Dance

Neela Moorty

Neela Moorty trains in Bharata Natyam, the classical dance of South India, from her guru, Smt. Viji Prakash -- director of the Shakti School of Barata Natyam in Los Angeles. Neela has been a senior performing member of the Shakti Dance Company for the last ten years - touring throughout the U.S., Canada and India. In 1999, Neela presented her solo Debut (Arangetram) and she continues to give solo performances in and outside of the Bay Area. Recently she was selected to be on the Utah Arts Council's roster for its 2002-2003 Performing Arts Tour. Neela enjoys presenting Bharata Natyam to the community, not only as an entertaining and intricate dance form, but also as an educational window into the culture and traditions of India. She is experimenting with its compatibility in the Pan-Asian-American arts, to that and she is collaborating with poet Wei Ming Dariotis and will be performing Friday, September 28.

Film/Video

Stuart Gaffney

Stuart Gaffney's work deals with his queer Eurasian identity and experience. Stuart has a BA in English language and literature from Yale University and has studied film and video at S F State, City College of San Francisco, the Film Arts Foundation, and at the Bay Area Video Coalition. He has been making experimental film and video since 1994, and his work has shown widely in the Bay Area as well as at festivals in the US, Europe and the Pacific Rim. His work on AIDS recently showed at the Guggenheim Museum's "Fever in the Archive" show on World AIDS Day. A selection of Stuart's short films will be screened in the featured program of the APAture Film & Video Screening, Thursday, September 27.

Literary

Sabina Chen

Sabina Chen is a graduate of Stanford University in East Asian Studies and of the UC Davis graduate creative writing program. Sabina has received an AWP Intro Journal Award and has published her fiction in the High Plains Literary Review. She has won scholarships to Squaw Valley Community of Writers, Bread Loaf Writer's Conference and was a Writer-in-Residence at Hedgebrook this spring. Sabina also co-taught Kearny Street Workshop's fiction writing class with Jay Ruben Dayrit this summer. Sabina will read her short fiction on Friday, September 28.

Music

eE

Pronounced simply like the letter 'e', eE was born in 1999, playing its own brand of ambient folk, in the spirit of Red House Painters, Mazzy Star, and Mojave 3. In late 2000, eE was reborn, this time with original eE member Tobin Mori (guitar/vocals), and newcomers, Che Chou (bass) and Peter Nguyen (drums). Reshaped and reformed, the new eE keeps its occasional, melancholic folk twang, adding the post-rock and noise-pop contributions of Che and Pete. eE will perform a 30 minute set of new and older songs on Saturday, September 29.

Spoken Word

Russell Reza-Khaliq (Gonzaga)

A poet, novelist, teacher, activist and performer - Russell Reza-Khaliq (Gonzaga) is an award winning spoken word artist who has represented San Francisco in the National Poetry Slam Finals. His dedication to WritersCorp and devotion to youth culture earned him a ÀRussell Gonzaga Day” declaration by Hon. Mayor Willie Brown of San Francisco last year. He is currently finishing his first novel. Russell will perform a selection of pieces on Saturday, September 29.

Theater

Bindlestiff Pinay Collective

Located in the heart of the Natoma wine country in San Francisco, on the edge of the Soma art scene and gritty skid row, Bindlestiff Studio provides a venue for the infinite variety of dramatic voices that make up the Bay Area. Bindlestiff consists of a consortium of actors, playwrights and artists whose mission is to create an epicenter of Pilipino and Pilipino American Art while providing an affordable, professional small theatre venue where new and veteran artists can take artistic, but not financial risks. Bindlestiff Pinay Collective is an offspring of Bindlestiff Studio consisting of Michell Arellano, Christine Bacareza Balance, Patty Cachapero, Lorna Chui, Olivia Malabuyo, Joyce Juan Manalo, L.A. Renigen, and Gayle Romasanta. Bindlestiff Pinay Collective will perform on Saturday, September 29.

Visual

Raj Kahlon

Raj Kahlon holds a Bachelors of Art Degree from UC Davis in Painting and a Master of Fine Arts from the California College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland. Raj received a fellowship to attend the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and is currently based in New York where she is attending the Whitney Independent Study Program. She has an upcoming show at Apex Art in NY later this fall. Raj's installation will be on display in the SomArts Bay Gallery from September 18 - 29.