Founded in 2001, NAKA Dance Theater creates experimental performance works using dance, storytelling, multimedia installations and site-specific environments. NAKA builds partnerships with communities, engages people's histories and folklore and expresses experiences through accessible performances that challenge the viewer to think critically about social justice issues. 

World Arts West is a San Francisco-based, non-profit organization that supports over 450 Bay Area dance companies that are sustaining and celebrating the world's cultural legacy.

After four decades of extensive work with artists throughout the Bay Area's diverse communities, World Arts West is recognized for creating the epicenter for dance from over 100 unique world cultures, resulting in the most vibrant and diverse dance community in the world. 

Dance Mission connects and empowers diverse Bay Area communities and artists through all aspects of dance and dance theater, including the production of new works, instruction, and performance. We are an artist-driven, feminist organization dedicated to building community, addressing social justice issues, exploring cultural identities, promoting inclusivity, and creating a more peaceful world through collective action.

ABD Productions/Skywatchers inspires social change through the arts. Our women- and queer-centered multi-ethnic company is committed to the production of new dance works created in collaboration with diverse communities.

ABD’s principal program, Skywatchers, reflects an enduring commitment to creating performance that centers the urgent concerns of residents of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, working with professional artists in a collaboration rooted in the ethos that large-scale social change begins with intimate, interpersonal relationships.

The Liberation Academy was conceived to restore the intellectual scholarship, spiritual wisdom and creative richness which resides historically in Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color collective oral and underground traditions.

Founded in 1985, Kulintang Arts, Inc., now known popularly as KULARTS, is the premier presenter of contemporary and tribal Pilipino arts in the United States. Through our three decades of service, KULARTS has grown into a leading elder arts organization, uniting generations of artists and community activists in a common effort to build a collective space and sense of belonging within our city, specifically the SOMA Pilipinas: Filipino Cultural Heritage District. KULARTS creates work that makes visible the contributions of Pilipino Americans and creates room for cultural continuity and knowledge.

​

Established in 2016 as a tribute to the 36 artists who lost their lives in the Ghost Ship fire, Vital Arts was born to honor the memory of those who sought a safe haven for their art and lives, with a mission to transform the conditions in the Bay Area so that artists can not only survive but thrive in their communities. Vital Arts’ core mission has evolved around the creation and preservation of affordable, safe spaces tailored for artists to live, work, and perform. 

The Parlor Room was founded in autumn of 2012 when Signature Sounds Recordings moved to a new location at 32 Masonic St. in downtown Northampton. Our mission is to enhance the health and vitality of our community through music. We believe in the ability of music to transcend boundaries, bridge gaps, and uplift spirits. Our vision is to create a space where diverse audiences can come together to experience the magic of live music, fostering a sense of belonging and shared cultural appreciation.

Parangal’s mission is to give tribute to Philippine heritage by preserving and promoting ethnic attire, music, and dance through research, workshops, and performances. We aim to serve as a bridge,inspiring and connecting Filipinos in diaspora to their roots to give them a sense of pride and identity, while educating diverse communities to foster awareness and appreciation of Philippine culture.

Parangal seeks to learn about the Philippine Indigenous People's culture and arts directly from the knowledge and wisdom of community leaders and culture bearers, in order to gain a greater appreciation and understanding of indigenous ways of life, rituals, traditions, dances, attires, and music.

Founded in 1977, Fua Dia Kongo is a nonprofit cultural arts organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Kongolese cultural legacies worldwide. With a renewed focus on global ambassadorship, research/study and cultural restoration, Fua Dia Kongo serves as a unifying force, safeguarding traditional art forms and reconnecting the descendants of the Kongo Kingdom across the globe.

Shruti Abhishek Dance is a performing, presenting and educational organization led by Indian dancer, choreographer, and teacher, Shruti Abhishek. The mission of Shruti Abhishek Dance is to sustain and evolve the tradition of Bharatanatyam dance in the San Francisco Bay Area through performance, presenting and educational programs. Our organization is dedicated to reclaiming and recontextualizing the Bharatanatyam tradition while exploring intersections between post-modern Western artforms and media. 

Ghost Ensemble fosters groundbreaking music that blurs borders of genre, style, and scene, expanding our perceptual horizons through shared immersive experience. Since its 2012 inception, the ensemble has commissioned 34 new works by a diverse range of highly original composers who share a belief in music’s potential for individual and community transformation. Rethinking the norms of composer/performer collaboration, Ghost Ensemble conducts innovative workshops to nurture adventurous new music over the course of multiple seasons. The resulting work often straddles contemporary classical, experimental chamber music, avant-garde jazz, sound art, and territories in between.

Founded in Washington, DC in 2007, Spilling Ink is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating immersive art experiences that promote cultural education through innovative Indian dance projects. Spilling Ink uses contemporary classic expression, merging tradition with unique artistic visual expression to produce high value experiences. A trailblazer in their field, Spilling Ink is intrinsically gripping and emotive, exposing raw human understanding in their deeply connective performances. The organization aims to promote cultural understanding and social progress through its unwavering belief that movement and expression are tenants to physical and mental balance and equality. 

Capacitor’s mission is to reawaken people's personal connections to nature utilizing new technology and scientific understanding, through motion and sculptural design. Born out of the collision of cultural influences found only in the San Francisco Bay Area, our performances explore patterns and relationships inherent in nature and the cosmos. Through dance, interactive video, cirque nouveau, original music, and large-scale movement sculptures,

Capacitor personalizes large, abstract concepts and in so doing, transcends cultural barriers and widens the scope of basic human experience.

Kugelplex is the West Coast's rockin’-est purveyor of klezmer and old-world music. Formed in 2001, the group plays wild, soulful dance music at concerts, festivals and jewish lifecycle events throughout the United States. We’ve performed with Joan Baez, the Oakland Symphony, the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir and Frank London, Linda Tillery, Jewlia Eisenberg, Nils Frykdahl, Kitka, Rumen Shopov, and other greats. 

Myrtle Street Klezmer is an ecstatic exploration into the past, present & future of klezmer. Led by clarinetist, Jason Ditzian, the group plays events throughout the East Coast.

A site for all things Klezmer.

Eye Zen Presents is committed to unearthing and elevating Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People Of Color (QTBIPOC) and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual plus (LGBTQIA+) histories to better understand the diverse lineages within our community. We create innovative transdisciplinary performance, community-building events and workshops throughout San Francisco that illuminate the underrecognized legacies of our queer ancestors who have been silenced and hidden due to social and political oppression.

Latanya d. Tigner has performed professionally with Dimensions Dance Theater within multidisciplinary works rooted in African diasporic dance forms since 1986. She holds a B.A. in Physical Education/Dance and a Master’s in Arts Administration. She directs Dimensions Dance Theater’s youth company and lectures at University of California, Berkeley and Mills College. In her 30 plus-year dance career, Latanya has created commissioned works for Dimensions Dance Theater, Black Choreographers Festival, Robert Moses’ Kin, UC Berkeley, Mills College, and has presented work in SF Ethnic Dance Festival, CubaCaribe, and Mabina Dance Festival (Congo-Brazzaville).

Krissy Keefer co-founded the Wallflower Order in the 1970's as the nation's first feminist dance company. She then co-founded Dance Brigade in 1984 to create and perform dance-theater that addresses the complex problems of contemporary American women. Keefer’s specialty is making art which is politically-searing, technically-adept, and unapologetically woman-centered.

inkBoat researches the interplay of multiple artistic disciplines and viewpoints, drawing primarily from the Japanese performing and martial arts, improvisational arts, and Daoist internal arts. inkBoat stage works border dance, performance art and theater, and inhabit theaters, museums, streets and abandoned spaces.

Founded in 2004 by Dohee Lee, Dohee Lee Puri Arts is the producing organization of Guggenheim Award-winning performance artist, Dohee Lee. Our mission is to create and tour multidisciplinary, community performance rituals under the direction of Dohee Lee. We utilize art to heal fractured relationships in the urban environment – relationships between humans and the land and between individuals and their communities.

Asian Refugees United (ARU) is a grassroots art and healing organization serving communities impacted by displacement. Established in 2016, ARU exists to improve the health and well-being of Asian immigrant and refugee communities by building voice, visibility and power. ARU is 100% staffed by first, 1.5 and second generation immigrant/refugee artist activists with deep connections to communities served.

Manose is widely recognized as Nepal's premiere flautist and is the recipient of national awards including instrumentalist of the year. And even while living in the United States, he still manages to be a vital part of the music scene back home. His debut music video airs regularly on Nepali TV, he is a member of one of the county's most popular pop bands, and he performed in Nepal's first jazz festival where he shared the stage with Australian great Don Burrows.

Susana Arenas Pedroso is an internationally recognized Cuban Folkloric and popular (i.e. social) dancer. Born and raised in Havana, Cuba, Ms Pedroso began her career in dance at age twelve, studying at La Casa de Cultura de Matanzas and at Cojunto Folklorico Nacional in Havana. Since her arrival in the United States in 1998, Ms Pedroso has performed and choreographed numerous pieces that have been exhibited throughout the United States, Mexico, Cuba and Hong Kong with companies such as Omo Ache, Omo Oddara, Ban Rarra, Ire Ile, Alayo Dance Company, Las Que Son Son and Obini Ashe.

Kronos exists to create, perform, and promote music from a global perspective that responds to the world we share and expands the understanding of music’s role as a powerful force in society. 

The cornerstone of Kronos’ mission is the unique, live performance voice of the string quartet — the coming together in conversation of distinct but integrated voices.

Carla Kihlstedt composer, collaborator, violinist, singer, improviser, educator and instigator. Her musical voice is grounded in the economy and immediacy of song form, which allows her to explore complex worlds – the ocean, dreams, imaginary creatures, the machine age, quarantine – through many different lenses.

Erika Chong Shuch is a performance maker, choreographer and director whose topic-driven ruminations coalesce into imagistic assemblages of music, movement, text, and design. Interested in expanding ideas around how performance is created and shared, Erika’s work has been performed in city halls, theaters, industrial offices spaces, diners, parking lots and food courts. 

For You is a performance and social practice group founded by Erika Chong Shuch, Rowena Richie, and Ryan Tacata. Their productions range from one-to-one performances to large-scale, evening-length theatrical works, and are grounded in the lived experiences of participant-collaborators. 

The International Body Music Festival was founded in 2008 by Artistic Director Keith Terry, and is a project of Crosspulse, an Oakland-based non-profit arts organization dedicated to the performance, recording and education of cross-cultural rhythmic arts. The IBMF is produced in the San Francisco Bay Area every two years, and by our international partners in the interim years.

The Oakland Symphony, Youth Orchestra and Chorus bring together orchestral music, choral music and youth education to strengthen the Oakland/East Bay community by providing quality live performances, education for lifetime enrichment and the perpetuation of the performing arts.

The Oakland Symphony aims to make classical music accessible, particularly to those individuals in the community who might otherwise never hear live symphonic music. In the pursuit of our mission, we have established the following goals:

Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir have become world renowned for their breathtaking performances and commitment to the authenticity of African-American roots music. In addition to live performance, the group has conducted vocal workshops and residencies with the Oakland Youth Chorus, the MIT Concert Choir. Utah State Univ.(Logan), Kulturama (Stockholm Sweden), Festival 500 in St. John’s Newfoundland, One Voice Choir (Klagenfurt, Austria), Berkeley Unified School District, Spelman College, and Univ. of Maryland.

Charming Hostess is at the intersection of voice, text and diaspora consciousness. Founded by Jewlia Eisenberg, their mission is to make lovely noise about complex ideas. She draws primarily from the sounding body: voices and winds, handclaps and heartbeats, sex-breath and silence. Individual voices and communal experiences come together to create a dialogic, multi-faceted whole. Charming Hostess has played all over the world. Charming Hostess centers on three voices, most often, Jewlia Eisenberg, Marika Hughes, and Cynthia Taylor.