Public Performances

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Family Style
Open Mic Series
Third Fridays of the month:
Friday, August 20, 7:30 p.m. - BUY TICKETS NOW!
 (Doors open at 7 p.m.)
$5-10 sliding scale admission

Hosted by YELLOW RAGE (Michelle Myers and Catzie Vilayphonh), our popular monthly Asian American open mic FAMILY STYLE welcomes extended "family" from all communities and cultures.

Want to perform at the open mic?
Sign up here!
(Advance sign-up is strongly recommended!)


Photography by Derek Srisaranard

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August's open mic features REGIE CABICO and the theme "SPICY MEAT SAUCE: Sultry End-of-Summer Fling Stories."


 Photography by Les Talusan


REGIE CABICO is a poet and spoken word pioneer, having won the Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam in 1993, taking top prizes in the 1993, 1994, and 1997 National Poetry Slams, and appearing in two seasons of HBO's Def Poetry Jam with Russell Simmons.  His work has been published in over 50 anthologies, including Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Spoken Word Revolution, and The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry.  Among multiple awards and fellowships, Cabico won the 2006 Writers for Writers Award from Poets & Writers; other recipients include Arthur Miller, Stephen King, and Barbara Kingsolver.  He currently serves as Artistic Director of Sol & Soul, and arts and activist organization in Washington, D.C.

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July's open mic features DAN KIM and the theme "LOST & FOUND."


Photography by Ernie Pena

DAN KIM is an actor, writer, and stand-up comedian who has performed in countless venues across the nation, including New York City's popular Laugh Lounge and Los Angeles' renowned East West Players.

He is a founding member of Asians Misbehavin', an Asian American multimedia performance group whose works have been featured on WYBE TV and at New York's premiere Fringe Festival.

His wry wit and musings about Asian American identity, geekdom, show business, and technology can be found at the Geeky Asian Guy Blog www.geekyasianguy.com.

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June's open mic features spoken word poet JENNY LARES and the theme "MY EYE SITS AT YOUR HEART: Seeking Truth and Claiming Identity."

Photography by Les Talusan

jenny c. lares is a poet and host based in Washington, DC. She is the Founding Co-Director of Sulu DC, an underground network and home for Asian American and/or Pacific Islander focused spoken word and multidisciplinary artists in the Washington, DC area. She is also one of the hosts of a weekly open mic at Busboys and Poets along Washington, DC's U Street Corridor.

She has featured at Washington, DC poetry and art venues including Busboys and Poets, Artomatic, and Mothertongue, and has performed at several colleges and universities throughout the Midwest and East Coast. She previously served on the board of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF)DC Chapter, where she coordinated and hosted "Creative Explosion V: The Spirit of API Feminism Through Performance". One of her poems will be included in the forthcoming anthology, Walang Hiyaliterature taking risks toward liberatory practice published by Carayan Press.

She is currently working on her website, but for now, you can visit and read her blog: www.jennylares.wordpress.com


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May's open mic features poet BRYAN THAO WORRA and the theme "LAOS IN THE HOUSE."



BRYAN THAO WORRA is an award-winning Lao American writer. Born in Laos in 1973, his work appears in over 80 international publications and is taught in college classrooms around the world. He works nationally on Southeast Asian refugee resettlement and the arts. He holds a fellowship in literature from the National Endowment for the Arts and received a 2009 Asian Pacific Leadership Award from Council from Asian Pacific Minnesotans. You can visit him online at http://thaoworra.blogspot.com/

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April's open mic features poet LOVELLA CALICA and the theme "DO NOT BE AFRAID: Personal Growth Through Struggle."
Photography by Pablo Virgo

LOVELLA CALICA is a writer, photographer, and multi-media artist. With backgrounds in Human Development, English, and social justice organizing, she offers a unique perspective and develops creative, collaborative ways of organizing and communicating.

She is the founder and director of the Warrior Writers Project, a creative community for veterans articulating their experiences. She has edited two anthologies of Iraq era veterans' writing/art entitled Move, Shoot and Communicate and Re-Making Sense.

Lovella has received two Art and Change grants from the Leeway Foundation and was recently honored with the Transformation Award. She published her first chapbook of poetry Makibaka: Beautifully Brave in 2006 and is planning to complete a full book of writing in the spring of 2010. Lovella is a co-founder of the Pilipino-American artist collective, Tatlo Mestiz@s.

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March's open mic features poet SHAM-E-ALI AL-JAMIL and the theme "HOLDING UP HALF THE SKY: A Tribute to Women."


Photography by Ruth Naomi Floyd

SHAM-E-ALI AL-JAMIL is a poet who was born in Hyderabad, India, and raised in both the UK and the US. Her poetry has appeared in publications such as SALT Journal, SAMAR, Roots & Culture Magazine, and Mizna, and can be found in anthologies such as Shattering the Stereotypes: Muslim Women Speak Out, Living Islam Out Loud: American Muslim Women Speak, and Shout Out: Women of Color Respond to Violence.

Sham-e-Ali has performed her poetry internationally at various events including the Oxford Literary Festival and the "Sister Fire Cultural Arts Tour of Radical Women of Color Artists and Activists."

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February's open mic features musician JAY LEGASPI and the theme "WHERE'S THE LOVE? A Post-Valentine's Day Celebration."


Photography by Catzie Vilayphonh

JAY LEGASPI is a NY born, NJ raised singer songwriter. A typically quiet Filipino kid in high school, Jay began singing in college and started his musical career after he graduated. He loves his family and hopes he can make his older brother proud. His new album is coming out this year, and more can be found on his website.


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Home: Far and Near
A festival of Asian American performance
Thursday - Saturday, March 25 - 27, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 3, 7:30 p.m.
$15 general admission; student + group discounts available
$40 for all 4 shows

A festival unique to Philadelphia, convening Asian America's most talented and provocative performers working in diverse disciplines, from right here in Philly and across the country -- some classic, some cutting edge, all unforgettable. Asian Arts Initiative's 2010 Artists Exchange, Home: Far and Near, brings them together to explore broad themes of immigration, displacement, and the concept of home.

It starts with three nights of not-to-miss showcases of solo work:

NIGHT #1: Dynamic Dance and Theater
Thursday, March 25, 7:30 p.m.
Featured Artists: Makoto Hirano, Kristina Wong

NIGHT #2: Superstars of Spoken Word
Friday, March 26, 7:30 p.m.
Featured Artists: Regie Cabico, Robert F. Karimi, Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai

NIGHT #3: History in the Making
Saturday, March 27, 7:30 p.m.
Featured Artists: Dan Kwong, Anula Shetty, Catzie Vilayphonh

Then, following a week of intensive collaboration, our star-studded collective of artists from around the country debut a new ensemble work-in-progress that invokes their creativity to speak to common community concerns:

NIGHT #4: New Work
Saturday, April 3, 7:30 p.m.
Featuring Entire Artists Exchange Ensemble!

The performance descriptions are listed below.

NIGHT #1: DYNAMIC DANCE AND THEATER
Thursday, March 25, 7:30 p.m.
Featured Artists: Makoto Hirano, Kristina Wong

Filled with deliciously intense movement inspired by real events and ideas, Philadelphia-based MAKOTO HIRANO investigates Hip Hop and House culture that pays homage to Gene Kelly and Richard Pryor. During its development, Boom Bap Tourism: The Lost Tapes was discovered: material omitted from the final version has now resurfaced as an alluring/ pre/sequel.

With trademark humor and irreverent wit, KRISTINA WONG shares stories of moving through car-centric Los Angeles on foot, bus, and piggyback. The Wong Sans Wheels Chronicles is a love story about a girl and the green-living biodiesel car that betrayed her, a treatise on consumerism, and one woman's guide to recession survival tactics -- sure to leave you clutching your belly with laughter!

NIGHT #2: SUPERSTARS OF SPOKEN WORD
Friday, March 26, 7:30 p.m.
Featured Artists: Regie Cabico, Robert F. Karimi, Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai

Tracing his orbit from his Catholic family roots and dreams of Broadway musicals to the spoken word slam scene and back again, D.C.-based performance poet and comedian REGIE CABICO in Unbuckled is a one-man cabaret infused with humor, irreverent pop-culture references, and his ever-enduring perspective as a queer Filipino artist.

With the Iranian Hostage Crisis, the birth of '80s conservatism, and Bay Area suburban teenage angst as backdrop, Minnesota-based ROBERT KARIMI and performance partner DJ D DOUBLE presents elements of Self (the remix), an autobiographical tale of an Iranian/Guatemalan boy struggling to make sense of manhood, nationhood, and neighborhood with the voices and music of his community helping him along.

Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based Taiwanese American spoken word artist KELLY ZEN-YIE TSAI explores what it means to belong (or not) in this modern-day choreopoem for diasporic divas who have considered expatriation when identity ain't enough. From an anti-war protest in Chicago to a language school in Taipei to an activist enclave in rural Mexico, Sleep on Wood chronicles Kelly's global search for self and salvation and how actually finding "home" just might be one of the scariest endeavors of all.

NIGHT #3: HISTORY IN THE MAKING
Saturday, March 27, 7:30 p.m.
Featured Artists: Dan Kwong, Anula Shetty, Catzie Vilayphonh

Equal parts travelogue, satirical dance review, and irreverent history lesson, It's Great 2B American follows award-winning California-based solo performance artist DAN KWONG through his recent travels to Asia and his ongoing search for an American identity beyond arrogance, denial, or guilt. This evening will achieve no less than transforming your concept of privilege!

Ever-versatile Philadelphia-based filmmaker ANULA SHETTY delivers not one, not two, but three short reveries! Uncle is a dark tale about a favorite uncle who starts making too many free phone calls. Too Taboo recounts the sexual awakening of a young girl who ventures into forbidden pleasures and receives moral lessons from her class teacher. Let Them Eat Cake describes returning home to Bombay and discovering a different relationship to class distinctions, cleanliness, and food.

Philly-born and raised CATZIE VILAYPHONH of Yellow Rage fame performs her signature piece Laos in the House, an eye-opening spoken word tribute to the Lao American experience drawing on cultural references to food, language, and the ethnic ambiguity of an obscure nation. In addition to her classic crowd-pleaser, Catzie also debuts a brand-new performance about life as a single mother and her reluctant return home to "the hood."

NIGHT #4: NEW WORK
Saturday, April 3, 7:30 p.m.
Entire Artists Exchange Ensemble

Following a week of intensive collaboration exploring the broad themes of immigration, displacement, and the concept of "home," our star-studded collective of performers share a new ensemble work-in-progress that you won't want to miss!


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Moving Beyond Form
Explorations in Rhythm & Storytelling in Classical & Contemporary Indian Dance
Friday, February 26, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 27, 4:30 p.m.
(Doors open 30 minutes in advance)
$20 general admission; student + group discounts available
For two days, on one stage, MOVING BEYOND FORM brings together three distinctly different choreographers and ensembles -- ANNELIZE MACHADO, THE POST NATYAM COLLECTIVE, and Philadelphia's very own URMIKA DEVI DANCE COLLECTIVE -- exploring the boundaries of contemporary culture through works inspired by modern dance, ballet, yoga, martial arts, and the classical Indian dance forms of Bharata Natyam, Kuchipudi, and Kathak.


Photography by Iva Momcheva

URMIKA DEVI DANCE COLLECTIVE (Philadelphia) premieres IN DREAMS, a touching three-act story of family and migration as a mother and daughter weave between dream and reality, shifting between elaborate costumes and a set evoking the Indian home left behind for New York City.



ANNELIZE MACHADO (Texas) premieres INTERSECTIONS, a solo work on journey and ritual.


THE POST NATYAM COLLECTIVE (California and Kansas) presents TIME OUT, a series of pieces in which the collective members stamp out unconventional cross-rhythms, vocalize beats, and retell stories with their fingertips.


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Immigrant Stories
Film Screening + Reception
Saturday, June 12, 6:00 p.m.
 Free admission, but donations happily accepted

Join us for the debut screening of IMMIGRANT STORIES (2010), a short documentary film produced by a dozen local high school students under the tutelage of independent filmmaker Anula Shetty. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session and a reception.




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In Partnership with Scribe Video Center and Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition, Inc.
WHYY, ITVS & Asian Arts Initiative present
A Village Called Versailles
With filmmaker Leo Chiang
Saturday, May 22, 7 p.m.
Free Admission



Welcome to Versailles, New Orleans—home to the densest ethnic Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam. For over 30 years, its residents lived a quiet existence on the edge of New Orleans. But then came Hurricane Katrina, the immense garbage piles and the shocking discovery of a toxic landfill planned in their neighborhood. Watch as they fight back, turning a devastating disaster into a catalyst for change and a chance to build a better future.

Visit the film’s official website:  http://avillagecalledversailles.com/


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The National Performance Network (NPN) and Asian Arts Initiative Present
Doin' it on the Road
A Beginner's Guide for Touring Performing Artists

Thursday, May 21, 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Free Admission with Advance Registration Required

WHAT: Are you stymied by contracts and what it takes to tour your work? This meeting will provide information about opportunities for performing artists who are interested in touring, are ready, and have the capacity to tour. Consider it a "Beginner's Guide to Touring."

WHO: Meet local touring performing artists, presenters from the region, and National Performance Network staff.

Please go to this link to RSVP for this workshop:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/a/npnweb.org/viewform?
hl=en&formkey=dHRPVVBoVWU3NWtaakNhZGtGZThLdVE6MQ

  National Performance Network (www.npnweb.org), based in New Orleans, is a group of diverse cultural organizers, including artists, working to create meaningful partnerships and to provide leadership that enables the practice and public experience of the performing arts in the United States.

Thank you to our additional partnering organizations for making this workshop possible in Philadelphia: Community Education Center, Dance/USA Philadelphia, Leeway Foundation, Painted Bride Art Center, Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Raices Culturales Latinoamericanas, Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia.