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• Blood Brothers

  Sunday, Mar 16, 2008 11:21AM / Event

  the SF International Asian American Film Festival is in full swing!  The gala opening reception Thursday night was great (at the Asian). 
  
  Last night, caught Blood Brothers, with our native Daniel Wu.  The movie was really great -- nice to see John Woo back in style.  Thanks to AND for putting together the after party. It was a rocking time!
  
  Tomorrow, I'm checking out West 32nd at 6 PM.  The after party will be at Yoshi's with actor John Cho (another Cal alum - go bears!) and director Teddy Zee (who for some reason has a stellar memory for random people he meets out and about in LA).
  
  The website for the film fest is: asianamericanmedia.org
  
  Also, I've been put in charge in putting together a list of Asian American events between now and the fall for Kearny Street Workshop, so if you know of anything, please let me know!  Thanks. :)
  
  
  

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• APAture

  Tuesday, Sep 11, 2007 2:37PM / Event

  Hey all - Kearny Street Workshop's annual art showcase, APAture, starts next week! I'm coordinating  volunteers at the Music Showcase next Friday at Make-Out Room with Goh Nakamura.   I'm also going to a bunch of the other events.  Check it out:
  
  

  Daily Schedule (click each event for more info) September 18 Gallery Opening/APAture Kick-Off featuring Misako Inaoka at KSW's space180 September 19 Literary & Performance at Intersection for the Arts September 20 Literary & Performance featuring Joel Barraquiel Tan at The Lab September 21 Music Showcase featuring Goh Nakamura at the Make-Out Room September 22 Literary & Performance at Manilatown Center September 22 Literary Showcase with ZYZZYVA and AAWAA at KSW's space180 September 23 Fetish Friendships: Interracial Socializing & the Dangers of Being Used; Performance and Panel Discussion at Chinese Culture Center September 24 Combatting Hate: API Hate Crimes & Self Defense Workshop at KSW's space180 September 25 Water Babies Screening and Panel Discussion at KSW's space180 September 25 KSW Press Literary Reading at the Actor's Center of San Francisco September 26 Literary & Performance featuring Steamroller Dance Company/Jesse Bie at Intersection for the Arts September 27 Film & Video Screening featuring Emiko Omori at Victoria Theatre September 28 Standup Comedy Showcase featuring Tony Dijamco at the Make-Out Room September 29 Comix, Zines & Design Expo featuring Lark Pien at KSW's space180 September 29 Open Mic at the Actors Center of San Francisco September 29 Closing Night Gala featuring Prince Gomolvilas at KSW's space180 and BottleCapp

  Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007, 7 - 9.30pm Gallery Opening / APAture Kick-Off

  Kearny Street Workshop's space180 180 Capp St. @17th St., 3rd floor $5 suggested donation; no one turned away for lack of funds. Featured Visual Artist: Misako Inaoka Join us in celebrating the opening night of APAture, and wander through the halls of 180 Capp to explore drawings, paintings, textiles, and installations from over 30 Bay Area visual artists, including featured visual artist Misako Inaoka and sounds by DJ Zita Featured Artist: Misako Inaoka Sounds by DJ Zita   Mark Baugh-Sasaki, Structure, sculpture Sita K. Bhaumik, Figures, photography Catrina Chaos, title, media Ali Dadger, Squatting, installation Jenny Eng, Sugar on Snow, mixed media artwork Mayumi Hamanaka, Streak of, photography Amy M. Ho, The Ocean Room, video and sound installation Korina Jocson, Scattered Islands, photography Lucien Kubo, Daydreaming, Inside the Mind of the Girl with Pony, Mixed media Susanna Kwan, Mind Wounds (Things That Grew Inside), drawing series Mike Lai, Crouching Jackie, Hidden Neo,installation Stephanie Lie, Untitled, drawing series Lucy Kalyani Lin, reception, installation Niana Liu, World Summit, Fishmen, Chinese Emperor and Empress, paintings Juliana Ma, Chinese American Princess, painting Amal Mongia, from Manila to the Bay, Transgender Immigrant, photography Yasushi Matsui, Mara, ink drawing Mari Naomi, Cruelty to Animals, Painting on a window pane Ben Nghia Needham, Lips, Fortune Cookie, paintings Brian Nguyen, Title, media Hang Phan, 1.A quiet night/ 2.An early morning, painting Pallavi Sharma, Out of the closet, installation Eve Shen, Title, media Jocelyn Shu, Untitled, drawings Charlene Tan, Untitled, media Truong Tran,Untitled,media Katy Tsai, Untitled, painting Scott Tsuchitani, Happy Thanksgiving, digital print Lawrence Yang, Snow Triptych, painting View artist bios Buy Tickets at manja.org

  Wednesday, September 19, 2007, 8pm Literary & Performance Showcase

  Intersection for the Arts 446 Valencia St. @16th St. $10-20 sliding scale ($8-$20 for KSW members) Arlene Biala, performance & poetry Iu - Hui Chua, dance Julia Graham, dance Han Pham, prose Rising Asterisk, hip hop performance Adrien Salazar, theater performance Joti Singh, dance View artist bios Buy Tickets at manja.org Thursday, September 20, 2007, 8pm Literary & Performance The LAB 2948 16th St. @Capp St. $10-20 sliding scale ($8-$20 for KSW members) Featured Literary Artist: Joel Barraquiel Tan Anamude, music Ron Quesada, Kulintronica Saba Waheed, prose Isabell Zevair, music & performance View artist bios Buy Tickets at manja.org Friday, Sept. 21, 2007, 7:30pm-9:30pm Music Showcase The Make-Out Room 3225 22nd St. @Mission St, San Francisco $10-20 sliding scale ($8-$20 for KSW members) Featured Music Artist: Goh Nakamura Note: The Make-Out Room is 21+ Join us for an eclectic night of pop, indie & acoustic rock from up and coming Bay Area stars including featured music artist Goh Nakamura. PROGRAM Emceed by Connie Hwong and Lucy Kalyani Lin Featuring Amber Field Dream Date Lumaya and featured music artist Goh Nakamura. View artist bios Buy Tickets at manja.org

  Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007, 4 - 6pm Literary & Performance Manilatown Center 868 Kearny Street $10-20 sliding scale ($8-$20 for KSW members) Join us for an afternoon of theater, music, and performance at the site of the original International Hotel. Jason Agar, improvisational theater performance Asiantics Improv, long– form improvisation Robin Sukhadia, music  Jose Flipchild Saenz, songs Wilson Wong, songs View artist bios Buy Tickets at manja.org

  Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007, 8pm Literary Showcase with ZYZZYVA and the Asian American Women's Association KSW's space180 180 Capp St. @17th St., 3rd floor $10-20 sliding scale ($8-$20 for KSW members) Join us for an evening of literary readings featuring some of the Bay Area's most promising and distinct voices. Neelanjana Banerjee Katherine Ng Mary Anne Mohanraj Anh –Hoa Ti Nguyen Shizue Seigel   Truong Tran Debbie Yee Program Emceed by Thy Tran. View artist bios Buy Tickets at manja.org

  Sunday, Sept. 23, 2007, 8pm Fetish Friendships: interracial socializing and the dangers of being used Performance and Panel Discussion Co-presented with the Chinese Culture Center 750 Kearny Street, 3rd Floor or the hotel $10-20 sliding scale ($8-$20 for KSW members) Join us for an excerpt of David Henry Hwang's Bondage, directed by Ryan Yip and performed by Yip and another actor, followed by a panel discussion about interracial relationships. This panel discussion will explore the complicated dynamics at play in interracial relationships, whether they are friendships, professional relationships, or more intimate relationships. How have we been fetishized by our friends, and how have we fetishized others, for certain ethnic, racial, or other kinds of characteristics? Does this kind of fetishizing/using happen at all, or is it just perception? What does this kind of behavīor look like, what is the impact on friendships and on the larger community, and what can we do to address the more disturbing elements of thisbehavīor? The panel discussion features panelists Claire Light, Joel Barraquiel Tan, Ryan Yip, and others, and is moderated by Jaime Cortez. View artist bios Buy Tickets at manja.org

  Tuesday, September 25, 6.30pm Waterbabies Film & Panel Kearny Street Workshop space 180, 180 Capp Street (btwn. 16th and 17th ), 3rd floor ($10) API women, compared to 18% for white women, representing the second highest percentage for all racial and ethnic groups. In addition, from 1994 to 2000, abortion rates fell for all groups except API women. Yet Asian perspectives - and the cultural stigma and issues particular to API communities - are rarely heard in the heated public debate on reproductive rights. Abortion itself is both intensely personal and intensively politicized. It brings political and moral judgment to bear on painfully intimate personal choices -- judgment that can prevent women from making the best decisions for themselves and from coping with their experiences in healthy ways. Come join us at KSW and learn about the Japanese ritual of addressing the experience of abortion, the API reproductive justice movement today, and Exhale, a Bay Area hotline and counseling service for women who have abortions. View artist bios Buy Tickets at manja.org

  Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, 7 - 9pm Bunsen Burnt: KSW Press Reading & Chapbook Release The Actors Center of San Francisco 180 Capp St. @17th St., 2nd floor $10-20 sliding scale ($8-$20 for KSW members) Join us for an evening of literary readings and the launch of a new chapbook, Bunsen Burnt, from KSW Press. Featuring readings by Neelanjana Banerjee, Susanna Kwan, Vanessa Huang, Sita K. Bhaumik, and others. Neelanjana Banerjee Oscar Bermeo Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik Vanessa Huang Susanna Kwan Margaret Rhee View artist bios Buy Tickets at manja.org

  Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007, 8pm Intersection for the Arts 446 Valencia St. @16th St. Featured Movement/Dance Artist: Steamroller Dance Company / Jesse Bie $10-20 sliding scale ($8-$20 for KSW members) Join Intersection and KSW for an interdisciplinary evening of music, film, literary, and dance performances, including featured performance artist Steamroller Dance Company and Jesse Bie. Brandon Bigelow, music Jennifer Chien, prose Aireene Espiritu and Rick Di Dia, music Bushra Rehman, poetry, View artist bios Buy Tickets at manja.org

  Thursday, September 27, 2007, 8pm Film and Video Night Victoria Theatre 2961 16th Street, San Francisco $10-20 sliding scale ($8-$20 for KSW members) Featured Film Artist: Emiko Omori Join us for an evening of film and video screenings by Bay Area API filmmakers, including featured artist Emiko Omori, at the Victoria Theatre. John Fong, Since You’ve Been Ong Yasmine Gomez, Consumed Vanessa Huang, pray ting ai fly Jeffrey Lei, Dick Ho: Asian Male Porn Star Minette Mangahas, Kiss My Hyphen Nooshin Navidi, Young Republic Danilo Parra, music video for Odessa Chen's Kill the lights Melanie Veloria, My Bad by Kapakahi Wilson Wong, My Dad the Hairstylist View artist bios Buy Tickets at manja.org

  Friday, September 28, 2007, 7:30-9:30pm (doors open 7pm) Comedy Night The Make-Out Room, 7:30-9:30 pm 3225 22nd St. @Mission St, San Francisco $10-20 sliding scale ($8-$20 for KSW members) Note: The Make-Out Room is 21+ Raise the roof and laugh out loud at APAture's exclusive night of comedy with artists including Tony Dijamco, Edwin Li, Tapan Trivedi, Mark Zhang, and special guests. View artist bios Buy Tickets at manja.org

  Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007, 12 - 6pm Comix/Zines and Design Expo Kearny Street Workshop's space180 180 Capp St. @17th St., 3rd floor FREE Featured Expo (Comix & Zines) Artist: Lark Pien Browse through a medley of comic books, zines, jewelry, clothing, and design from dozens of APAture artists. The expo also includes the work of APAture's featured comic book/zine artist, Lark Pien. Debora Aoki, comics Jing Lee Bentley and Mark Miyake, zines Esy E. Casey, “the nine years for no one” and “1.22.07”, graphic stories Brian Nguyen, Chosen One, Passion, Starlet, Soul Caster, Nava Knight, comics MariNaomi, Estrus Comics, comics Thien Pham, comics Ben Seto, comics Alexander Shen, Gashapon Shop, Mr. Goh, other comic works, comics Philip Van Lieu, Moose River, comics 826 Valencia Hyphen Magazine Chinese Culture Center Annie Yu, Nonscensical, Zine Isabell Zeviar, Prism Pulse, mixed media View artist bios Buy Tickets at manja.org

  Saturday, September 29, 6-8pm Open Mic The Actors Center of San Francisco 180 Capp St. @17th St., 2nd floor $5-10 sliding scale suggested; no one turned away for lack of funds For everyone who missed APAture's submission deadline, or who has fantasized about presenting work to a larger audience but never had the opportunity to follow through, APAture's open mic evening is right up your alley! Musicians, poets, fiction writers, playwrights, and performers of all stripes are encouraged to sign up ahead of time to be part of this special evening. Contact apature@kearnystreet.org for more details.

  Saturday, September 29, 8pm-late Closing Night Gala Kearny Street Workshop's space180 and BottleCapp 180 Capp St. @ 17th St., 3rd floor $10-20 sliding scale ($8-$20 for KSW members) Featured Theater/Performing Artist: Prince Gomolvilas Our closing night gala features a wide selection of talent, including featured artist and playwright Prince Gomolvilas. The gala takes place across the third floor of 180 Capp Street, starting off at KSW's space180 and moving cross the hall after 10pm to our neighbors, BottleCapp, for continued performances and music with DJ Similak Chyld. Maile Arvin Esther Lee Danilo Parra, screening of music video for Odessa Chen's "Kill the lights" Similak Chyld Prince Gomolvilas View artist bios Buy Tickets at manja.org

  
  kearnystreet.org
  
  
  
  

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• First Person Shooter

  Wednesday, May 16, 2007 10:59PM / Event

  Another event:  this one is a play written and directed by a friend of mine showing in San Francisco. I'm getting a group together Friday to go see it!
  
  http://www.sfplayhouse.org/season0607/firstperson.php
  
  
  

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• Journey to China

  Wednesday, May 16, 2007 2:17PM / Event

  Here's the info for a performance where I'm performing wushu June 2 and 3.  I'll put up info on my June 24 and July 5 performances soon!  Seeing as I'm not a schoolkid, I guess I'm a "master artist" :P  I'm performing staff, eagle claw and a spear-double broadsword sparring set.  My coach Zhang Lingmei will be performing double straightswords and Robert, one of our Wushu Exchange-rs, will be performing double broadswords.
  
  A JOURNEY TO CHINA: SCHOLARS, GODDESSES & WARRIORS
  Saturday, June 2, 2007; 7 PM
  Sunday, June 3, 2007; 3 PM
  Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater
  700 Howard Street (at Third Street), San Francisco
  
  
  
  FOR TICKETS
  Admission: $15, $20, $25 ($5 OFF for SFUSD students with ID)
  Box Office: 415-978-ARTS (2787) or http://www.sfworldmusicfestival.org
  
  "A Journey to China: Scholars, Goddesses & Warriors" features the music and performing arts students from Alice Fong Yu Alternative School in San Francisco. Five scholars, goddesses and warriors of China tell their tales through ancient music, thundering percussion, elegant dancing, Cantonese opera, brush painting, martial arts sparring and more. Combining documentary film footage and an original scrīpt written by the 8th graders, with special sets and lighting design, Chinese master artists from different disciplines work together with these young artists to create an original multi-dimensional performance.
  
  
  

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• best of apature coming up this weekend in San Francisco

  Wednesday, May 16, 2007 2:12PM / Event

  Join Kearny Street Workshop and the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center for two thrilling nights of stellar performances and presentations from some of the Bay Area's most promising artists. Featuring theater performer Sean San Jose, singer-songwriter Odessa Chen, filmmakers Anita Chang and Stuart Gaffney , poet and performer Russell Gonzaga, butoh artist Ledoh, musical group The Invisible Cities, and poet and musician Denizen Kane, this program condenses the power and dynamism of nearly ten years of APAture into two captivating evenings. Experience the promising talent of the Bay Area and get a headstart on preparing for attending the 9th annual APAture festival in September 2007. This program is curated by APAture 2006 Coordinator Nirmala Nataraj.
  
  Event: Best of APAture, Nights 1 & 2
  
  Night 1, Friday 5/18:
  The Bong Bong Projects (Sean San Jose and Jonsen Vitug)
  Odessa Chen
  Anita Chang
  Russell Gonzaga
  
  Night 2, Friday 5/19:
  Jane Chen
  Ledoh
  Stuart Gaffney
  The Invisible Cities
  Denizen Kane
  
  Dates: Friday & Saturday, May 18 & 19, 2007
  
  Time: 8pm
  
  Location: SomArts Cultural Center, 934 Brannan Street, San Francisco
  
  Cost: $13 in advance, $16 at the door
  
  Info: Contact APICC at info@apiculturalcenter.org or 415.864.4120.
  
  The Bong Bong Projects is Sean San Jose and Jonsen Vitug, a new group, creating new performance works for theatres and schools. "Tsismis : the dugo dance" was presented in collaboration with Alleluia Panis Dance Company and Kularts at the 2006 and 2007 POMO Festivals. That was the first in a series of pieces including: "Rouge", an original piece; and a new theatrical creation from Jessica Hagedorn's story "The Blossoming of Bongbong." “Tsismis” was performed with Krishtine DeLeon at Apature 2005. Thank you to all who have helped in the development: Locus, KSW, APAture, Intersection,Alleluia Panis and Kularts. In addition to this new work Sean San Jose (left, top) is proud to work for Intersection for the Arts and resident theatre company Campo Santo.
  
  Jonsen Vitug (left) will next perform with Intersection and Campo Santo in the world premiere play "Fe in the Desert" by Jessica Hagedorn beginning in May. www.theintersection.org
  
  ANITA CHANG is an independent filmmaker. She was born to parents who emigrated from Taiwan in the 1960’s, fleeing a dictatorship. She grew up in Ohio and Massachusetts. She has worked as an urban youth counselor, civil rights investigator, and education director for a non-profit San Francisco-based media literacy organization. She has completed artist residencies in Nepal, Headlands Center for the Arts, Taipei Artist Village, and Hweilan International Artist Workshop. In pushing the boundaries of the moving image medium, she is always discovering ways to experiment, inspiring an active viewing experience. She has taught film/video production at Film Arts Foundation, including its STAND program for directors from under- represented backgrounds. She has also taught abroad in Kathmandu, and at the renowned Motion Picture Department at National Taiwan University of Arts. She is currently teaching in the Department of Language and Communication of Indigenous Peoples at Taiwan National Dong Hwa University.
  
  JANE CHEN is a Taiwanese- American actor, singer, and teacher. A graduate of Yale University and the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, Jane has created original theater that combines such varied forms as opera, clowning and puppetry. Locally, Jane has performed with Ten Red Hen Productions ({99-cent} Miss Saigon), Opera Piccola/Stagebridge (Being Something, Oakland Metro, dir. Ellen Sebastian Chang) Mugwumpin, Shotgun Players, FoolsFury, Kearny Street Workshop (APAture Festival Featured Artist 2003), PuppetLOVE!, and UC Berkeley (Tarnival!). Jane has taught acting, voice, and theatrical clowning for such organizations as U.C. Berkeley, AAA Summer Camp (Walnut Creek). Splash Circus (Emeryville), and Ten Red Hen (Berkeley). She is the lead soprano for the annual Fremont and Grand Lake Montessori School operas, performing alongside talented 5-12 year-olds. Commercially, Jane is represented by JE Talent and has worked for such companies as Microsoft, Honda, Genentech, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. She currently teaches private voice lessons in her Oakland home. TAIR CHEN is a Taiwanese-American performer and computer engineer. Her experience in theater originated in observing and enjoying the rehearsals and performances of her two daughters, which she has done for the past seventeen years. She made an abrupt career change from software engineering to performing arts in 2004, with her starring role as “Mom” in The Chinese Clown Cabaret. In addition to co-creating and performing, Tair also takes on the roles of prop-making, sets, costumes, tour managing, and web maintenance. Her love of the arts has helped her toward a very important purpose: connecting with her daughter, taking part in her life, and helping other mothers across the world re-invest in their relationships with their children. Tair currently resides in New Jersey but commutes to California frequently to rehearse the Chinese Clown Cabaret. She holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science.
  The Chinese Clown Cabaret was created in 2004 by mother-daughter team Jane and Tair Chen. Their show premiered at the Dell’Arte Mad River Festival Edgefest in July 2004, followed by the San Francisco Fringe Festival in September 2004. They continued expanding upon their show and their audience base, performing at museums, Christmas parties, baby showers, state conferences, and schools. Last summer Jane and Tair toured Canada, performing in six Fringe festivals and garnering “Best Overall Production” and “Best Concept” awards in Ottawa. They are currently seeking help producing a short silent film. Ask them how you can help, and then ask them to tell you the crazy story of how it all started.
  
  DENIZEN KANE Denizen Kane is a poet and musician born and raised in Tree City. He is one of the founders of I Was Born With Two Tongues (1998-2003), an Asian American spoken word quartet that played a major role in the current spoken word resurgence. The group toured extensively, independently released an LP, Broken Speak, and helped create an open forum for issues of race, identity, and immigration to be discussed throughout a network of colleges, community groups, and local crews. His poetry has been published in numerous periodicals and anthologies, including the Asian Pacific American Journal, the Columbia Review , Echoes upon Echoes: New Korean American Writings, and Screaming Monkeys. He has also performed on three seasons of Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam. In 2000, Denizen co-founded Typical Cats, a Chicago-based hip hop collective. They have released two LPs through indie imprint Galapagos4—a self- titled debut (2000) and Civil Service (2004), generating an enormous word-of-mouth buzz on the strengths of their stellar live show and stunning on-wax chemistry. Kane made his mark as a solo artist in 2002, with an EP entitled Tree City Legends. His newest LP, Tree City Legends, Volume 2, furthers his reputation as a precocious lyricist, style innovator, and great storyteller-in-the-making. Kane has toured from New York to Tokyo to Los Angeles, and performed with such underground luminaries as the Visionaries, Living Legends, and J-Live. He continues to create, experiment, build, and break away.
  
  Stuart Gaffney has been making films and videos about his Asian, Hapa,and Queer identities since 1994. His works have been screened and broadcast worldwide.Stuart was the a Featured Artist at APAture 2001, where he premiered the commissioned work "Transgressions." Many of his short films have screened at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival over the last decade. In 2004, Stuart and his partner of 20 years, John Lewis, were one of the first 10 same-sex couples to marry in San Francisco City Hall, and they are now leaders in the movement for marriage equality and LGBT rights.Stuart was born and raised in Milwaukee. He studied English literature at Yale University, and he works as a Policy Analyst at the University of California, San Francisco's Center for AIDS Prevention Studies.
  
  LEDOH was born into the Ka-Ren culture indigenous to Burma and Northern Thailand. In Kyoto in 1989, Ledoh discovered Butoh via master performer Katsura Kan, with whom he performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to five-star reviews. Ledoh's site-specific solo collaborations with composers Reverend Markus Hawkins and Michael Kosacki have electrified audiences in and around San Francisco for over ten years. In 1998 Ledoh founded the Butoh performance collective Salt Farm.
  
  The Invisible Cities is a San Francisco- based band that makes incandescent rough-around-the-edges sometimes-quiet sometimes-loud pop music. Watertown, their first full-length record was released in 2004 and they are currently finishing up their long- awaited, as yet unnamed second album. In 2005, the Invisible Cities were voted “best indie pop band” by the readers of the San Francisco Bay Guardian.Sometimes they think their music sounds like: landing softly in a new town, things that make you sad but are so beautiful you bring them out again anyway, the part where you kick the trashcan just because you remembered something that pissed you off, the moonlit night where you were far from the city and the stars and the orange and the snow swirled together, the six hour drive on the highway that you don’t hardly remember because you were listening to the radio really loud the whole way down.
  
  

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