The 30th Annual West Wave Dance Festival Presents:
West Wave Counter Conference
A conference and festival focused on healing, celebrating, and educating our community
ASL interpretation for this festival is provided by Urban Jazz Dance Company
Festival Schedule
SAT MAY 13 @ 145 Eddy St
*10AM Check-in
*10:30AM Welcome Plenary Sarah Crowell (Destiny Arts)
12PM Lunch Break
*1-3PM Indoor and Outdoor Performances with Jai-Unt 007 W*ackers and Voguers / Tachiria Flamenco
7:30PM Join us over at Club Fugazi to see Dear San Francisco
*If you are interested in getting a VIP ticket to Club Fugazi, please contact joe@safehousearts.org
SUN MAY 14 @ 145 Eddy St
*11:30 & 1PM – Panels with Raven Malouf-Renning / Scott Duane & Cookie Harrist
2PM Lunch Break
*3-5PM Performances by Raven Malouf-Renning & Scott Duane
5:30PM – Join us over at The Tenderloin Museum for a Closing Reception and Performance by SevanKelee Boult
*ASL Interpretation will be provided at all events taking place at 145 Eddy St. ASL Interpretation is coordinated by Urban Jazz Dance Company’s Access Services
Photo of STEAMROLLER Dance Company by Robbie Sweeny
Thank you to everyone who came out and supported our community!
WWDF30 Advisory Committee
Antoine Hunter
Jes deVille
Jesselito Bie
Snowflake Calvert
Zahna Simon
WWDF30 Partnering Organizations
WWDF30 Artists
Sarah Crowell
Sarah Crowell is a dancer and choreographer who has taught dance, theater, mindfulness and violence prevention for over 35 years. At the end of 2020 she left her position as the Artistic Director at Destiny Arts Center in Oakland where she served in different capacities including Executive Director for 30 years. She founded and co-directed the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company, which was the subject of two documentary films, and won the National Arts & Humanities Youth Program Award. Sarah has facilitated arts integration, violence prevention, cultural humility and team building professional development sessions with artists and educators since 2000, both locally and nationally. She is the recipient of many awards including the KPFA Peace award, the KQED Women’s History Local Hero award, and the National Guild for Community Arts Education Milestone award. She is a four-time finalist for a Tony Award for Excellence in Theater Education. Sarah believes that movement must be part of all movements for social change.
Jai-Unt 007 W*ackers and Voguers
Photo and bio coming soon
Tachíria Flamenco
Tachíria Flamenco (formerly Carolé Acuña) who is a the 5th generation Flamenco & Spanish dancer in a gitano family legacy, modern dancer, actor, singer, stand-up comedian, percussionist, choreographer, writer. She is a survivor of rape domestic violence, cancer, is Yaqui (Native American) and a mixed race Afro Latinx, soul sexual, two spirit, became a professional dancer at 14, continues to perform internationally, is on her PHD journey and has a persian cat named Duende!
Raven Malouf-Renning
Raven Malouf-Renning is a queer, nonbinary, neurodivergent, fat dancer, choreographer, and musician based in the San Francisco Bay Area. They received their BA in 1997 and a Graduate Certificate in 1998 in Theater Arts (Dance) from UC Santa Cruz. Over the past 25 years, Raven has worked with numerous local choreographers, most recently including Eric Kupers, Joe Landini, Jesse Bie, and Antoine Hunter. Raven is an Adjunct Lecturer in the Theatre and Dance Department at CSU East Bay where they serve as the Assistant Director of the Wandering Ensemble, a fusion of Eric Kupers' Bandelion and the CSUEB Inclusive Interdisciplinary Ensemble. In addition, Raven is also a vocalist and harmonium player in the band Ultrasonic Current. They recently assistant directed and performed in Seder Apokalypsis, a ritual dance theater piece which had a two week run in Hayward and a one weekend run in Los Angeles. Raven has been a Resident Artist at SAFEHouse for the Performing Arts since 2020, where they created five solo dance films for the organization’s Online Digital Showcase series, which they also co-hosted, and created They, Not She for the 2021 West Wave Dance Festival. Since returning to in-person performance, Raven has performed in Joe Landini’s City of Ghosts and More Is More, and premiered their own work, including The Next Mountain to Climb (2022), and This Old House (2022). They are thrilled to be premiering their first evening length work, 404: Dopamine Not Found, which deals with the themes of neurodivergence and executive dysfunction. Creating radically inclusive, raw, honest art and empowering others to do the same is at the heart of Raven’s artistic and spiritual practice.
Scott Duane
Scott Duane is a writer, dancer, filmmaker, retired trans activist, and a total nerd. His love of dance was a later-in-life discovery, emerging as he found himself at the tail end of his years-long journey of gender transition. Prior to entering the world of dance, he used his voice as a writer and filmmaker to process and understand the complexities of gender, centering transness in all its forms. In this new iteration of his artistic life, he is enjoying digging deep into some of these same areas from an embodied, often absurdist perspective. He’s the author of 2019 Lambda Literary Finalist Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity, holds a PhD in Mathematics from University of California, San Diego, and has danced or performed in works by Nol Simonse, Eric Kupers, and Garrett & Moulton Productions.
Cookie Harrist
Cookie Harrist is the definition of triple threat but with an experimental flair. Beginning her career in theater at age 14, Cookie starred in musicals and plays throughout the greater Boston area. Then while studying to be an actor at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, she sharply changed course and dove headfirst into contemporary dance. Making a name for herself in San Francisco, Cookie began performing for world renowned dance companies like Joe Goode Performance Group, LEVY Dance and choreographer Sara Shelton Mann. Her career continues to expand and blur the boundaries between theater, dance and original music. She has two albums soon to be released, one of which is a collaboration with her brother Michael Harrist.
SevanKelee Boult
SevanKelee Boult (she/her) is a well known Bay Area poet that has been seen on HBO Real Sex and represented several Bay Area slam teams over the past 10 years, including winning the honored title Grand Slam Champion of 4 different Bay teams. She has graced notable stages such as the De Young Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the Marsh Theater. A UC Berkeley graduate with a minor in Theatre Arts, SevanKelee continues to craft her performance. She effortlessly blends music and poetry to engage the audience with her soft, raspy voice and mesmerizing stage presence.