The special events throughout the festival, round out the programming with not-to-miss discussions, practice and intellectual opportunities to explore the Diaspora further. These special events include:

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Flows : A series of short films by YAK FILMS

Discussion to follow with co-founder Yoram Savion and Demo by Johnny5 of TURFinc.  

 

Films that illustrate the beauty and art of street hip-hop dance. Discussion to follow with co-founder Yoram Savion

 

Films include:

Liquid Flow by YAK, The Oakland Museum of California and PROJECTOR featuring Turf Feinz crew members: Gary "No Noize" Morgan Leon "Mann" Williams Byron "T7" Sanders Darrell "D-Real" Armstead; EXQUISITE ZOMBIES by YAK x ADOBE Project 1324 featuring Les Twins, DA, Ibuki, Wisko, Bluprint, Zoo, Zamounda, and Buck; Mike Song in Manila, Philippines 2014 by YAK FILMS and Mr. CARMACK and more.

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Wednesday June 20, 2018

7pm 

Museum of African Diaspora

 

Yoram Savion is is co-founder of YAK Films, a multimedia company dedicated to filming movement-based art. For over 10 years, they have traveled the world to reveal unique dance talent in diverse urban landscapes. We promote innovative filming techniques using the latest gear that will fit in our backpack yet deliver the highest image quality possible. Currently Yoram is working with Adobe and Destiny Arts Center in Oakland, teaching multimedia production with up and coming dancers, musicians and martial artists.

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Johnny5 (Anthony Lopez) was born in Oakland, California in 1989. He is a Mexican / Latino professional Turf Dancer and the founder of TURFinc - a local Oakland/ Bay Area based company that hopes to instill positive changes in the community through dance. He learned to dance merengue, salsa and Mexican dance styles when he was growing up going to family Quinceñeras & weddings. When he was 12yrs old he encountered Turf Dancing for the first time at the Oakland side shows. Ever since then he practices on his own every day. In 2005 he joined a dance crew by the name of TURFFEINZ. In 2012 he started working as a nurse full time and started his own dance company TURFinc, whose mission is to spread the original dance culture of TURF that was established in Oakland, California and to utilize it as a positive platform for dancers, the youth, and the overall community. Johnny5 also gives back to the community by teaching dance classes in East Oakland and produces events such as Turf battle tournaments.

 

 

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Current conditions for cultural exchanges between Cuba and U.S.

 

Lecture by Bill Martinez, immigration attorney and cultural arts producer

 

Wednesday June 27, 2018

7pm

Museum of African Diaspora

 

BILL MARTINEZ is an immigration attorney who has also produced and managed cultural events in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1973. A native San Franciscan, he is a graduate the University of San Francisco and Hastings College of the Law. He has worked in the Community Law Collective (’74-’79), New College of California School of Law (’79-’83) and the Volunteer Legal Services Program of the Bar Association of San Francisco (’84-’93). In 1981, he co-founded the Encuentro del Canto Popular, a San Francisco-based Latin American music festival. His work with the Encuentro lead him to become one of the nation’s leading experts in U.S.-Cuba cultural exchanges and artists’ visas. He co-founded the Latino Entertainment Partners which produced historically significant concerts of Cuban artists.

 

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“WE HAVE IRÉ” 

Written by Paul S. Flores

Directed by Rosalba Rolon

 

Join us for an artist talk and excerpts of the work in progress play, We have Iré. – plays “We Have Iré” is commissioned by Yerba Buena Center for The Arts and follows the journey of Afro-Cuban immigrant artists to the United States and their connection to Lucumí religious traditions.

Featuring DJ Leydis, choreography by Ramón Ramos Alayo, music by Yosvani Terry and video by Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi. 

 

Thursday June 28, 2018 

7pm

Museum of African Diaspora

 

Paul Flores is a published poet, performance artist, playwright, and well known spoken word artist. He was raised in Chula Vista, CA and spent much of his youth in Tijuana, Mexico. Flores plays have been produced at Brava Theater, GALA Hispanic Theatre, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Pregones Theatre, Abrons Art Center, Taller Puertorriquena, Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, InterAct Theater, DiverseWorks, Su Teatro, South Coast Rep, and many more. Flores is a Doris Duke Artist, a MAP Fund awardee, a Gerbode-Hewlett Theater commission recipient, a NALAC Fund for Arts recipient, and 2011 SF Weekly Best Politically Active Hip-hop Performer. He is co-founder of Youth Speaks, and currently an adjunct professor of Theater at the University of San Francisco. His last play "On The Hill: I am Alex Nieto" (2016) dramatizes the life and death of Alex Nieto who was killed by San Francisco Police Department, using music, dance and theater as a powerful tool for communities divided by issues of police violence, racism, gentrification and economic disparity to discover opportunities for solutions, healing and unification. Flores previous play PLACAS (2012) was based on testimonies of members of MS-13 in California barrios.