Oct 1: sii agua sí
Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers and Dance Mission Theater presentsii agua sí
Saturday, October 1st
2pm – Prayer walk from Mission Dolores to 18th Street
3pm-9:00pm – Festival on 18th Street between Church and Dolores Streets, SF
FREE Outdoor Event. RSVP HERE: (https://siiAguasi.eventbrite.
FLACC and Dance Mission Theater have come together for a day-long street closure to activate the Native American Heritage Site at Dolores Park and remember the waterways on the 18th Street/Mission Creek Corridor (between Church and Dolores Streets) via art and cultural events. In partnership with Ohlone leaders, local artists, Mission High School, and the American Indian Cultural District, this ritual performance intervention will bring awareness to the blocked and soil-filled waterways in Yelamu (what is now known as San Francisco) and will memorialize the 5,700 Indigenous ancestors buried in the Mission Dolores cemetery during early colonization.
sii agua sí means “water water yes”, “sii” being the Ohlone Ramaytush word for “water.” With a temporary sidewalk art by Adrian Arias and Pancho Pescador to guide the audience and dancers in the daytime and installing Ben Wood’s large scale video projections of water to light up the site at night, the October 1st festival will take place within a watery landscape. Water blessings, land acknowledgements, traditional and contemporary dances, ofrendas (ancestor altars) and a creek water sound installation by DJ Ras K’Dee of Audiopharmacy will decolonize the area replacing the usual presence of buses and cars from 3-8pm.
The opening ceremony will be led by Kanyon Sayers-Roods/”Coyote Woman” (Ohlone Mutsun and Chumash) and a closing ceremony with a video memorial for the 5,700 native ancestors will be led by Gregg Castro (Ohlone Ramaytush). During the day, Kanyon and Gregg will be hosting “Ask a Native”: An educational Oh lone-led Q&A space on the grass and Nizhone Ellen Wood (Nii Mii Puu/Nez Perce & Apache) is offering a participatory tobacco prayer-ties culture share near the water altar space.
In addition to traditional dance and Ohlone representation, the day will include: Hector Jaime (MX/US), Carmen Roman(Peru/US) and Violeta Luna (MX/US) creating work encompassing themes of water, queer latinidad, and immigration. The FLACC Community Dancers: Liz Boubion(US/MX), Nicole Maimon(US/MX), Stephanie Hewitt(US/DR/JA), Carmina Márquez(US/MX) will be activating the site at Dolores Park on Saturdays from 1-3pm leading up to the festival.
Funded in part by Kenneth Rainin Foundation, California Arts Council, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.
SCHEDULE
SII AGUA SÍ PROGRAM ORDER
Indigenous-Led Prayer Walk: 2pm-3pm
In honor of the lost Waterways of Yelamu + the 5,700 native ancestors buried at the Mission Dolores.)
sii agua sí street closure (decolonizing 18th St. between Church St. and Dolores St.)
PART 1 : Day activation 3-6:30pm
Opening Celebration: 3pm
Gregg Castro (Ramaytush Ohlone)
Kanyon Sayers-Roods (Ohlone Mutsun Culture Bearer)
Hummaya Singers and Dancers (The Costanoan Rumsen Carmel Tribe)
Youth Performances: 4:30pm
Intertribal Friendship House- Youth Ensemble
Mission High School Youth
Red Lightning Woman Power
Interactive Chalk Mural Project: 3pm-5pm
Adrian Arias (Peru/US), Pancho Pescador (Chile/US), Cece Caprio (Philippines / USA)
Taco Truck! 3-7pm
Children’s Tent: 4-6pm
Arts and Crafts hosted by the American Indian Cultural Center
Tobacco Prayer Ties: 5-7pm
Nizhoni Ellenwood(Nii Mii Puu/Nez Perce & Apache)
DJ Dance Set! Ras K’dee (Dry Creek Pomo): 5pm
Come and dance to some amazing beats!
Mayan Yucatan Dance Class + Demonstration! 5:30pm
Asociación Mayab-Maya Yucateco
Kids Parade for the Waterways! 6pm
Children of all ages leading Salmon Run (Fishies and instruments provided)
Hosted by the American Indian Cultural Center and Piñata Dance Collective
Altar Artists:
Mara Lea Brown
Bea Laurel
FLACC/ sii agua sí Team
PART 2: Evening Activation 6:30-9:30pm
Performances by:
Carmen Roman(Peru/US)
Juliana Mendonca (Venezuela/US)
Violeta Luna(MX/US)
Jesus Cortés (MX/US)
Joel Pomerantz (Waterways Historian)
Piñata Dance Collective/Liz Duran Boubion(US/MX): Carmina Marquez, Laila Shabazz, Valerie Mendez, Bae Laurel
Kanyon Sayers Roods (Ohlone-Mutsun and Chumash)
Arenas Dance Company (Cuba/US)
Xochipilli Dance Company/Hector-Jaime Rodriguez(MX/US)
Gregg Castro (t’rowt’raahl Salinan / rumsien & ramaytush Ohlone)
Large Scale Video Projection / Memorial: 5,700 Ancestors (Ben Wood)
FILM: Jonathan Trudeau-Standing Rock/Dance Mission Theater
Gregg Castro [t’rowt’raahl Salinan/rumsien-ramaytush Ohlone], has been involved in preservation of his cultural heritage for nearly three decades, for both his late Mother’s rumsien Ohlone heritage, and on his late Father’s side, the since ended ‘Salinan Nation Tribal Council’ (serving two terms as Tribal Chair) and currently the non-profit organization, Salinan T’rowt’raahl. Gregg is a member of the Society for California Archaeology (SCA). Gregg is a Co-Facilitator for the annual California Indian Conference, a 30+ year gathering about California Indigenous heritage. Gregg is a writer and activist within the California indigenous community, on issues regarding cultural preservation, protection, education and traditional practices. Gregg is the Culture Director of the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone, the organization representing the heritage of the people indigenous to “Yelamu”, San Francisco.

Ras K’dee from Sonoma County, California, is a Native California Pomo/African musician, community educator, and renowned lyricist, producer, & lead vocalist/keyboardist for Bay Area-based live world hip-hop ensemble, Audiopharmacy. For K’dee, his musical inspiration is deeply rooted from his experience as a cultural artist. Translating artistically through world music, hip-hop, rhymes and soulful melodies, K’dee invokes the songs and dances from traditional ceremonies of his native people, and tells stories of resistance, healing, community & empowerment that can be understood and felt universally by all people. He has been compared to the likes of Gil Scott Heron, and Marvin Gaye. Ras K’dee’s musical repertoire includes “Street Prison” (2005), which was awarded by East Bay Express as Best Local Album of The Year in 2006, co-production on Audiopharmacy’s album, “U Forgot About Us” (2009), and producing his first solo-project, “Cloudwriter” (2011), Audiopharmacy’s State of the Heart (2014) and Black Native (2016).




Cunamacué was founded in 2010 by Carmen Román in Oakland, California with the purpose of bringing visibility to the presence and cultural knowledge of the African descendant population in Peru. The company promotes the continuity of Afro-Peruvian culture, representing it not as a point in time, but as a living, vibrant and evolving form whose music and dance can be used as a means of contemporary expression.
Juliana Mendonca is a Venezuelan Contemporary Dance Performer, Choreographer and Teacher. She is an innovative bodyworker influenced by Latin traditional Dances, Butoh, Contact Improvisation and Physical Theater. Throughout her career she has developed a unique language with which she can express and create powerful art and healing. She has dedicated many years to creating projects and performances inspired by water: Raíz de Agua, La Naciente, Drop & Drought, Liquidanza and Sono Somatic, water has represented a very important element to understand herself. She currently directs her own proposal for relaxation and dance practice in the water, Liquidanza.


