&theruptureisnow is a multimedia performance piece instigated by jose e. abad in co-authorship with Styles Alexander, Gabriele Christian, Clarissa Dyas, and Stephanie Hewett. The artists propose to hybridize improvisation, contemporary dance, electronic music, digital visual landscapes, altar installations, rituals of healing, and exorcisms through somatic state-work.
The project asks, “…how can we create the conditions for future Black anchor artists in the Bay Area to emerge and thrive?” Among other strategies, they have curated and confirmed the participation of a Wisdom Circle of primarily queer and/or Black legendary performance makers, including Ishmael Houston Jones, Joanna Haigood, Julie Tolentino, Thomas DeFrantz, and mayfield brooks.
This two-year project will lead to three work-in-progress showings in San Francisco, six podcasts or videos featuring intergenerational conversations between the performers and members of the Wisdom Circle, 10-13 writing reflections from archivist and writer Sarah Cargill, and two weekends of pay-what-you-can-performances at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in fall 2023.
Born in Olongapo City, Philippines, to a Filipina mother and an Afro-Caribbean U.S. naval soldier, jose e. abad’s work explores the complexities of cultural identity at the crossroads of gender, sexuality, class, and race in the United States.
Collaborating organization Authentic Arts & Media is an arts equity, advocacy, educational, and cultural production organization that designs and facilitates leadership building, artists’ residencies, and network expanding opportunities for queer, transgender, Black, Indigenous and other artists of color.