SCHEDULE

FRIDAY JUNE 7th 8pm:
Rhodessa Jones
The Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women
Jamie DeWolf
Sammay Dizon
ASHA
Larry Bogad
Melusina Gomez

SATURDAY JUNE 8th, 4:30-6:30pm
The Art of Sacred Clowning:  Masking the Ritual in the Absurd and Abstract with Melusina Gomez

SATURDAY JUNE 8th, 8pm
Performances and Presentations by:
SPULU
Shmee
Polina Smith
Regina Evans
Nicia De'lovely
Noor Almusahwi
St. Anthony's Soup Kitchen
Regina's Door
Refugee Foster Care
Larkin Street Youth

SUNDAY JUNE 9th:

11am-1:30pm Creative action in the mission, Meet at Dance Mission. FREE!

Sunday 2pm

Mission Youth Arts Festival at La Raza Park FREE!

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FEATURED ARTISTS & ORGANIZATIONS

Rhodessa Jones - Founder + Director, The Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women

Rhodessa Jones is Co-Artistic Director of the acclaimed San Francisco performance company Cultural Odyssey. She is an actress, teacher, director, and writer. Ms. Jones is also the Founder and Director of the award-winning Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women/HIV Circle, which is a performance workshop designed to achieve personal and social transformation with incarcerated women and women living with HIV. Ms. Jones has been a Visiting Professor at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California (2015), and an Interdisciplinary Artist in Residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2014), as well as the Keynote Speaker for Commencement at the Department of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.  Additionally, Ms. Jones was awarded the 2015 Theatre Practitioner Award by Theater Communications Group, which recognizes “a living individual whose work in the American theatre has evidenced exemplary achievement over time and who has contributed significantly to the development of the larger field.” Ms. Jones is also the recipient of a United States Artist Fellowship to support her work, and has been honored with an Honorary Doctorate from California College of the Arts.

Please visit for more details themedeaproject.weebly.com

The Medea Project - Theater for Incarcerated Women

Founded in 1989 by Rhodessa Jones, The Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women/HIV Circle, uses theater as a vehicle for social activism and personal transformation. For more than 30 years, Rhodessa has used theater to explore issues specific to female inmates, such as guilt, depression, and self-loathing, which arose in response to feelings of failure in the face of community. Rhodessa currently works with incarcerated women across the globe, including South Africa, Russia and Alaska.

In 2008, The Medea Project joined forces with UCSF's Women's HIV Clinic to create theater that explores what it means to be living with HIV in this day and age. Rhodessa and Medea Project core members continue to provide artist residencies on university campuses around the country teaching art as a vehicle for social activism, and finding new ways to update classical mythology for the 21st century.

Together we will break through the stigmas
Together we will share our Truths
Together our voices will be heard.

In the words of Rhodessa Jones,
"In the Spirited Struggle, Life flows..."

Please visit for more details themedeaproject.weebly.com

Nicia De’Lovely - Poet, Creative, Activist

Oakland, CA native Nicia De'Lovely is an acclaimed published poet, multifaceted artist, anti-child sexual abuse activist, spirited survivor and entrepreneur. She’s the proprietor of “Nicia De'Lovely Presents,” a grass-root production that creates provocative survivor-based performances for education and healing of sexual trauma. Her poetry has graced stages across the country. While her audiences are predominantly women and children of our marginalized Black and Brown communities, Nicia creates poetry to encourage and empower all people in the fight against oppression. Her recitals and workshops are often free to accommodate underprivileged communities and always emphasizes the wellbeing of survivors. She is a voice for the voiceless.

Please visit for more details niciadelovely.wixsite.com/niciadelovely

Sammay Dizon - Choreographer, Producer & Interdisciplinary Performance Artist

SAMMAY (Samantha Peñaflor Dizon) is a Bay Area-based choreographer/producer and interdisciplinary performance artist of Kapampangan, Ilokano, and Bikol descent born and bred in Carson, CA/Tongva Territory and now reclaiming space in San Francisco, CA with honor and gratitude to the Ohlone. She holds a B.A. in Media Studies and Sociology and minors in Dance & Performance Studies and Global Poverty & Practice from University of California Berkeley. SAMMAY is a kinetic storyteller who engages her body as a vessel for spiritual intercession and envisions a future in which our indigenous traditions co-exist with(in) our urban landscapes. When she is not deep in creative collaboration, she is either facilitating writing or movement workshops or teaching through San Francisco Ballet's Dance in Schools and Communities Residency Program in San Francisco Unified School District.

SAMMAY has performed in the works of Jack Gray, Rhodessa Jones, Alleluia Panis, Kim Epifano, and has been featured through Diego Rivera Art Gallery, RAW Artists, and Dance Mission Theater’s D.I.R.T. - Dance In Revolt(ing) Times Festival among others. SAMMAY has taught throughout the Bay Area and was a guest artist through Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU where she taught for DANCES WITH WOLVES: Indigenous Contemporary Dance Master Class Series and performed in the first ever Indigenous Dance Forum in April 2016.

Please visit for more details sammaydizon.com

ASHA - Artist, Speaker & Performer

Originally from LA, ASHA is currently an 8th grade teacher in San Jose. She is an international poet, striving to use art to create radical change.

ASHA has been featured on the cover of Content Magazine, is a feature at many of the prominent poetry events in the Bay Area, as well as active speaker, emcee, and performer at numerous rallies and marches for civil and human rights. ASHA was the focus of a recent short documentary by KQED ARTS.

She was given the Hank Hutchins award by the Santa Clara County Alliance of Black Educators for supporting and advocating for black youth. She is actively training educators across California on equitable practices and building student agency. She is certified as a facilitator through Teaching Tolerance. Her dream is to establish her own K-12 school rooted in restorative justice and social justice based standards.

ASHA consistently uses her platform to voice out against injustice and to speak up for those who have been marginalized and silenced for centuries.

Please visit for more details ashapoet.com

Shmee - Intermedia Artist, Storyteller & Educator

S. Shmee, MA   is an intermedia artist, storyteller and educator whose work is driven by a commitment to the creative process and the potential it holds for enrichment.  In partnership with kind collaborators at non-profit and community arts centers, Shmee offers art-based interventions  at public events and alongside therapeutic and rite of passage practices.   These programs use   mindfulness, embodiment, and creative play for self-inquiry, story weaving and community building.  Shmee’s original works have been seen at the Bioneers conference, the conference for the International Association for the Study of Dreams,  SF Fringe Festival, Cucalores Film Festival, and Figment Arts, among others.          In addition to facilitating original and   enchanting programs, Shmee supports higher education through curriculum development as adjunct professor,   teaching artist, and administrator.  With  a BA in Film Studies and MA in Depth Psychology, Shmee’s passion for storytelling spans from personal narrative to cultural mythology and fosters a commitment to the myriad of tales of our time.

Please visit for more details theartofshmee.weebly.com

SPULU - Dancer

SPULU, grew up in Oakland, CA where he discovered dance at a very early age. Dance not only became an escape from the violence he was experiencing at home and in his neighborhood, but developed into a passion. SPULU started learning Pacific Islander Cultural movements from his mother. As he got older he started exploring other dance genres such as ballet, modern, jazz, african, and other cultural dance styles. Since then SPULU has danced for multiple dance companies in the bay area: Future Shock Oakland, Destiny Arts, Chapkis Dance, and is now currently dancing with City College of San Francisco Strong Pulse Dance Company and Culture Shock Oakland. He is the Director for Future Shock Oakland and founder for House of Chiefs (HOC). His dance style is a modern contemporary fusion of Pacific Islander Cultural movement and hip hop. In the future , SPULU hopes to finish school and open a visual and performing arts school for low income students

Please visit for more details kalw.org/post/sights-sounds-spulu

Larry Bogad - Author, Performance Artist & Activist

L. M. Bogad is an author, performance artist/activist, Professor at UC Davis, Director of the Center for Tactical Performance, and co-founder of the Clown Army. He has performed across the USA, Europe and South America, from SF MOMA, the Whitney Museum, Yerba Buena Arts Center and the Mattress Factory to occupied zones and a squatted military base in Barcelona. He has led Tactical Performance workshops around the world, including in Cairo during the first month of the Egyptian Revolution, and was both “Art and Controversy Fellow” and “Distinguished Lecturer on Performance and Politics” at Carnegie Mellon University, and a “Humanities and Political Conflict” Fellow at ASU.

Please visit for more details arts.ucdavis.edu/faculty-profile/larry-bogad

Deb’e Taylor - Dancer

Deb’e Taylor is driven by Social Justice Performance-making and guiding youth to find and express their truth through dance, theater and all modes of creativity. She currently creates her own work, and performs with Dance Brigade and various choreographers and Taiko ensembles.  

Deb’e teaches for Dance Mission’s Youth and Grrrl Brigade programs and creates Taiko/Dance pieces for their Social Justice themed performances. She teaches Dance Improvisation and Composition as a faculty member of the Alonzo King Lines Ballet School, and through public workshops. She has performed and taught Contemporary Dance nationally and internationally with such companies as David Rousseve/Reality, Dance Berlin and others. Deb’e was honored to co-teach and collaborate with Anna Deavere Smith at Stanford University. She was on the faculty of the National Theater of the Deaf’s Professional Summer School, and performed as a guest artist with the company. She has taught and choreographed for Challenge New Mexico, a summer arts camp for adults with disabilities.  

Deb’e also works freelance as a certified ASL interpreter. For more information contact fourfourgrrl@yahoo.com

Melika Kasner - Taiko Drummer

My name is Melika and I started Taiko drumming at the age of 11 with the Grrrl Brigade, Dance Mission Theater's youth company and I have been loving it ever since. I am currently a full time Doctor of Physical Therapy student at UCSF and hope to use my background in dance and the arts in my future practice to help bring joy and creativity through movement into people's lives.

Jamie DeWolf - Performer & Filmmaker

Jamie DeWolf’s diverse career as a performer and filmmaker has taken him from the lyrical brawls of the National Poetry Slam scene and HBO’s Def Poetry Jam to filming dangerous documentaries in the militarized streets of Kashmir. He’s written and performed with inmates at San Quentin Penitentiary, won “Performance of the Year” by NPR’s Snap Judgment, was voted “Best Poet” and “Best Filmmaker” from the East Bay Express, and has lead writing workshops at over 90 universities, high schools and juvenile detention facilities nation-wide, also coaching the Youth Speaks slam team two years in row to the Brave New Voices Finals, featured on HBO. As one of the most in demand hosts in the Bay Area and beyond, he’s a regular ringmaster and curator for circus troupes, vaudeville showcases and music festivals across the U.S.

Please visit for more details jamiedewolf.com

Regina Evans - Poet, Playwright, Actor & Entrepreneur

Regina Y. Evans, a native of Oakland, California, is a Poet, Playwright, Actor, Entrepreneur, Modern Day Abolitionist and a Survivor Leader in the fight against sex trafficking. She is the Owner of Regina's Door, a vintage boutique located in Oakland, Ca. Regina's Door is an artistic safe haven and healing sanctuary for at-risk youth, homeless youth, young Oakland Creatives and survivors of human trafficking.

Ms. Evans has traveled extensively throughout the world and resided in Sydney, Australia where she operated and owned The Diva's Closet Vintage Clothing Boutique which catered to a celebrity clientele including Beyoncé, Cate Blanchett, Deborah Mailman, Claudia Karvan, Bridie Carter, and Georgie Parker. The boutique was also a costume and red carpet styling resource for the Australian theater, music, television and movie industries. Her dresses were seen at Cannes Film Festival, MTV Awards, Aria Awards, Logie Awards, and AFI Awards.

Please visit for more details: facebook.com/reginasdoor

Photo by: Graig Brooks

George WuKong Cheng - Dancer

George “WuKong” began his dance career in Taipei, Taiwan. In addition to his work at UC Berkeley where he received a Bachelor’s of Art focused on Art and Social Change, he has traveled to countries including Cambodia, Burma, and Brazil to work with non-profit performance art organizations and dancers from around the world. He has judged, taught, performed, and battled internationally. Wukong’s dance background includes B-boying, Capoeira, House, Modern Dance, and Afro-brazilian. He believes that the Arts and Culture are essential in bringing about positive social change.

Dance Brigade - Feminist & Multicultural Dance Theater

Dance Brigade is sumptuous dancing; biting, intellectual, insightful wit; and provocative originality. This dynamic multi-racial troupe of women proves that socially relevant dance can be technically brilliant, as well as exuberant with down-home hilarious fun. This company dances at full throttle. Artistic Director Krissy Keefer explores the intersection between art and social issues with fierce inventiveness and a deft comic touch. Coming out of the legendary Wallflower Order (founded in 1975) Ms Keefer has honed her craft over the last 40 years by creating her content driven choreographies that are a high-energy blend of ballet, modern dance, jazz, song, text, sign language and explosive Taiko drumming.

Please visit for more details dancemissiontheater.org/dance-brigade

Regina's Door - A Healing Space With Pretty Dresses

Regina's Door, owned by Oakland Native and Modern Day Abolitionist Regina Y. Evans, is an Oakland based social enterprise vintage clothing store which operates as a creative arts healing and sanctuary space for survivors of sex trafficking. Regina's Door was named 2015 Social Changemaker, Oakland Indie Awards, 2016 Nancy's Hero (Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley), and received a 2017 Oakland City Council Commendation in celebration of Small Business Week. In April 2019, Regina’s Door joined forces with Amara Tabor Smith to launch Conjure and Mend: Regina’s Door II, Oakland, Ca, a sewing studio which will support the healing and professional growth of young survivors of sex trafficking.

Please visit for more details reginasdoor.com | Facebook

St. Anthony's Soup Kitchen - Providing Essential Support To San Franciscans Living In Poverty.

We believe that supporting people in need makes the city a better place to live. Every day, with dignity and respect, we offer thousands of the most vulnerable among us the basics we all need to feel human: a hot meal, fresh clothing, an opportunity to connect with the world around us. We bring people together in this work because we know it takes a community to break down barriers and create a society where all people flourish. Providing meals, healthcare, clothing, shelter, addiction recovery, job training, social services, & tech access to unhoused & low-income people.

Please visit for more details stanthonysf.org

Refugee Foster Care - Refugee Youth Into Their Home

Refugee Foster Care (RFC) resettles Unaccompanied Refugee Minors into long-term foster homes throughout the Bay Area and continues supportive services to both the youth and families. Working throughout eight counties, we are the only program in the Bay Area serving these youth. Be part of an international effort to protect some of the world’s most vulnerable children. You’ll provide a life filled with hope to a refugee youth, and we’ll be with you every step of the way.

Please visit for more details catholiccharitiesscc.org/refugee-foster-care

Larkin Street Youth - Empowering Young People

Larkin Street Youth Services is a nonprofit empowering young people to move beyond homelessness. Founded in 1984, we've helped over 75,000 young adults in San Francisco by providing a continuum of healthcare, housing, employment, and education services.

As San Francisco’s largest nonprofit provider for young people experiencing homelessness, we are supported by private donors including foundations, corporations, and individuals, as well as government funding. We're  also part of the movement to end youth homelessness on a national scale through policy partnerships with national organizations and fellow nonprofits.

Please visit for more details larkinstreetyouth.org

Dance Mission Theater - Multi Cultural Dance Center

Dance Mission Theater is an artist driven space dedicated to inclusiveness, fairness, and justice. We create, produce, present, and teach feminist and multicultural dance/theater, engaging a diverse group of Bay Area artists, audiences, and students. Many female, queer, racially mixed, and culturally specific ensembles consider Dance Mission Theater their artistic home, creating a thriving inter-generational community. Dance Mission Theater is also the home to Krissy Keefer’s Dance Brigade, San Francisco’s groundbreaking, social-change dance company and Grrrl Brigade, Dance Brigade’s youth leadership dance company.

Please visit for more details dancemissiontheater.org

Photos from Blessed (Un)Rest 2019

Photos by Thatcher Hayward and Paula Junn