But due to the torturously slow, expensive, and opaque process to acquire visas for performing artists several much-anticipated events have been cancelled, like the California premiere of the evening-length modern dance duet \u201cImpasse\u201d featuring Nigerian Ireland-based dancer and choreographer Mufutau Yusuf, and Ivoirian Germany-based choreographer K\u00f4dr\u00f4 Aoussou Evry\u2019s \u201cIci N\u2019Est Pas La Paroisse (This Is Not The Parish).\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we were bringing Afrikaners it would really easy,\u201d Woods said with a bitter laugh, referring to the Trump Administration\u2019s welcome mat for white South Africans. Even in better times, the visa process for rising artists presented particular challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe artists we get have just made it in their own countries,\u201d he said. \u201cThey haven\u2019t toured yet. It\u2019s always difficult to get visas, especially when artists are coming for the first time and you have to prove their of international quality.\u201d<\/p>\n
The State Department roadblock is just the latest hurdle the SFIAF has faced since Gov. Newsom\u2019s stay-at-home order in March 2020 shuttered in-person performances. Last year, the National Endowment For the Arts pulled funding from numerous Bay Area arts organizations, including the SFIAF<\/a> just as the festival was opening.<\/p>\n But in its third season returning to its origins in the Mission after years of presenting at Fort Mason, the SFIAF is more deeply integrated into the neighborhood than ever. \u201cEvery year we get a better sense of how we can operate,\u201d Wood said. \u201cWe added Masonic Hall this year, and Mission Bowling called us about next year. We\u2019re still in regular venues. We\u2019ve got five performances at Dance Mission, and we\u2019re back at the Marsh.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of the festival\u2019s events transform neighborhood establishments into opportunities for intimate art experiences, like Muddy Waters Coffee & Lounge, where Brazilian guitarist, vocalist and activist Bia Ferreira<\/a> holds forth Sunday, May 10. She\u2019s a powerhouse performer who has become a major exponent of Black lesbian feminism in a country where gay, lesbian and trans people are often targeted with deadly violence.<\/p>\n Ferreira preaches a gospel of self-love and self-determination set to an intoxicating array of Afro-Brazilian and Caribbean grooves, including a recent immersion in reggae. She\u2019ll be playing several new pieces as well as material from her breakthrough 2019 album \u201cIgreja Lesbiteriana, Um Chamado\u201d (Lesbitarian Church, A Calling).<\/p>\n \u201cEvery concert is a meeting of the Lesbitarian church,\u201d she said in a recent call from S\u00e3o Paulo. \u201cWe talk about technologies to keep ourselves alive. It\u2019s a critique and an embrace, receiving people to be who they are. It\u2019s about human rights and equal rights. I don\u2019t care if you\u2019re lesbian, gay straight, Christian or Hare Krishna.\u201d<\/p>\n The majority of the performers featured at the festival are based in the Bay Area, representing the far-flung diversity of the region\u2019s arts scene. With most performances lasting an hour or less, and few tickets costing more than $30, SFIAF is eminently accessible and affordable.<\/p>\n For Wood, the point isn\u2019t just to bring the world to the Mission. It\u2019s to transform the way people experience the neighborhood, \u201cfinding spaces people wouldn\u2019t associate with theater and presenting an immersive event,\u201d he said. \u201cThe interest in being in the neighborhood is bringing in people to play, going to places they wouldn\u2019t ordinarily go to, seeing things in ways they wouldn\u2019t normally see there.\u201d<\/p>\n The festival\u2019s offerings can be a little overwhelming. I\u2019m recommending a show for every night the program is active, each in a different venue.<\/p>\n Cirque Kirkasse<\/a> \u201cSant\u00e9!\u201d<\/p>\n Wednesday, April 29-May 1, 7 p.m. Cesar Chavez Elementary School Playground. $20-$30<\/p>\n The recently launched Quebecois circus company presents a kinetic acrobatic production that takes place on the back of their custom-built \u00a0truck.<\/p>\n InkBoat<\/a> \u201cClouds from a Crumbling Giant: our wild shining days\u201d<\/p>\n Thursday, April 30-May 2, 8 p.m. May 3, 3 p.m. Z Space. $20-$30<\/p>\n The ever-bracing Mission-based Butoh-inspired troupe explores the liminal spaces between incarnations, a recurring dream laced with Paul Simon\u2019s \u201cA Hazy Shade of Winter.\u201d<\/p>\n John Calloway\u2019s Afro Filipino Project<\/a> \u201cNew Voices\u201d<\/p>\n Friday, May 1, 7:30 p.m. Monkeybrains. $30<\/p>\n The educator and Latin jazz maestro John Calloway showcases four Afro Filipinx next-generation artists\u2013Ting Alvarez, Umali Horne, Jasmine Miller, and Jojo Thompson\u2013accompanied by Calloway\u2019s combo.<\/p>\n Dandelion Dancetheater \/ Wandering Ensemble<\/a> \u201cParable of Belonging \u2013 Cycle 1\u201d<\/p>\n Saturday, May 2, 2:30 & 5:30 p.m. Ruth\u2019s Table. $5-$40<\/p>\n An interdisciplinary performance envisioning possible futures for the Bay Area inspired by Octavia E. Butler\u2019s dystopian masterpiece \u201cParable of the Sower\u201d and adrienne maree brown\u2019s \u201cEmergent Strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n The Oneness Collective<\/a> \u201cOneness \u2013 The Blossoming\u201d<\/p>\n Sunday, May 3, 6 p.m. Dance Mission Theater. $30-$40<\/p>\n A dance celebration of unity created by six artistic directors of Bay Area companies devoted to six classical Indian dance traditions, including Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Mohiniattam, and Odissi.<\/p>\n Belville Productions<\/a> \u201cRio Journal\u201d<\/p>\n Thursday, May 7, 7 p.m. and May 9, 2 and 8 p.m. Theatre of Yugen. $20-$30<\/p>\n A joint US\/Brazilian production, \u201cRio Journal\u201d is based on the reportage, letters, and diaries of a young American journalist broadcasting from Brazil during the military dictatorship 1963-1971, evoking a harrowing time set to a samba score.<\/p>\n Steamroller Dance Company<\/a> \u201cBespoke\u201d<\/p>\n Friday, May 8, 7 p.m. Masonic Lodge Banquet Room. $5-35<\/p>\n An immersive tribute to the American musical featuring dancers guiding the audience through a pastiche of musical genres, \u201cBespoke\u201d features the first\u00a0 collaboration between the company and the local community choir Singers of The Street, a group of Bay Area singers, artists and musicians who are or have been homeless.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Bia-Ferreira-por-Pedro-Barros-TAUMKAOSAKI-1-930x523.jpg\")
Bia Ferreira Photo by Pedro Barros<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cirque-Kikasse-Image-3-930x523.jpg\")
Cirque Kikasse<\/p>\n