very pleased to be able to relaunch the program here and, even as we look forward to 2023, we are already making plans to secure the program here for 2024 as well."

He continued, "In addition to some of the powerful and thought provoking work referenced above, we are looking forward to presenting work that celebrates some of the folklore and legends of Mexico. We are particularly looking forward to the concerts by Ballet Folklorico Ensambles de San Francisco and flutist Elena Durán."

THE LINE-UP OF LATINX PROJECTS IN SFIAF 2023 IS AS FOLLOWS:

Dance

Piñata Dance Collective / Liz Duran Boubion
Cuatro Vientos: Middle of Nowhere (world premiere) (60 minutes w/out intermission)
Joe Goode Annex; Thur Jun 8, 2023 8:00 PM, Sat Jun 10, 2023 6:00 PM
Cuatro Vientos: Middle of Nowhere, is a multimedia dance-theater production about the risk and freedom of being alone. Dancers and ceremonialists investigate the physiology of fear, the concept of freedom and finding refuge in the natural world. It is dedicated to raising awareness and building solidarity for murdered and missing women.

Ensambles Ballet Folklórico de San Francisco
Sones y Tradiciones (Sounds and Traditions) (90 minutes with intermission)
BRAVA Theater; Sat Jun 10, 2023 8:00 PM
Ensambles Ballet Folklórico de San Francisco presents Sones y Tradiciones, a vibrant production full of rhythm and color that manifests the customs of the indigenous people of México. It is an evening of Mexican sones, a traditional musical style with origins in Spanish, African and Indigenous rhythms. Accompanied by dances from across many different regions of Mexico.

Music

Las Almas Trio
The Sound of Contemporary Tango (world premiere) (60 minutes w/out intermission)
BRAVA Cabaret; Sun Jun 11, 2023 3:00 PM
After their inaugural concert outdoors with SFIAF in October 2020, the all-women Las Almas Trio, led by Sumi Lee Levy will celebrate the release of its first CD with both original and classical tango compositions by Ms. Lee and others.

Alex Conde
Piano Jazz Flamenco (Bay Area Premiere) (60 minutes w/out intermission)
BRAVA Cabaret; Sun Jun 11, 2023 6:00 PM
Spanish virtuoso pianist Alex Conde presents a ''jazz and flamenco'' solo piano concert full of energy and sensitivity. A repertory of original compositions and arrangements of T. Monk and B. Powell compositions in Latin Jazz Clave.

Neblinas del Pacífico
In Concert (120 minutes w/out intermission)
BRAVA Cabaret; Fri Jun 16, 2023 8:00 PM
Marimba music from the Pacífico Afro-Colombiano. Neblinas del Pacífico hail from Colombia, the Bay Area, and Canada/Holland/Indonesia, and are based in La Mission and East Oakland. They study and share this music in the spirit of respect and solidarity with the maestros and communities who are the guardians of this music.

Gisela Tangui and The Voodoo Cabaret
In Concert (75 minutes with intermission)
BRAVA Cabaret; Sun Jun 18, 2023 6:00 PM
The Voodoo Cabaret is an ongoing musical performance project driven by the songs and theatrical presence of Gisela Tangui. Her compositions reflect a singular relationship to the Orishas/Loas of the African diaspora and are written to fulfill her personal spiritual quest as well as entertain, educate and inspire. Gisela uses extensive percussion, rock instrumentation, humor, devotion and her operatic voice to connect and uplift her audience and community.

Elena Durán and Nicholas McGegan
México de mi Corazón (Bay Area premiere) (75 minutes w/out intermission)
BRAVA Theater; Sun Jun 18, 2023 6:00 PM
Flautist, Elena Durán and Music Director Laureate, Nicholas McGegan (on piano), celebrate the "Golden Age" of Mexican Cinema; an era that produced a musical renaissance as well as many unforgettable movies. Durán and McGegan will present a program highlighting: the films of mega-stars such as Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete and Javier Solis; composers include Manuel Esperón, José Alfredo Jiménez, Rubén Fuentes and Consuelo Velazquez; with notable songs such as Bésame Mucho, Ay, Jalisco!, Amorcito Corazón and México Lindo y Querido.

Theatre

Bons Tempos Theatre
Qaddafi's Cook (west coast premiere) (55 minutes w/out intermission)
Joe Goode Annex; Fri Jun 9, 2023 8:00 PM, Sat Jun 10, 2023 3:00 PM
Taste the tyrant! Two young Mexican chefs get caught in the tailspin of Libyan dictator, Muammar Qaddafi, world’s bloodiest foodie and Lockerbie plotter. Inspired by real events, critics from New York to San Diego raved, "Intense and charming... beautifully connects food, passion, and power...” and “Do not miss this fine performance.”

Guta Galli
Cup of Tea (60 minutes w/out intermission)
BRAVA Studio; Thur Jun 15, 8:00 PM, Sat Jun 17, 2023 9:00 PM
Galli revisits her 2015 video-performance that questions laws that place boundaries on women's sexuality, caregiving and workplaces. Now bearing the body of a mother, she returns to the art scene and questions why the systemic oppression of women is still so prevalent and rape culture so widespread.

Crescent Moon Theater Productions
Hold On, When Everything Changes in a Flash (60 minutes w/out intermission)
BRAVA Studio, Friday, Jun 16, 7:00 PM, Saturday, Jun 17, 2:00 PM
Four young adults share harrowing and courageous stories of fleeing their home countries of Guatemala, Afghanistan, Iraq and Venezuela, and starting their lives in the United States. An evening of storytelling with live music accompaniment that reveals intimate and honest accounts of the refugee experience.

Funders
SFIAF 2023 is made possible in part by the support of Bernard Osher Foundation, BRAVA Theater Center, California Arts Council, California Office of the Small Business Advocate, California Venues Grant, National Endowment for the Arts, New Place Fund, Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, the Western Arts Federation (WESTAF) and many generous individuals.

~XXX~

With the Festival's Return to the MissionA Rich Diversity of Latinx Productions Proliferate

With the Festival's Return to the Mission
A Rich Diversity of Latinx Productions Proliferate