Acclaimed choreographer and trans activist Sean Dorsey’s Fresh Meat Festival is an opportunity to experience the cutting edge of Bay Area dance, music, comedy, theater and more, featuring a slate of diverse artists from the LGBTQ+ community.
This year’s edition takes place June 20–22 at Z Space in San Francisco, and stars vogue ensemble kNOwShade; Axis Dance, which spotlights dancers with disabilities; bachata champions (and life partners) Jahaira Fajardo and Angelica Medina; deaf dance trailblazer Antoine Hunter; and, of course, Sean Dorsey Dance. On the musical front, electro-pop singer-songwriter Ah Mer Ah Su performs her spellbinding, synth-driven tracks. Audiences will also hear from retro quartet the Singing Bois, folk-punk artist Shawna Virago, R&B singer Tajah J, Gay Asian Pacific Alliance Men’s Chorus and New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus.
J Mase III and Randy Ford take on topics like colonial and domenstic violence through poetry and dance; Javier Stell-Fresquez and Ivy Monteiro team up for a gender-bending performance art piece; and Lottie Riot takes the mic for a stand-up comedy set.
All three evenings are hosted by filmmaker Annalise Ophelian, director of Major!, a documentary about the legendary trans activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy. DJ Frida Ibarra spins house, cumbia, techno, pop and more for the after party.