2022 Queer and BIPOC Space Residency Initiative

2022 Queer and BIPOC Space Residency Initiative

2022 Queer and BIPOC Space Residency Initiative

ODC is proud to announce the inaugural cohort of its Queer and BIPOC Space Residency Initiative. With the aim of supporting Bay Area artists to ignite new momentum in their movement practices and careers, ODC partnered with the Sam Mazza Foundation to offer 30 hours of free studio space to emerging dance artists who identify as Black, Indigenous, people of color and/or LGBTQ+. These six artists are: Lauren Davis, Janesta Edmonds, Jesse Escalante, Johnny Huy Nguyen, SNJV and tashi tamate weiss.

This residency does not require any final product or performance and can be utilized to invest in old practices/develop new routines, create new work, or simply have dedicated space in which to move. Three Guest Curators helped develop, then reviewed applications and curated the cohort of selected artists. ODC is grateful to everyone who applied and welcomes our community to get to know and celebrate our inaugural cohort of Space Residency Artists.

Selected Artists

  • Lauren Davis

    Lauren Davis (she/her) is a visceral, ritual performance artist using Butoh as well as flesh hook suspension to explore the depths of our shadows, unearth the subconscious and work with primal, ecstatic and altered states of consciousness. Lauren founded and directs the feral femme extreme performance art group Coven of Ashes. She's also the founder of the Dark Ambient Sound Bath, which offers a Jungian approach to sound healing and meditation with darker themes and soundscapes. She now performs under the moniker Sui Generis Magicka, which offers ritual provisions, tools and workshops as well as performance art. https://www.instagram.com/suigenerismagicka/?hl=en 

    Photo Provided by Courtesy of the Artist

  • Janesta Edmonds



    Janesta Edmonds (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist working in dance, film, collage, visual art and poetry. Tapping into traditional ritual from the African diaspora, they aim to inspire transformation and healing, to manifest a world where queer Black individuals can exist in their own skin. Edmonds has performed throughout the Bay Area. They also worked for two years on the curatorial team of Failed Films, a DIY film festival held in Los Angeles. Currently they work with Epiphany Dance Theater helping to produce live and virtual performances like San Francisco Trolley Dances. https://www.instagram.com/paisley__parker/

    Photo Provided by Courtesy of the Artist

  • Jesse Escalante



    Jesse Escalante (he/him) uses dance to explore stories of mental health and other issues affecting Queer BIPOC folk. Jesse has trained in Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Contemporary, Hip Hop and Jazz Funk at LINES, Full Out, ODC and San Francisco State University, where he received his BA in Sociology and Dance. One of his most memorable performances was being hired as a choreographer for a 2019 SF PRIDE, where he directed 11 dancers to highlight the continuous erasure and marginalization of BIPOC/Queer stories. He is currently a second-year student at UC Berkeley, pursuing a master of social work degree with a focus on adults and mental health. https://www.instagram.com/jesseescalantee/

    ​​​​​Photo Provided by Courtesy of the Artist

  • Johnny Huy Nguyen



    Johnny Huy Nguyen (he/him) is a child of courageous refugees and a second-generation Vietnamese American multidisciplinary dance artist based in Yelamu (aka San Francisco). Drawing from a fluency in multiple movement modalities including myriad street dance styles, contemporary, modern and martial arts, he weaves together dance, theatre, spoken word, ritual, installation, and performance art to create immersive time-based works exploring notions of home, lineage, resistance, healing, and identity. His work has been presented by APAture Festival, the United States of Asian America Festival, the Chinese Historical Society of America and SOMArts. He is a 2020 recipient of the SFAC Individual Artist Commission, a 2021 APAture featured artist, as well as a 2021/22 RAWDance Radiate Fellow. https://www.instagram.com/johnny.huy.nguyen
     

    Photo Provided by Courtesy of the Artist

  • SNJV



    SNJV (pronounced Sun-Jeev) (she/he/they) uses lived experience, dance, drag and a critical study of pop culture to create spectacular moments on stage and camera. Based in Hayward, SNJV has performed in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and throughout the Bay Area, including at San Francisco and Oakland Pride Festivals, the Castro Street Fair, Oaklash, Queering Dance, PianoFight, CounterPulse and Oasis. SNJV is the product of Queer and Trans artists and activists who have made their path possible. https://www.instagram.com/_snjv/

    ​​Photo Provided by Courtesy of the Artist

  • tashi tamate weiss



    tashi tamate weiss (she/they) is a storyweaver and energy worker of Japanese and Ashkenazi descent, born and raised on ramaytush ohlone land. Their work with words, movement, music and film bends genre/space/time, moving fluidly between the mundane and the mystical. A reiki practitioner, taiko drummer and herbalist, , tashi supports the collective reanimation of our relationship with the spirit, plant, animal and cosmic realms. Their work in hybrid documentary film has been featured in the United States of Asian America Festival, the Queer Women of Color Film Festival, the Harlem International Film Festival and Mala Forever. tashi’s  writing has been featured by Glimmer Train Magazine, AK Press and Kearny Street Workshop. She is a 2021-2022 San Francisco Arts Commission Artist Grant recipient. https://www.natamawei.com/about

    Photo Provided by Courtesy of the Artist

Guest Curators

  • Jes DeVille

    Jes DeVille (they/them) is an Afro-Nuyorican choreographer and creative director working across mediums to explore the intersections of physical fluency and environmental literacy through community-driven events. Based in the SF Bay Area, DeVille founded fringe entertainment troupe Haus Serpens in 2011 – later rebranding as Openhaus Athletics in 2017. Awarded the inaugural Updraft artist residency by vertical dance company Bandaloop in 2021, their history includes operating as Managing Director of site-specific performance nonprofit Epiphany Dance Theater and co-curator of the acclaimed San Francisco Trolley Dances; Also fulfilling positions as a movement director for Funsch Dance Experience, corporate team building facilitator with urban adventure group The Go Game, choreographer for PBS series Dragonfly TV – Kids Do Science and Big Bang! California Academy of Sciences After Dark, Special Projects Coordinator for Hip Hop Dance Conservatory NY, as well as talent buyer and production lead for Anon Events (Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, San Francisco City Hall Centennial, World Education Congress and more). Having completed EcoTherapy coursework through The Earthbody Institute, DeVille is grateful to be uplifted as a regenerative design fellow with Design Science Studio as well as a presenter for University of California, Irvine’s Emergent Media Research Group.

  • David Herrera

    David Herrera is a Latinx, gay choreographer, producer, and community leader in San Francisco, California. He is the Artistic Director for David Herrera Performance Company (2007). Through his work, David advocates to provide intersectional Latinx/POC artists performance opportunities, visibility, and support. Through DHPCo., David launched LatinXtensions and Latinx Hispanic Dancers United, two community impact programs for the betterment and longevity of national Latinx artists in dance.  David has also mentored homeless individuals through the Community Housing Partnership rehabilitation organization in San Francisco.
     
    David is a NALAC Leadership Institute Fellow and was a HMD Community Engagement Resident. He serves as advisor to the Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers, is an Isadora Duncan Awards committee member, and member of Dancing Around Race, a community organization dedicated to the discussion and implementation of cultural equity in dance.

  • Landa Lakes

    Originally from Oklahoma and based in San Francisco, Landa Lakes's career spans decades and platforms. Landa is the founder of Weaving Spirits Performance Art Festival, co-founder Baaits TwoSpirit Powwow, sits on the Executive Board for the Ducal Council of SF and is the heir apparent Grand Duchess in the International Court System. Landa is a renowned Drag Queen, receiving various honors including KQED’s Local Hero Award, is the Mother of SF’s beloved House of Glitter and founder of Brush Arbor Gurlz in 2005, which performs nationwide to educate on Native politics and issues. Landa has also served on the board of the Native American AIDS Project, Chickasaw Hika Council, the Human Rights Committee of San Francisco and is a Veteran of the U.S. Navy.  To learn more on Landa and their work: facebook.com/landa.lakes/ and instagram.com/landalakes

Please note: These FAQS may be updated overtime to include answers to questions that frequently come up over the application cycle.