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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

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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.

Photos of jose e. abad, Stephanie Hewett, Andreina Maldonado

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

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2020 - 2021

Lead Artists

Performance Primers
Hannah Ayasse, Chibueze Crouch, Zoe Donnellycolt

Jarrel Phillips
Living Folklore

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Performance Primers logo, and photo of Jarrel Phillips

Photo (L to R): Performance Primers logo created and photographed by Zoe Donnellycolt, designed by Claire Rabkin; Jarrel Phillips by Michole "Micholiano" Forks

Photo of David Herrera, photo of Yayoi Kambara, and the BIPOC Performing Artist Hive logo

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

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Photo (L to R): David Herrera, Yayoi Kambara, and the QTBIPOC Performing Artist HIVE, initiated by Estrellx Supernova and Daria Garina.

2018 - 2019

Lead Artist

Gerald Casel
Dancing Around Race

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Headshot of Gerald Casel

Photo by Robbie Sweeney

Julie Tolentino dancing in bury.me.fiercely

2017 - 2018

Lead Artist

Julie Tolentino

The Hard Corps & a.u.l.e.

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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.

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