La Mezcla 10 Year Anniversary Concert // SF

La Mezcla 10 Year Anniversary Concert: 10 years of Rhythms, Resistance, and Community!

Join La Mezcla for a review of company repertoire from the last decade, excerpts of award winning show Pachuquísmo, excerpts of the Hewlett 50 commission Ghostly Labor, debut work in progress of Sanchez’s newest project El Ahualulco, and the San Francisco debut of La Mezcla’s newest dance film Convivencia.

2 shows:
April 12, 7:30 PM & April 13, 4:00 PM
Brava Mainstage
Brava Theater, 2781 24th St, San Francisco, CA 94110

Buy tickets here.

Video:

About show:

Brava Theater is proud to present La Mezcla 10 Year Anniversary Concert: 10 years of Rhythms, Resistance, and Community!, a co-production that highlights the rhythms that La Mezcla was built on, and celebrates the community that has been with the company since the beginning.

Following a full year of touring the US & Mexico, this will be La Mezcla’s first full length performance at home since the sold out premiere of Ghostly Labor in Dec 2023. For reference, please click here for a full list of venues La Mezcla toured in 2024.

See full Press Release below:

La Mezcla 10 Year Anniversary Concert: 10 Years of Rhythms, Resistance, and Community at Brava Theater

San Francisco, CA — Brava Theater is proud to present La Mezcla 10 Year Anniversary Concert: 10 years of Rhythms, Resistance, and Community!, a co-production that highlights the rhythms that La Mezcla was built on, and celebrates the community that has been with the company since the beginning.

The performance will take place on April 12 and 13, 2025.

After La Mezcla’s performance in the KQED series If Cities Could Dance, Kelly Whalen, senior digital video producer for KQED Arts said, “The women of La Mezcla are really culture keepers. Vanessa is bringing these two different dance styles together that share these African diaspora elements, reflecting her Mexican-American identity. It’s beautiful and ingenious.”

La Mezcla is a polyrhythmic, San Francisco-based dance and music ensemble rooted in Chicana, Latina and Indigenous traditions and social justice. Founded in 2015 by Dance/USA fellow Vanessa Sanchez, their work brings together Tap dance, Son Jarocho and Afro-Caribbean rhythms to bring the often unseen histories and experiences of communities of color to stages, film screens, streets and fields. The production Pachuquísmo, an all-womxn Tap dance and Son Jarocho performance about Pachucas and the Zoot Suit Riots, received the Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Production, and has toured internationally to venues including Jacob’s Pillow (MA), Lincoln Center (NY) and Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris (Mexico City). La Mezcla’s new work Ghostly Labor, which explores the legacy of labor in the US-Mexico borderlands and the joy of collective resistance, is currently touring the US. Committed to using dance for social change, La Mezcla offers paid internships & mentorships, free artistic training and grant workshops through their program “Connecting Communities,” and has partnered with organizations including Lincoln Center Education, KQED Arts, and Ayudando Latinos a Soñar Farmworker Fridays to provide educational opportunities and hands-on community engagement.

“La Mezcla Artistic Director and choreographer Vanessa Sanchez ranks among the most singular dance artists to emerge from San Francisco in decades. Second, this defiantly joyous production… deserves to be seen across the country.” – Rachel Howard, San Francisco Chronicle
Funding for this program is generously provided by Mellon Foundation, the California Arts Commission and the San Francisco Arts Commission.

Brava Theater is renowned for producing bold, community-building works that amplify underrepresented voices. Connecting with the community through an expanded season of free and donation based dance workshops, a free public reception, and a free Son Jarocho fandango, La Mezcla’s 10 year anniversary concert is a safe space for our community members to gather, share their stories and convivir through our dance, music and our shared experiences. We invite you to join us for La Mezcla’s 10 Year Anniversary!

Show Summary:

Location: Brava Theater, 2781 24th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
Registration: Available at lamezclasf.net/connecting-communities
Donation: $8-20 Sliding Scale; no one turned away for lack of funds

Workshop and Fandango Details:

Dates:
Fri, Feb 14, 10-11:30am – Afro Cuban Dance with Susana Arenas Pedroso
Fri, Feb 28, 10-11:30am – Advanced Tap Dance with Gerson Lanza
Sat, Mar 8, 11:30am-12:30pm – Beginning Tap Dance with Sandy Vazquez
Sun, Mar 23, 10:30am-12:30pm – Afro-Brazilian & Afro-Cuban Collaborative Percussion Workshop with Pedro Gomez and Carlitos Medrano
Sun, Apr 13, 11am-12pm – Jarana Workshop with Sinuhé Padilla-Isunza
Sun, Apr 13, 12-1pm – PercuPata Workshop with Sinuhé Padilla-Isunza
Sun, Apr 12, 6-8pm – Community Fandango with La Mezcla Artists & Community
Sat, Apr 26, 10:30-11:30am – Percussive Movement & Choreography Workshop with Vanessa Sanchez

For more information, interview requests, or media access, please contact Edith Castorena at edith@brava.org.

About Brava Theater Center:

Brava Theater is dedicated to producing and presenting bold works that push boundaries and amplify the voices of women, LGBTQ+, and people of color. Founded in San Francisco’s Mission District, Brava Theater has a longstanding commitment to fostering community dialogue and making a powerful impact through performing arts.
About Vanessa Sanchez

Vanessa Sanchez is a Chicana dancer, choreographer, and educator whose work centers on community arts and traditional dance forms to uplift the voices of Latina, Chicana, and Indigenous womxn. Based in San Francisco, Sanchez is the Founder and Executive Artistic Director of La Mezcla, a polyrhythmic dance company that explores historical narratives and social justice through Tap dance, Son Jarocho, Afro-Caribbean rhythms and live music. A 2019 Dance/USA Artist Fellow, she is deeply committed to community engagement, bringing the often overlooked histories of communities of color to stages, streets, and fields.

Sanchez’s work has been shown on national and international stages, including the Lincoln Center, Jacob’s Pillow, Teatro Maria Matos in Lisbon, Portugal and El Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris in Mexico City. Currently touring the US, Sanchez’s production Ghostly Labor, a Hewlett 50 Arts Commission, is a polyrhythmic dance theater work that delves into the history of labor in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. Her NEFA-funded production, Pachuquísmo — an all-female tap and Son Jarocho performance exploring the 1943 Zoot Suit Riots and the legacy of Pachucas—received the Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Production and has toured internationally.

Her film “Ghostly Labor: a Dance Film” has been screened around the globe, receiving numerous awards including El XicanIndie’s “Most Outstanding Film” and Doc’s Without Border’s “Outstanding Excellence Award.” Her second dance film “Convivencia” was commissioned by Dance Camera West and premiered in January 2025.

Committed to accessible arts education, Sanchez offers free and donation based dance classes to local communities, schools and organizations. She has been a featured speaker at UC Berkeley, Teatro de la Ciudad Irapuato and the Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy. She has held residencies at Arizona State University, Sonoma State University and University of San Francisco. Sanchez served as a dance lecturer at UC Santa Cruz from 2020-2023 and is currently an artist-in-residence at Brava! For Women in the Arts.

Socials:

Instagram: @La_MezclaSF

Facebook: facebook.com/LaMezclaSF