Sunday, June 19, 2022
6 pm (PST)
Saturday, June 18, 2022
7 pm (PST)
For the past 9 years, Inferno Theatre has presented the Contemporary Diasporas Performance Festival— a multicultural, interdisciplinary performance and arts festival. The festival was created out of Inferno’s mission to link cultures and explore human relationships.
The 9th Annual Contemporary Diasporas Performance Festival - Gathered Momentum was made possible thanks to the Civic Arts Grant Program of the City of Berkeley. Additional support was provided by the Henry Levy Group.
Meet The Artists
GATHERED MOMENTUM
Program Information
SATURDAY, June 18, 2022 at 7 pm
What Had Happened Was… Part Three: the Future
Presented by US in the U.S.
Cast
Tyler Jeffreys
Korinne Knicks
Shelby Broadnax
About
What if…in order to “dismantle white supremacy” we have to stop believing in it?
This devised trilogy explores how to paralyze white supremacy from the inside out. We have to disembody the demon, as difficult as that is. We have to override its programming from within. One way is to delete the word “white” and create a Supremacy Culture rather than a white supremacy.
Why? When you get rid of “white” then maybe European Americans will see how much White Supremacy hurts them as well. Can they be as angry as the people who carry the historical burden of this country: Afro and Native Americans. If they can, I believe we can actually start to diminish Supremacy Culture.
In essence - Afro Americans need to dig deep for confidence, learn how to ignore ignorance, and safely build more community around each other. Whereas, European Americans need to get angry about THEIR circumstances and FIGHT. We switching roles.
Nothing can be pure white or pure black, except unfiltered sunlight or the depths of a black hole. - Adobe
Part Three: the Future offers Negro/Afro American/Black/African American people safely a safe haven to create culture and community in order dismantle White Supremacy within. Africans in Africa are not black. So why are they black on every other continent? In order to get rid of the White we have to get rid of the Black.
Special thanks to 3Girls Theatre Company, Inferno Theatre, and CSU East Bay.
got water?
A co-production between Inferno Theatre and the BootStrap Theater Foundation
got water? by Sharmon J. Hilfinger with music by Joan Mcmillen was originally performed as a one-hour play at the 2003 San Francisco Fringe Festival. This is a shortened version prepared for the Contemporary Diasporas Festival.
Playwright – Sharmon J. Hilfinger
Composer – Joan McMillen
Director – Giulio Cesare Perrone
Assistant Director – Katherine Hamilton
Cast
Tao – Drew Paton
Server – Olga Molina
Glitz - Veronica Renner
Actor – Katherine Hamilton
Chem – Connor Alhart
Skateboarder – Jackson Kienitz
Heron – Connor Alhart
Filmer – Drew Paton
About
The setting is: Here.
The time: Soon.
Water shortage in California is much more severe now than it was 19 years ago when we first wrote this play as a warning of things to come.
The MAZE
Presented by Surabhi Bharadwaj/Siddhi Creative
About
The MAZE is a dance exploration of mind and body navigating through inner constraints. The work also views society as a complex maze controlled by hegemonic ideologies that we all are constantly navigating. The journeys are different for some groups who often get trapped while others find their way easily. At this festival, an excerpt of this work will be presented which explores women navigating in a maze controlled by patriarchy.
When Nanay Comes Home
Presented by Deborah Slater Dance Theater
Concept and Direction – Deborah Slater
Movement and Performance – Rachel Garcia
Text – Zoe Dorado from Youth Speaks
Original Music – Mik Nawooj
Artistic Director, Composer, Pianist – JooWan Kim
Managing Director, Singer – Christopher Nikolas
About
When Nanay Comes Home was created as part of an ongoing study of experiences during the pandemic.
i'll see you soon
Written and Directed – May Ramos and Ismael Chamu
Performed by May Ramos and Ismael Chamu
About
Set in the 1500s during the Manila Galleon trade, this play is a story of two sailors from separate homelands, who discover a shared language of insurrection. Inspired by May and Ismael's shared history, this piece questions the way we see solidarity and resistance, asking the audience to understand its origins and continue the work that our ancestors began. Anarchy is a world where many worlds can exist. May your love be ungovernable, your heart unbound, and your being as borderless as the sea.
When I Die, Leave the Balcony Open/ Cuando Muera, Dejad el Balcón Abierto
Starring – Laura Muñoz
Co-directed by Laura Muñoz and Melanie Schauwecker
About
A lone woman in a land devastated by war. She has a mission and is undeterred by challenges that can cost her life.
Molinete
Carol Braves – violin
Robert Fields – guitar
Molinete is a Spanish word that means “to wrap or twist a thing around a central pivot point.” It is also the name of one of the fundamental sequences used in the Argentine tango dance. We took this name because our group wraps other musical influences around this basic Argentine tango principle.
Most of it is music for dancing. All of it is music to soothe the soul.
Ajax: Our Heroes, Our America
Presented by Inferno Theatre
Playwright, Director – Giulio Cesare Perrone
Composer – Joan McMillen
Cast
Ajax 1, a homeless veteran – Drew Paton
Ajax 2, a mythological Greek warrior hero – Drew Paton
Athena, a former goddess – Olga Molina
Tecmessa, Ajax 2’s concubine – Olga Molina
About
This new play, centered on the concept of identity, explores the archetypal concept of heroes through time. In our era, Ajax’s mythical character will address the core of the American Constitution, democracy, and the urgent need for social justice, social change, equity, and inclusion. The story is told by our hero, Ajax, a homeless veteran. Through him, we will examine our past and present history as we navigate the road forward.
SUNDAY, June 19, 2022 at 6 pm
What Had Happened Was… Part Three: the Future
Presented by US in the U.S.
Cast
Tyler Jeffreys
Korinne Knicks
Shelby Broadnax
About
What if…in order to “dismantle white supremacy” we have to stop believing in it?
This devised trilogy explores how to paralyze white supremacy from the inside out. We have to disembody the demon, as difficult as that is. We have to override its programming from within. One way is to delete the word “white” and create a Supremacy Culture rather than a white supremacy.
Why? When you get rid of “white” then maybe European Americans will see how much White Supremacy hurts them as well. Can they be as angry as the people who carry the historical burden of this country: Afro and Native Americans. If they can, I believe we can actually start to diminish Supremacy Culture.
In essence - Afro Americans need to dig deep for confidence, learn how to ignore ignorance, and safely build more community around each other. Whereas, European Americans need to get angry about THEIR circumstances and FIGHT. We switching roles.
Nothing can be pure white or pure black, except unfiltered sunlight or the depths of a black hole. - Adobe
Part Three: the Future offers Negro/Afro American/Black/African American people safely a safe haven to create culture and community in order dismantle White Supremacy within. Africans in Africa are not black. So why are they black on every other continent? In order to get rid of the White we have to get rid of the Black.
Special thanks to 3Girls Theatre Company, Inferno Theatre, and CSU East Bay.
Ajax: Our Heroes, Our America
Presented by Inferno Theatre
Playwright, Director – Giulio Cesare Perrone
Composer – Joan McMillen
Cast
Ajax 1, a homeless veteran – Drew Paton
Ajax 2, a mythological Greek warrior hero – Drew Paton
Athena, a former goddess – Olga Molina
Tecmessa, Ajax 2’s concubine – Olga Molina
About
This new play, centered on the concept of identity, explores the archetypal concept of heroes through time. In our era, Ajax’s mythical character will address the core of the American Constitution, democracy, and the urgent need for social justice, social change, equity, and inclusion. The story is told by our hero, Ajax, a homeless veteran. Through him, we will examine our past and present history as we navigate the road forward.
The Dream Tree
Presented by Siddhi Dance Academy
Students of Siddhi Dance Academy will be presenting an excerpt of the dance-theater production, The Dream Tree, which premiered in May 2022 at the San Ramon Performing Arts Center. The work is inspired by sustainable living and will take you on a magical journey through fiction and reality!
someday all of it leaves
Presented by Food, Wine, and Song
About
An improvisation in movement, music and poetry.
“Someday all of it leaves.” It’s true. Just try to stop it. Probably don’t need it, anyway. What, really, do you need?
Movement – Nan Busse
Music – Heikki Koskinen
Poetry – Tobey Kaplan
the incredibly upbeat journey of a black man almost getting shot by police officers
Presented by Sinjin Jones
About
Through poetry and storytelling, we hear the story of a teacher who almost gets shot by police officers on school property.
BEGINNING
Presented by Deborah Slater Dance Theater
By Sarah Chiesa
Concept and Direction – Deborah Slater
Performer – Sarah Chiesa
Music – Fred Frith, Rivers & Tides, P1 and P5
About
BEGINNING was created as part of an ongoing study of experiences during the pandemic.
eleven_oranges
Presented by Evan Johnson
In eleven_oranges, Evan Johnson explores his relationship to art, performance, gender, and mortality through a comical queer lens, in this retrospective, original solo performance.
got water?
A co-production between Inferno Theatre and the BootStrap Theater Foundation
got water? by Sharmon J. Hilfinger with music by Joan Mcmillen was originally performed as a one-hour play at the 2003 San Francisco Fringe Festival. This is a shortened version prepared for the Contemporary Diasporas Festival.
About
The setting is: Here.
The time: Soon.
Water shortage in California is much more severe now than it was 19 years ago when we first wrote this play as a warning of things to come.
Playwright – Sharmon J. Hilfinger
Composer – Joan McMillen
Director – Giulio Cesare Perrone
Assistant Director – Katherine Hamilton
Cast
Tao – Drew Paton
Server – Olga Molina
Glitz - Veronica Renner
Actor – Katherine Hamilton
Chem – Connor Alhart
Skateboarder – Jackson Kienitz
Heron – Connor Alhart
Filmer – Drew Paton
Sound of the far east
Presented by Amir Etemadzadeh
A Presentation of the sound of the Daf and in context of a historical background.