
Community Engagement Residency Program
B.L.A.’s Community Engagement Residency (CER) provides year-long support for socially-engaged dance and movement artists to engage in a creative process with their communities, however they define them. Core values of the residency are equity, dialogue, process, artist autonomy, the intersection of art-making and activism, and building meaningful relationships among artists. In addition to funding, the CER builds artist capacity in program design, networking, production, grant writing, marketing, and other areas of artist interest.
2022 - 2023
Lead Artists
Asian Babe Gang
Malia Hatico-Byrne, Rose Huey, Kim Ip, Melissa Lewis Wong, Aiano Nakagawa, and Nina Wu
Tammy Johnson
The Black Women's Freedom Circle:
The Progression Project
Photo (Left): Members of Asian Babe Gang (Malia Hatico-Byrne, Rose Huey, Kim Ip, Melissa Lewis Wong, Aiano Nakagawa, and Nina Wu.(Right): Tammy Johnson. Photos courtesy of the artists.
Photo (L to R): jose e. abad by Robbie Sweeny; Stephanie Hewett by Amina El Kabbany; Andreina Maldonado by Cynthia Valeska
2021 - 2022
Lead Artists
jose e. abad & Stephanie Hewett
to be like the river
Andreina Maldonado
Our Work / Our Dignity
2020 - 2021
Lead Artists
Performance Primers
Hannah Ayasse, Chibueze Crouch, Zoe Donnellycolt
Jarrel Phillips
Living Folklore
Photo (L to R): Performance Primers logo created and photographed by Zoe Donnellycolt, designed by Claire Rabkin; Jarrel Phillips by Michole "Micholiano" Forks
2019 - 2020
Lead Artists
David Herrera
LatinXtensions: Latinx Choreographic Mentorship Program
Yayoi Kambara
Aesthetic Shift: A Dance Lab for Equitable Practices
Estrellx Supernova and Daria Garina
QTBIPOC Performing Artist Hive
Photo (L to R): David Herrera, Yayoi Kambara, and the QTBIPOC Performing Artist HIVE, initiated by Estrellx Supernova and Daria Garina.
Photo by Hillary Goidell of Julie Tolentino in bury.me.fiercely 2018
The Community Engagement Residency is made possible with support from the California Arts Council Artists in Communities Program Grant.