Black Artists Contemporary Cultural Experience

producing new work by, for, and about Black people

Black Artists Contemporary Cultural Experience (BACCE) was founded in 1994 by Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe, Shirley Smallwood, and the late Lester Jones, with a rotating company of actors and directors including Bob Devin Jones, June Lomena, Michael Carreiro, Peter Macon, Rico Anderson and Tanya Mayo, to produce new plays by, for, and about Black people. The company has produced and presented work by Keith Josef Adkins, Pearl Cleage, Robert Alexander, Robert O’Hara, and Andrew Saito.

In 2013, BACCE produced the critically successful Bay Area premiere of A. Zell Williams’ In A Daughter’s Eyes at Brava Theater Center, where it is now a resident company. In 2015, the company presented a staged reading of Facing Our Truths – a New Black Fest commission of six short plays on Race and Trayvon Martin that was part of a national project, and Sweet Maladies by Zakiyyah Alexander which earned a Best Ensemble recognition by Theatre Bay Area awards. BACCE produced Robert O’Hara’s Bootycandy on Brava’s Main Stage in February 2017, followed by O’Hara’s An American Ma(u)l in 2018. Most recently, BACCE premiered Andrew Saito’s El Río on Brava’s second stage in September 2019; and currently hosts the monthly Black art salon, So Soul San Francisco, which is available for viewing on YouTube. Find out more about BACCE on their website https://bacce.org.

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Cuicacalli Dance Company

fusing Indigenous, Folkloric, and Contemporary dance styles

Founded by Jesus “Jacoh” Cortes, Cuicacalli is a multi-disciplinary dance company that fuses various styles into a unique story of its own. Inspired by cultural traditions and their development into the modern day, Cortes develops choreographies that both revive traditions, as well as give a glimpse of daily life through abstract motion.

By fusing Indigenous, Folkloric, and Contemporary dance styles, Cuicacalli hopes to expose, sustain, and expand traditional and modern dancing with a new lens. In order to reach new levels of artistic innovation and exposure to importance of these cultural traditions, Cuicacalli believes in collaboration and opening its doors to musicians, singers, graphic designers, aerialist, and more in and outside of the Bay Area. Cuicacalli looks for the opportunity to present their works at festivals and events across the country and internationally.

As a resident dance company at Brava since 2007, Cuicacalli Dance Company develops and premieres two season per year, including its annual “Tradición, Movimiento y Pasión." Cuicacalli has also developed relationships with San Francisco’s Exploratorium, San Francisco’s Earth Day celebrations at Civic Center, and has guested with the Ballet Folkorico at Stanford University. Cuicacalli Dance Company has been presented by the San Francisco Son Jarocho Festival, Cuba Caribe, FLACC! Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers, San Francisco Carnaval, and D.I.R.T – Dancing In Revolt(ing) Times.

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La Lengua Teatro en Español

creating spaces for theater in Spanish

Creada en 2019 por Virginia Blanco, La Lengua Teatro en Español/La Lengua Theater es una compañía emergente que crea espacios para producir teatro en español, difundiendo su inmensa diversidad y riqueza, con el objetivo de empoderar a las comunidades hispanohablantes en el área de la bahía de San Francisco. 

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Founded in 2019 by Virginia Blanco, La Lengua Teatro en Español/La Lengua Theater is an emerging company that creates spaces for theater in Spanish, sharing its immense diversity and wealth, in order to empower the Spanish-speaking community in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Connect, follow, and support La Lengua! 

Website: www.lalengua.org

Social:@lalenguatheater

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La Mezcla

polyrhythmic, San Francisco-based dance and music ensemble rooted in Chicana, Latina and Indigenous traditions and social justice.

Founded in 2015 by Dance/USA fellow Vanessa Sanchez, their work brings together Tap dance, Son Jarocho and Afro-Caribbean rhythms to bring the often unseen histories and experiences of communities of color to stages, streets and fields.Committed to using dance and music for social change, La Mezcla offers paid internships, artist mentorships, and has partnered with organizations including Lincoln Center Education, KQED Arts, and Ayudando Latinos a Soñar Farmworker Fridays to provide educational opportunities and hands-on community engagement. https://lamezclasf.net/

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Loco Bloco

High quality arts programming for Latina/o, Black, Indigenous and other young  people of color

Loco Bloco (LB) promotes the healthy transition into adulthood for San Francisco youth by engaging them in the creation and performance of music, dance, and theater rooted in Afro-Latinx traditions. Founded by community-based artists and activists in 1994, Loco Bloco provides BIPOC youth with transformational arts experiences to foster dialogue, engagement and unity between diverse cultures in Bay Area communities. Based on frameworks that emerged in Latin America of artistic creation as an emancipatory process, we empower youth to embrace the cultural legacies of their ancestors, overcome discrimination and create positive change. For 30 years thousands of young people and their families have participated in LB programs and annual productions, strengthening their connections to cultural traditions, wellness, and becoming leaders/culture-bearers for their communities. https://www.locoblocosf.org/

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San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company

uniting artists and audiences through live theatre

San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO) ​is a nonprofit organization committed to uniting artists and audiences through live theatre that reflects the authentic perspectives and histories of the San Francisco Bay Area. SFBATCO supports artists through creative development and full productions, and inspires the next generation of performers through acting labs and mentorships.  

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Marcelo Javier co-founded San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO) in 2014. Acting credits include Riff in West Side Story (SFBATCO)  I Too Sing America (SFBATCO), Not Another Holiday Show! (SFBATCO), Home for “all of” the Holidays (SFBATCO),  Skippyjon Jones (Theatreworks USA), Rent (Syracuse Stage), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bathwater Productions). Directing credits include Death and the Artist (SFBATCO) One Googol and One (SFBATCO) Celebrate 12th Night Joyfully With Kathryn Crosby (NYPL at Lincoln Center), Cinderella (African American Shakespeare Co.) Not Another Holiday Show! (SFBATCO), La Posarela (SFBATCO 2017 & Community Music Center 2015). 

SFBATCO co-founder Rodney E. Jackson Jr. made his Broadway debut in “The Book of Mormon” and was last seen at American Conservatory Theatre in the West Coast premiere of “Toni Stone”. Prior to that he traveled North America in the first national tour of “Motown: The Musical.” 

A San Francisco native who built his love and foundation for art and theatre in public city organizations such as SFartsEd, San Francisco Recreation and Park’s Young People’s Teen Musical Theater Company, and the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts’ where he graduated from the theatre department. He is now the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company. 

Other theatre credits: Berkeley Repertory “Ain’t Too Proud: the life and times of the Temptations”, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company “I, Too, Sing America”. @rodneyearljacksonjr

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