The Art of the Possible: Increase funding for the arts in 2008

It has been four years since the California Arts Council’s (CAC) budget was drastically cut by 94% leaving our state at the bottom of the nation in per capita spending […]

Ten Tips for Individual Appeal Letters

At some point in our careers as artists we come face-to-face with fundraising for our creative projects. This can be thrilling and exhilarating—serving as a rite-of-passage into the next phase […]

My Love Affair with Carnaval

FACETED SEQUINS glimmering in the light, beads feverishly shaking, infectious mechanical rhythms keeping time, deep pounding heart beats, glistening bronzed skin. Thousands of synchronized arms and legs moving in unison. Dizzying […]

Building a House of Culture: Jesús Cortez’s Journey to Create Cuicacalli Dance Company

Photo by Sam Rodar How many times has a dancer dreamed over a cup of tea at La Boheme? The cafe beneath Dance Mission Studio at 24th and Mission streets […]

EXPANSIONS // HORIZONS 35 Years of Asian Improv aRts, Community Solidarity, and Revolutionary Artmaking

Presented by Asian Art Museum with Asian Improv aRts, API Cultural Center & Lenora Lee Dance For 35 years, Asian Improv aRts (AIR) has been at the forefront of the […]

EXPANSIONS // HORIZONS 35 Years of Asian Improv aRts, Community Solidarity, and Revolutionary Artmaking

Presented by Asian Art Museum with Asian Improv aRts, API Cultural Center & Lenora Lee Dance For 35 years, Asian Improv aRts (AIR) has been at the forefront of the […]

Stepping to the Beat of a Different Fiddle with the Barbary Coast Cloggers

As the first high notes of fiddle fill the air, a group of twelve men in jeans and flannel shirts begin to clap rhythmically. A banjo joins the fiddle, and […]

Shawl-Anderson Dance Center: Celebrating a Half-Century of Making Dance and Community

In 1958, dance class was $2 at the studio Frank Shawl and Victor Anderson started above a liquor store on College Avenue in Berkeley. Adjusted for inflation, that means they […]

Postcards From Africa: Artists Working Here and Far

Shuttling from the Bay Area to disparate regions of Africa, dance professionals Janice Garrett, Byb Bibene Chanel, Kristine Elliott and Joti Singh use the art form to power exchange. Their […]

Gaining Perspectives, Changing Perceptions: ARTICLE #1: How Politics and Power Shaped Dance in Pakistan

In a time where hatred and violence are a common occurrence abroad and in the U.S., I believe that artists play a critical role as cultural ambassadors and social change-makers. […]