Sean San Jose, working with SOMA Pilipinas and other Asian Pacific Islander (API) artists, musicians, and filmmakers, will create the world premiere piece, Dugo, I don’t want her to go, exploring memories of the time before AIDS in San Francisco’s South of Market district.
The collaborators write, “The SOMA Pilipinas area has always been a hotbed for the communities with whom we are connecting – Filipinos, immigrant families, the poor, the needle users, the underground gay clubs, the bathhouses – the life!” Looking at the story of 30+ years of AIDS through the perspective of Filipino families, the collaborators will gather, cull, and curate stories from the community through writing, video, dance, and photography workshops.
In addition to text by San Jose, the new work will feature a score by musician Rachel Lastimosa (executive director of SOMA Pilipinas) and video by Joan Osato. The pieces will premier as individual online performance stories and be available live as time and as public health allows. They can be experienced serial-like as short works or as a whole at the end of the process. Sean San Jose has more than 25 years of experience in creating, developing, premiering, and producing new performance works. In that time, he has helped to lead the award-winning ensemble Campo Santo. Recently he was named artistic director of San Francisco’s Magic Theatre. SOMA Pilipinas is a multi-faceted services, advocacy, and cultural organization that works to protect and support the Filipinx people and organizations in San Francisco’s South of Market District.
Photo by Destiny Evans