San Francisco International Arts Festival Announces 2017 Program

At a time of anxiety and uncertainty in many parts of the United States, the San Francisco International Arts Festival is proud to announce its 2017 lineup; an exciting 11 day program featuring over 50 ensembles and individual performing artists from the Bay Area and 14 different countries. It is a program that celebrates diversity, multiculturalism, curiosity and the value of otherness-a commitment that advocates for experiencing the cultural expressions of other societies and civilizations as a way to help understand and embrace them.

Festival director, Andrew Wood, heralded the significance of the program, "The recent national elections were an anathema to most people in the Bay Area. In the face of adversity it is our job to stand up and declare that San Francisco remains an international city that welcomes a full and healthy dialogue with the rest of the world. We are inviting artists from a spectrum of countries to present their work alongside their American peers in a global celebration of peace that honors the enduring sanctity and belief in the value of the human spirit. Some people in other areas of the country may want to cloak themselves in a veil of intolerance, but we are different. San Francisco will lead by example and continue to embrace the people of the world. We invite all those who want to share in these sentiments and who still believe in America's multicultural promise to join us for an occasion that is powerful, provocative and beautiful."

In addition to invoking Bay Area values for the betterment of the world the festival will also, for the first time, be opening its doors as a marketplace to promote the work of local and International Artists as part of an industry marketplace. SFIAF will invite arts presenters from throughout the country to attend the Festival for the purposes of seeing (and potentially buying) artistic work that they see on the Festival's seven stages.

As such the California Presenters association (attended by up to 150 presenters from the western states) will be holding its annual conference at the Holiday Inn on Van Ness Avenue during the Festival. There is an open invitation for all CP attendees to be guests at SFIAF.

Wood said of this significant development, "When we started the Festival in 2003 the goal was to create a uniquely San Francisco version of the great Festivals of the world that combined presenting brilliant performances from across the globe with an industry gathering that included a discreet marketplace dimension.

It took our partnership with the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture that began in 2015 to allow us to build a program density to finally achieve this goal. If over the course of a weekend presenters can see work by over half a dozen international quality artists with whom they are not familiar, it is worth their while to attend. This is our way of promoting and exporting San Francisco values to the world."

Opening night will feature multiple performances including the spectacular GuGu Drum Group from China. Also headlining is the award winning play from the Meyerhold Theatre Center in Moscow with the US Premiere of the English language version of One Day We Will All Be Happy.

They will be joined by a revolutionary young contemporary choreographer from China named Gu Jiani with the west coast premiere of her hauntingly beautiful piece Right and Left. Gu Jiani's work is part of a dance program that contemplates a Pirouette with Asia and includes JJBro, Scarabe and Victor Fung Dance Company from South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong respectively.

From France the US debut of Stereoptik who perform an ingenious shadow puppet play Dark Circus with the ominous tagline, "Come for the Show, Stay for the Woe!" Scottish based Estonian choreographer Eve Mutso will make her US debut with Unknown alongside the Bay Area's Alyce Finwall Dance Theater. There will also be the US debut of Tabea Martin from Switzerland.

The Festival will also feature the return of old friends improviser and pianist Shih YAng Lee from Taiwan, choreographer Myriam Gourfink from France and Trio Balkan Strings from Serbia.

International collaborations include the Bay Area's Richard Marriot with I Made Subandi from Bali and Latifa Medjdoub with Haco from Japan.

The full line-up is as follows: ABADÁ-Capoeira, Abhinaya Dance Company, Addleds, AguaClara Flamenco, Alma del Tango, Alma Esperanza Cunningham Movement, Alyce Finwall Dance Theater, The Amber, Amy Lewis Dance Project, Ancient Future Guitar Sitar Jugalbandi, Aswan Dancers, Brenda Wong Aoki and Mark Izu, Brian Copeland, Burnswork, Chris Carlsson, Embark Gallery, Erika Essner Performance Co-op, Eth Noh Tec, Eve Mutso, Fanfare Zambaleta, Gamelan Sekar Jaya, Global Guitar Summit, GuGu Drum Group, Gu Jiani, JJBro, Joe Landini, Latifa Medjdoub with Haco, Levy Dance, Mariah Parker's Indo Latin Chamber Jazz Quintet, Melody of China with Swapan Chaudhuri, Meyerhold Theater Center, Moe Staiano, Mo'Fone, Myriam Gourfink, Nassim Souleimanpour, Niloufar Talebi, punkkiCo Dance Company, Richard Marriot with I Made Subandi, Rotimi Agbabiaka, SAFEhouse Arts, Sarah Bush Dance Company, Scarabe, Sharman Duran Trio, Shih YAng Lee Quartet, STEAMROLLER Dance Company, Stereoptik, Tabea Martin, Thingamajigs with Seo Yoon Jang, Trio Balkan Strings, ViBO Simfani, Victor Fung Dance Company, Vishwa Shanthi Performing Arts, Voodoo Cabaret, We Players and Yaelisa & Caminos Flamencos.

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