Fresh Meat 2019
June 20 – 22, 2019
Fresh Meat Productions presents
FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL of trans & queer performance
Z Space (450 Florida Street @ 17th Street, San Francisco)
Thursday-Saturday June 20-22
8pm
Tickets: $15-25 sliding scale
Ticket/info: www.freshmeatproductions.org
**ASL interpretation at all performances
MULTIDISCIPLINARY
The 2019 FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL features edgy, exquisite, extraordinary dance, theater and live music … and a cornucopia of regional and world premieres! These award-winning artists offer gorgeous, loving, bold, beautiful artistry brimming with innovation, resilience and joy. Advance tickets are recommended for this popular event.
Vogue superstars, Deaf dance pioneers, world champion bachata dancers, bad-ass trans-Americana music, a queer retro boy band, a gender-defying choir and MORE hit the stage with performances by:
African-American Deaf dance trailblazer Antoine Hunter
Integrated/disabled dance pioneers AXIS Dance Company
Vogue superstars #kNOwSHADE Vogue Ensemble
Sublime harmonies by the GAPA Men’s Chorus
Exquisite poetry + dance by J Mase III & Randy Ford
Queer bachata champions Jahaira Fajardo & Angelica Medina
Cutting-edge performance artists Javier Stell-Fresquez & Ivy Monteiro
Sidesplitting comedy-storytelling by Lottie Riot
The groundbreaking and powerful New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus
Trailblazing Trans/queer modern dance by Sean Dorsey Dance
Folk-punk by the legendary Shawna Virago
Multi-disciplinary music superstar Star Amerasu
Gorgeous contemporary and R&B songs by Tajah J
Queer retro quartet The Singing Bois
PLUS: Emcee Annalise Ophelian, DJ Frida Ibarra + MORE!
READ BELOW FOR NIGHTLY LINEUP!
All performances will be ASL interpreted, and will be followed by our popular post-performance parties with DJ Frida Ibarra, photo booth, go-go dancers and refreshments!
ASL AND ACCESS INFO: all performances will be ASL interpreted; venue, bathrooms and front row seating are wheelchair accessible; scent-reduced seating area available; armless chairs available in front row; venue has all-gender bathrooms. See below for full Access Information including an email contact to send us questions and RSVPs.
This year’s FESTIVAL features the world premiere of NEW WORK commissioned by the FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL by Jahaira Fajardo and Angelica Medina, Star Amerasu, Tajah J and the The Singing Bois.
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THURSDAY, JUNE 20 (ASL interpretation provided |
FRIDAY, JUNE 21 (ASL interpretation provided) |
SATURDAY, JUNE 22 (ASL interpretation provided) |
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Angelica Medina and Jahaira Fajardo Antoine Hunter AXIS Dance Company #kNOwSHADE Vogue Ensemble GAPA Choir J Mase III & Randy Ford Javier Stell-Fresquez & Ivy Monteiro Sean Dorsey Dance Shawna Virago Star Amerasu The Singing Bois |
Angelica Medina and Jahaira Fajardo Antoine Hunter #kNOwSHADE Vogue Ensemble J Mase III & Randy Ford Javier Stell-Fresquez & Ivy Monteiro Lottie Riot New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus Sean Dorsey Dance Shawna Virago Star Amerasu Tajah J |
Angelica Medina and Jahaira Fajardo AXIS Dance Company #kNOwSHADE Vogue Ensemble GAPA Choir J Mase III & Randy Ford Lottie Riot New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus Sean Dorsey Dance Shawna Virago Tajah J The Singing Bois |
ARTISTS BIOGRAPHIES
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Angelica Medina and Jahaira Fajardo are the Directors of In Lak’ech Dance Academy. They both share an immense passion for dance & decided to grow as dance partners while training for competition. In December 2015 they placed 1st in the Latin Ladies Same Gender Division, at the World Latin Dance Cup. Jahaira made history as the first Bachata female leader to become a World Champion. In 2018, they returned to the WLDC, and placed 1st in the Same Gender, Bachata, Couple Pro, Cabaret división. Angelica and Jahaira are also the organizers and promoters of the first and only Queer Latin Dance Festival, based in the Bay Area. www.inlakechdance.com / www.queerlatindancefestival.com |
| Antoine Hunter is an award-winning internationally-known African-American Deaf choreographer, dancer, instructor and Deaf advocate. Hunter has taught and lectured at Harvard, TedX UC DavisSF, Duke University, Stanford, WAC Educator Conference, Kennedy Center’s VSA and National State Assembly for the Arts. Awards include the inaugural Jeanette Lomujo Bremond Award for Humanity in the Arts (2018), Isadora Duncan Dance Award (2018), King of Carnaval SF (2017). Featured on KQED and Great Big Story, he is the former president of Bay Area Black Deaf Advocates and actively supports DeafHope. He is the founder/artistic director of Urban Jazz Dance Company (UJDC) and has been producing the Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival (BAIDDF) since 2013. www.realurbanjazzdance.com |  |
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AXIS Dance Company: Founded in 1987 in Oakland, AXIS Dance Company is the nation’s most acclaimed contemporary dance company of disabled and non-disabled performers. AXIS exists to change the face of dance and disability and has been accomplishing this for over 30 years through its three pillars of activity: Artistry, Engagement, and Advocacy. www.axisdance.org |
| #kNOwSHADE Vogue Ensemble: Led by Artistic Director; Deandre Gardner, #kNOwShade is a vogue performance ensemble based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that creates brave, experimental, hyper queer art through visual, dance, and theater. kNOwShade speaks from the perspectives of today’s urban LGBTQ youth/young adults of color with goals to build a diverse community of support for both the performers and their respective artistic expressions. #kNOwShade is currently in its 3rd year of productions since its debut at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s 9th Annual New Moves Contemporary Dance Festival in May 2016. For the 2019 FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL, #kNOwSHADE is collaborating with Dena Stanley. Dena Stanley is the Empress of the Pittsburgh Ballroom Community. She is a Mother in the House of Mizrahi in Pittsburgh, and travels with her House internationally. She is also the founder of Trans YOUniting, a non-profit organization in Pittsburgh that advocates for the transgender community and provides participants with positive role models, and opportunities for those in need of supportive services. Dena is a fierce advocate for her community, and she serves on the board of the Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh and the steering committees of the International Women’s Day Strike Coalition, TransPride Pittsburgh, and SWOP Pittsburgh. She is also a member of Pittsburgh DSA, and the Trans Justice Program which is a campaign through the ACLU of Pennsylvania. Dena believes that collaboration and conversation with organizations and individuals is the key to educating people about the trans community, who just wanted to be treated with dignity and respect. Dena has over 15 years of baking experience, and she is the owner/operator of Maddezsweetz, a boutique bakery which specializes in an array of delicious goods. The company Dena Operates is also used to help Transgender individuals build their resume and job experience by mentoring through her catering company and offering interning opportunities through a program at TransYOUniting. |  |
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GAPA Men’s Chorus: A significant cultural component of the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance (GAPA), the GAPA Men’s Chorus was formed in 1989 to provide a showcase for the vocal music talents of gay, bisexual and transgender Asian & Pacific Islander (API) men. Particularly effective in outreaching to the larger Asian Pacific population, as well as the mainstream LGBTQ community, the Chorus promotes GAPA’s goals by highlighting diversity and queer API visibility at its every appearance. Now celebrating its 30th Anniversary, the Chorus most recently performed at the 2019 Hand in Hand LGBTQ Choral Festival in Tokyo, Japan. http://gapamc.org/ |
| J Mase III & Randy Ford tackle Black Trans Survival through poetry and dance. Through words and choreography, the audience travels through topics like domestic violence, colonization and ancestor legacy. Both seasoned performers that have traveled the world over to share their craft, they come together in this unique performance. www.therandyford.com / www.jmaseiii.com |  |
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Javier Stell-Frésquez (Piru & Tigua Native of El Paso, Texas) serves Indigenous communities of the Bay, with the BAAITS Two-Spirits Powwow, and producing festivals/events. With life-long experience in dance, and performance art, she walks the vogue balls as “Xav ome’Lauren,” of the House of Lauren. Ivy Monteiro develops practices and performative roles in Dance, Music, and Visual Arts. They are a natural shapeshifter, re-imagining femininity, gender, social and race expectations through (dis)identification. Furthermore, she reshapes ancestrality and spirituality in her queer futuristic work. Ivan also goes by the name “Tropikahl Pussy”, an alter-gender-bender ego, performing “draglesque” and live music. |
| Lottie Riot hails from Chicago, where direct-talk and casual swearing are the norms. She headed West during Y2K. From 2002-2006, she performed as a drag king in Eugene, Oregon, with the notable personas “Eddie Better” and “That 80s Night Guy.” Lately, she has performed comedy in the Bay Area in the 2017 Brouhaha showcase for trans women of color and in the 2018 Fresh Meat Festival. A proud mixed-chick and soft-butch dyke, Lottie enjoys ‘90s riot grrrl punk music, speaking truth, and flannel—of course. Lottie describes her own comedy style as “edu-taining”—educational and entertaining. |  |
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New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus is a new, 30-voice, very mixed choral ensemble of transgender, intersex and non-binary singers. We are based at San Francisco’s Community Music Center in the Mission. We learn and perform great music from many traditions, build strong connections, and lift up our community’s strength and struggle through choral singing. NVBA has no auditions: all trans, intersex and non-binary voices are welcome. We are professional musicians and total beginners; our voices may or may not be at any stage of physical transition. Our goal is to keep building a creative, empowered, joyful space for our TIGQ community, where we resist silencing and shaming, and encourage each other to grow, experiment and be heard. NVBA debuted in November 2018 with performances at the SF Trans Day of Remembrance and at Grace Cathedral, commemorating World AIDS Day. Pianist: Vutu Nguyen. Director: Reuben Zellman. |
| Sean Dorsey is an award-winning San Francisco-based choreographer, dancer and writer, and the founder and Artistic Director of Fresh Meat Productions. Recognized as the U.S.’ first acclaimed transgender modern dance choreographer, Dorsey has toured his work to 30 cities. Dorsey has been awarded five Isadora Duncan Dance Awards and is currently on a 20-city international tour of Sean Dorsey Dance’s new work BOYS IN TROUBLE – powerful new dances that unpack contemporary American masculinity with unflinching honesty – from unapologetically transgender and queer perspectives. Dorsey is a leading national advocate for Trans Equity in dance – and has worked for equity for transgender and gender-nonconforming artists in the field for 20 years. www.seandorseydance.com |  |
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Shawna Virago is a songwriter celebrated for her striking lyric-based songs. Virago was one of the nation’s first openly transgender women to perform and tour nationally, and has performed as an out transwoman since the early 1990’s. Virago has been profiled online, in print and on radio including Bitch, Louder Than War, No Depression, Paste magazine, on NPR and PBS, and on left-of-the-dial radio. Virago is a published writer and her work appears in Gender Outlaws: Next Generation and in the anthologies Trans/Love: Radical Sex, Love & Relationships Beyond the Gender Binary, Take Me There, In the Woods and on the Heath and Transnational Queer Underground. www.shawnavirago.com |
| Star Amerasu is a multi-disciplinary artist. Her music and video work have been featured in many publications including Out Magazine, Paper Magazine, Them, I-D, Billboard Magazine and KQED Arts to name a few. She creates indie electronic music under the moniker Ah-Mer-Ah-Su and her last album “Star” Released in 2018 was voted Top 20 LGBT albums of that year by Billboard Music. Her voice though its own unique timbre has been compared to Nina Simone, her sound in a world of its own. www.starmusic.tv |  |
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Tajah J is a Contemporary R&B, Soul, EDM, and Pop artist. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and currently lives in the S.F. Bay Area. As a black transgender multi-media artist and activist, Tajah J puts forth her experiences being formerly incarcerated, her love life, and her passion for trans empowerment as the essence of her music. |
| The Singing Bois is a queer/trans retro band that performs a blend of R&B, soul, rock, hip hop, and Latin genres. Their signature sound features catchy hooks, lush vocal harmonies, and an infectious groove to offer a soulful take on songs of love and liberation. The Singing Bois has performed around the U.S. at venues including Freight and Salvage, UtahPresents at University of Utah, UC Riverside, SF Pride Main Stage, UC Santa Cruz, Z Space, EastSide Arts Alliance, the Fresh Meat Festival, and the National Queer Arts Festival. The group released their debut self-titled EP in 2018. www.thesingingbois.com |  |
ACCESSS NOTES:
GENERAL NOTES:
Legal identification (ID) is not required to purchase or pick up tickets. All restrooms are all-gender and wheelchair accessible.
MOBILITY ACCESS:
Z Space is a wheelchair accessible theater with a ramp into the building, and level rolling access within the theater. Seating is provided on floor level for people using wheelchairs and scooters, as well as anyone who cannot climb stairs (there are stairs starting at row 2 to the back of the theater). All tickets are general seating: accessible seating will always be made available upon request at the door — it’s very helpful if you can email us ahead of time to let us know what accommodations you need: please email us at least 3 days in advance: [email protected].
ALL-GENDER RESTROOMS:
All bathrooms are wheelchair accessible and designated as all-gender.
ASL ACCESS:
All performances will be ASL interpreted by Pilar Marsh and Cathleen Riddley; reserved ASL seating will be available. It’s helpful if you can please let us know if you need ASL reserved seating: please email us at [email protected].
ARMLESS CHAIRS:
Armless chairs are available in the front row, and may be reserved upon request by emailing [email protected].
NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTED:
No identification is required to buy or pick up tickets.
FRAGRANCE AND MULTIPLE CHEMICAL SENSITIVITIES:
Although we cannot guarantee a completely scent-free space, our goal is to make our events as fragrance-free as possible for the health and safety of performers, audience, staff, and volunteers with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS.)
* Scent-reduced seating will be available – It’s very helpful if you can email us ahead of time to let us know you need scent-reduced reserved seating: please email us at least 3 days in advance: [email protected].
* Bathroom products at Z Space will be fragrance-free
If you have any other access requests or questions please email OUR Access Coordinator: [email protected] .
