UPCOMING
PERFORMANCES
Photo by: RJ Muna of AJ Gardner and Megan Lowe
Megan Lowe Dances
Just a Shadow
May 31st - June 9th, 2024
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 7:30pm
The Joe Goode Annex
401 Alabama Street San Francisco, CA 94110
Just a Shadow, by Megan Lowe Dances, is a performance journey in service to artists who have lost loved ones prematurely. With a title inspired by a poem Artistic Director Megan Lowe’s mother wrote shortly before she died, the project stems from Megan’s desire to process the loss of her mother and sister through art, and co-create a space of mutual support with collaborators who are also dealing with recent loss. Just a Shadow brings together 7 powerful artists—AJ Gardner, Sonsherée Giles, Josh Icban, Megan Lowe, Frances Teves Sedayao, Roel Seeber, and Shira Yaziv—to make 6 distinct duets that highlight the unique strengths and creative modalities of each collaborator, including contemporary dance, site-specific dance, vertical dance, turf dance, contact improvisation, and live music.
This project aspires to nourish the soul, support healing, acknowledge resilience, celebrate life, and honor the memories of loved ones. It welcomes diverse perspectives, cultures, and backgrounds, recognizing that the narratives surrounding death and processing grief are multifaceted and deeply personal. Through dance performance, MLD aims to provide a platform for catharsis, empathy, and collective understanding, fostering connections that transcend individual stories and unite us in a shared journey toward solace and healing.
RECENTLY PAST
PERFORMANCES
Photo by: Henrik Kam of Megan Lowe and Johnny Huy Nguyen
Megan Lowe & Johnny Huy Nguyen
Celestial
February 25th, 2024
Sunday at 7pm
Pacific Renaissance Plaza
388 9th St, Oakland, CA
In Celestial, Johnny and Megan send their energies into to the sky and call in inspiration from the cosmos. This site-specific dance performance is a part of Oakland Chinatown's Lantern Festival, co-hosted by AAPI Healers for Liberation, Oakland Bloom, and Sticky Rice Club. On Sat. 2/24 and Sun. 25, 3pm-8pm, experience performances, arts, crafts, and a night market, celebrating the Year of the Dragon.
Photo by: Jorge Luis Garcia of Megan Lowe and Sonsherée Giles
Megan Lowe & Sonsherée Giles
Flourish
February 22nd-23rd, 2024
Thursday and Friday at 7pm
Flora and Ferment
1122 Solano Ave, Albany, CA 94706
To "flourish" is to grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment. In this site-specific dance performance, Sonsherée and Megan will joyfully activate the benches, tables, walls, stairs, and lofts of this beloved East Bay place of gathering. Come drink some delicious cider, and enjoy invigorating dance!
Note: Must be 21 years of age or older to enter the space as required by the venue
Photo by: Bruce Ghent of Bianca Mendoza, Fredrika Keefer, Frances Teves Sedayao, Sierra TiaTia, and Megan Lowe for Dance Brigade's Match Girrl
Dance Brigade
Match Girrl
January 19th-28th, 2024
Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm; Sundays at 3:00pm
Dance Mission Theater
3316 24th Street San Francisco, CA 94110
A fractured fairytale about class struggle. Join Dance Brigade for this deep, heartening, and yes, even humorous reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale classic, The Little Match Girl. Set in a contemporary urban setting, director Krissy Keefer uses dance, theater, and original writings to explore the “doom loop” of our beloved San Francisco.
Megan will be singing in this performance, with dancers Sarah Bush, KJ Dahlaw, Dominique Hargrove, Fredrika Keefer, Bianca Mendoza, Frances Teves Sedayao, Sierra TiaTia, Deb'e Taylor, and Kimberly Valmore.
Photos by [from top-bottom, to left-right]: a) Christine Solomon of Megan with Emer Kinsella and Mary Little in Double: body as source, b) Robbie Swenny of Megan, Clarissa, Melissa, and Malia in Gathering Pieces of Peace, c) Megan with Roel Seeber in Secrets of the Sea, provided by Nikki Borodi Entertainment, d) Peggy Peralta and Kristina Willemse of Megan with Johnny Huy Nguyen in HOME(in)STEAD film, e) Jay Carlon of Jay, Megan, and Johnny for Mother | Goddess, f) Bob Hsiang of Megan and Johnny at CAAMFest, g) Jennifer Quan of Megan and Johnny in Lighting the Way, h) Traci Bartlow of Megan with Terrance Alexander at Mud Water IV
Photo by: Jay Carlon of Jay Carlon, Megan Lowe, and Johnny Huy Nguyen
Viêt Lê
Mother | Goddess, or, Viêt Namaste: Queer Southeast Asian Indigenous Shamanisms
December 3rd, 2023
Sunday at 5pm
Headlands Center for the Arts
944 Simmonds Rd, Sausalito, CA 94965
In collaboration with 500 Capp Street’s Shifting Possessions, join Headlands Center for the Arts for a spiritual drag show (of sorts): an elegantly bombastic remix of the traditional high-energy, high-stakes, centuries-old hầu bóng Mother Goddess ceremony, featuring Headlands Bay Area Fellow Việt Lê; traditional lên đồng musicians musicians Anh-Tấn and Hồ Nga Cao (Hà Nội); dancers Jay Carlon (LA), Megan Lowe (East Bay), Johnny Huy Nguyễn (SF); and Janet Hoskins, Professor of Anthropology and Religion at University of Southern California. As part of this special evening—and speaking of secret sauciness—audiences will convene for a dinner in the Mess Hall featuring a menu conceived by Lê and Headlands Chef Damon Little.
Photos of: Mud Water Theatre
Mud Water Theatre
Mud Water IV
November 18th-19th, 2023
Friday at 8pm
Saturday at 6pm
Dance Mission Theater
3316 24th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
This show is a futuristic portrayal of the near-extinction of turfing, presented in the style of a documentary: In the year 2032, turfers find their world overrun by AI dancers, which have grown massive after many years of feeding on global social media dance trends. In their final battle to preserve the roots of their culture and artform, the last turfers on earth attempt to teach an AI named “Dance-GPT” all about what turfing means.
Megan is honored to have been assisting this dance company with partnering/weight-sharing, release technique, as well as stage directing.
Photo by: RJ Muna
Megan Lowe Dances
in KQED Live's MIXED!: Stories from Mixed Race Californians
November 9th, 2023
Thursday at 7pm
KQED Commons
2601 Mariposa Street, San Francisco CA 94110
Also Live Stream!
Identity is always complicated — and for multiracial folks who straddle many identities, it can be isolating. It can also be invigorating and rich to belong to multiple communities and celebrate that complexity.
The hosts of KQED’s series MIXED! bring that celebration of the wide-ranging experiences of mixed Californians to the stage for a fusion of live conversation and documentary with W. Kamau Bell and Melissa Hudson Bell, live multimedia storytelling by Cheyenne Bearfoot, food by Chef Nelson German of Sobre Mesa, a performance from Megan Lowe Dances, and more.
Photo by: RJ Muna
Flyaway Productions
If I Give You My Sorrows
October 6th-15th, 2023
Fri. 10/6 at 7:30pm
Sat. 10/7 at 7:30 pm and 9pm
Sun. 10/8 at 7:30 pm
Wed. 10/11 at 7:30pm
Thu. 10/12 at 7:30pm
Fri. 10/13 at 7:30pm
Sat. 10/14 at 7:30 pm and 9pm
Sun. 10/15 at 7:30pm
Space 124
401 Alabama Street
San Francisco, CA
“If I Give You My Sorrows starts with a bed as a metaphor for what women experience in private,” said Jo Kreiter. “In this historic moment repressing women’s choice and women’s bodies at the national level, we want to reframe women’s beds as a place where our complexity and depth live – where our bodies rest, transform, grieve and repair. In what ways can a bed be an antidote? What secrets do we leave in our beds? What wounds do we bury there? How do our beds hold what is messy, tragic, grueling?”
The project features original music composed by Carla Kihlstedt, Kalyn Harewood, and Pamela Z, and performance by Laura Elaine Ellis, Sonsherée Giles, MaryStarr Hope, Jhia Jackson, Megan Lowe, Natalya Shoaf, and Razelle Swimmer.
Photo Provided by: Nikki Borodi Entertainment of Megan Lowe and Roel Seeber
Megan Lowe and Roel Seeber
Secrets of the Sea
Presented by Nikki Borodi Entertainment
September 29th - October 1st, 2023
Events start on 9/29 at 3pm, and end on 10/1 at 1pm
Megan and Roel perform on Sat. 9/30 at 6:30pm
Forbes Island
via Bradford Island Ferry
Jersey Island Rd, Oakley, CA
Megan and Roel Seeber have been invited by Nikki Borodi Entertainment to create a vertical dance duet (with rigging by the awesome David Freitag) on the side of a light tower. Come see what they've been up to! "Dive into a world of enchantment and adventure at this offbeat and off-grid weekend experience where circus, art, music, and camping with miniature highlander cows come together. This three-day water festival is a once in a lifetime event just an hour from San Francisco Bay."
Photo by: RJ Muna of Melissa Lewis Wong, Malia Hatico-Byrne, Megan Lowe, and Clarissa Dyas
Megan Lowe Dances
Gathering Pieces of Peace
September 1st-2nd and 8th-9th
Fri. 9/1 at 7:30pm
Sat. 9/2 at 7:30pm
Fri. 9/8 at 7:30pm
Sat. 9/9 at 7:30pm
ODC Theater
3153 17th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Gathering Pieces of Peace, explores mixed-race Asian American experiences, with an artistic team composed of folks who identify in this way. Through thoughtful text, soulful song, and dynamic dancing, MLD invites collaborators to share stories of fractured selves and longings to belong, and co-create a supportive environment for connection that radiates out into our communities.
Choreographed and Performed by:
Clarissa Dyas, Malia Hatico-Byrne, Melissa Lewis Wong, and Megan Lowe
Music by:
Peekaboo/transcriptions01, Zachary Abelson, Megan Lowe, Marica Petrey/Girl Swallows Nightingale, and Emma Tome
Register for Gathering Pieces of Peace Workshop #3, which will be on September 24th, 2023 at Bancroft Studio, UC Berkeley.
Respond to our Call for Mixed-Race Asian American Experiences for Gathering Pieces of Peace! The first 20 people to complete the survey have the opportunity to receive a $30 stipend for their time and contribution.
Subscribe to our Newsletter or follow on Instagram or Facebook to Stay Tuned!
Still by: Peggy Peralta and Kristine Willemse of Johnny Huy Nguyen and Megan Lowe
Megan Lowe and Johnny Huy Nguyen
HOME(in)STEAD - Dance Film Premiere
in Being, Belonging & Beyond - SF Bay Area AAPI Dance Film Festival
in partnership with APICC's United States of Asian America Festival, CAAMFest 2023, and 500 Capp Street Foundation
May 14th, 2023
Sunday at 2pm-8pm
*HOME(in)STEAD will premiere at 6pm
Kapwa Gardens
967 Mission St,
San Francisco, CA 94103
500 Capp Street, Asian Pacific Cultural Center (APICC), and Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) co-presents Being, Belonging & Beyond - SF Bay Area AAPI Dance Film Festival on May 14 at Kapwa Gardens in San Francisco. Curated by APICC and Megan Lowe Dances, screenings will include dance films by Lenora Lee Dance, Sammay Dizon, Melissa Lewis Wong, Alleluia Panis, and culminates in the world premiere screening of HOME(in)STEAD, a site-specific dance work by 500 Capp Street artists-in-residence Megan Lowe and Johnny Huy Nguyen—a performance that utilizes the historical David Ireland House as a visceral canvas for exploring means of feeling, finding, creating, and healing home through dynamic architecture-oriented movement and intimate contact partnering supported by live music, text, and installation.
The finale screening will be followed by a panel discussion and audience Q&A with all participating artists and their collaborators, celebrating the lineage of AAPI performing artists in the Bay Area that are documenting dance and movement in film/video as a way to create conversations about the experiences of AAPI communities and the ways they are reflecting upon and honoring their cultural heritages.
This film festival is also part of CAAMFest and APICC’s 26th United States of Asian America Festival (USAAF).
Photo by: Jeremy Snowden
Megan Lowe Dances
Invisible Skin - (Tangram Excerpt)
in Shawl-Anderson Dance Center's
AAPI Heritage Month Performance Salon
May 6th, 2023
Sunday at 8:00pm
Shawl-Anderson Dance Center
2704 Alcatraz Ave
Berkeley, CA 94705
Please join us for a performance salon to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, featuring: Emma Quan Dewey, Megan Lowe, Johnny Nguyen Meghana Ravikumar, and Chingchi Yu. Join us after the show for a Q & A, moderated by Melecio Estrella.
Photo by: Christine Solomon
Consulate General of Ireland
Double: body as source
March 8th, 2023
Wednesday at 12pm
Digital Premiere on YouTube
via Consulate General of Ireland, Los Angeles
Double: body as source is a meeting of minds between Violinist-Composer Emer Kinsella, Dancer-Choreographer Megan Lowe, and Visual Artist Mary Little. Devised and created by Emer & Megan, this experimental duet of movement and sound responds to both Mary’s series Double, and Eavan Boland’s poem Anna Liffey. In celebration of International Women’s Day, this we invite you to step into this multidisciplinary collaboration, created by Irish artists in the Western US.
Photo by: Henrik Kam of Megan Lowe and Johnny Huy Nguyen
Megan Lowe and Johnny Huy Nguyen
as part of Oakland Chinatown's
Lunar New Year and Lantern Festival
February 5th, 2023
Sunday at 6:30pm-7:00pm
(full festival runs from 3:00pm-8:00pm)
Pacific Renaissance Plaza
388 9th St, Oakland, CA 94607
Celebrate Lunar New Year and the Chinese Lantern Festival with us on Sunday, February 5th, 2023 from 3-8pm in Oakland Chinatown!
Hosted by AAPI Healers for Liberation, Cut Fruit Collective, Oakland Bloom, and Civic Design Studio, this event is designed to celebrate the diversity of the Asian diaspora and promote joy and healing in our community.
There will be family-friendly activity booths, light installations, a "night market" with traditional foods, performances, and a maker market.
