BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Oakland Asian Cultural Center - ECPv6.15.18//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://oacc.cc X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Oakland Asian Cultural Center REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20220313T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20221106T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20230312T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20231105T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20240310T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20241103T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20250309T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20251102T090000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240801T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240907T170000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240709T234004Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240909T184423Z UID:19213-1722513600-1725728400@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Precious Beings Exhibition & Closing Reception DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/preciousbeings/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Exhibitions ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/precious-beings-exhibit-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240622T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240622T150000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240501T215409Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240815T214302Z UID:18601-1719061200-1719068400@oacc.cc SUMMARY:"Searching for Kapwa" Film Screening and Discussion DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/searchingforkapwa/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/EDITED-WEBSITE-THUMBNAIL-1.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240601T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240601T160000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240408T221152Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240529T004707Z UID:18221-1717243200-1717257600@oacc.cc SUMMARY:AAPI Mental Health & Wellness Jam 2024 DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/aapimentalhealthjam2024/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Upcoming Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/thumbnail-4.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240517T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240517T203000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240405T021110Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240521T223106Z UID:18246-1715972400-1715977800@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Premiere Short Film Documentaries From Anthony Brown’s Asian American Orchestra’s 2018 Performance with Angela Davis and Janice Mirikitani Followed by a Live Performance DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/premierewithanthonybrown/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/thumbnail-2.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240511T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240511T123000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240326T235217Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240521T223138Z UID:18196-1715425200-1715430600@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Movement Workshop: Interwoven Stories of Culture\, Belonging\, and Change\, Facilitated by Ishami Dance Company DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/interwovenstoriesworkshop/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/workshop-thumbnail.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240510T200000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240510T213000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240321T205611Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240521T223216Z UID:18161-1715371200-1715376600@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Interwoven Stories of Culture\, Belonging\, and Change\, Featuring Ishami Dance Company DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/interwovenstories/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/1.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240503T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240503T153000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240321T194933Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240521T223247Z UID:18136-1714744800-1714750200@oacc.cc SUMMARY:How K-Dramas Can Transform Your Life: A Fireside Chat with Clinician\, Speaker\, Coach\, and Author Jeanie Y. Chang\, LMFT DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/howkdramascantransformyourlife/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/thumbnail-2.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240427T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240427T160000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240412T013856Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240508T202556Z UID:18430-1714222800-1714233600@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Philippine Master Culture Bearers of T’boli\, Yakan\, Kalinga People: Weaving Workshop DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/philippinemasterculturebearers/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/weaving-workshop-thumbnail-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240420T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240420T150000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240319T220527Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240508T202700Z UID:18090-1713614400-1713625200@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Southeast Asian New Year Celebration DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/southeastasianny/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Event-flyer.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240324T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240324T140000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240129T232544Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240405T012530Z UID:17635-1711285200-1711288800@oacc.cc SUMMARY:"Sons of Chinatown: A Memoir Rooted in China and America" Book Release Reading with William Gee Wong DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/sonsofchinatown/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/bill-wong-event-500-x-500-px.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240314T193000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240316T193000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240201T201236Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240318T172836Z UID:17678-1710444600-1710617400@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Dancing Moons Festival 2024 DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/dancingmoons2024/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/dancing-moons-jpeg.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240301T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240301T203000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240123T233427Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240318T205738Z UID:17390-1709319600-1709325000@oacc.cc SUMMARY:"Method Sampling: How to Build the Future Together" Documentary Film Premiere Screening & Discussion with Ensemble Mik Nawooj DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/methodsampling/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/method-sampling-jpeg.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240229T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240229T190000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240209T225744Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240318T213955Z UID:17865-1709222400-1709233200@oacc.cc SUMMARY:"Love & Protect" Mural Series Closing Reception and AR Workshop DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/loveprotectclosingreception/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/reception.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240215T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240215T203000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240103T201419Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240318T210038Z UID:16970-1708023600-1708029000@oacc.cc SUMMARY:ALTERNATIVE FACTS: The Lies of Executive Order 9066 DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/alternative-facts/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/alternative-facts.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240203T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240203T160000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240103T205142Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240318T210731Z UID:16991-1706958000-1706976000@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Lunar New Year x Black History Month 2024: Celebrating Asian & African-American Solidarity DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/lnybhm2024/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Screen-Shot-2023-12-19-at-12.17.04-PM-1-1022x1024-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240126T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240126T210000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20231220T003936Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240318T211426Z UID:16907-1706295600-1706302800@oacc.cc SUMMARY:"The Six: The Untold Story of RMS Titanic’s Chinese Passengers" Film Screening & Discussion with Research Team Members DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/thesix/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/thumbnail-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240126T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20240302T170000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20240112T003828Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240318T214058Z UID:17315-1706270400-1709398800@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Love and Protect Mural Series DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/loveprotect/ LOCATION:CA CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Exhibitions ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/murals-jpeg.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231209T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231209T150000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20231118T093621Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240206T204413Z UID:16612-1702126800-1702134000@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Elder Voices: Chinatown Legacy Businesses Exhibition Opening Reception DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/elder-voices-opening-reception/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Upcoming Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/roy-chan-exhibit-reception-thumbnail-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231117T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20231117T153000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20230915T222835Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240318T212013Z UID:15919-1700229600-1700235000@oacc.cc SUMMARY:“Everything I Learned\, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant: A Memoir” Book Launch with Curtis Chin DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/everything-i-learned-i-learned/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/thumbnail-5-1024x1024-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230913T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230913T170000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20230620T201251Z LAST-MODIFIED:20240318T212333Z UID:14037-1694617200-1694624400@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Book Reading with Grace Lin DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/chinesemenu/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Grace-Lin-thumbnail-3.png ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230610T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230610T160000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20230427T054910Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230726T131908Z UID:13908-1686398400-1686412800@oacc.cc SUMMARY:AAPI Mental Health and Wellness Jam DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/aapi-wellness-jam/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PEERS-Mental-Health-Instagram-Post-Square-2.png ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230602T193000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230602T213000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20230329T223404Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230606T200648Z UID:13551-1685734200-1685741400@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: Pasifika Futurism\, the SPULU Experience DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/cohh-spulu/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/the-spulu-experience-11-square-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230528T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230528T170000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20230419T205257Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230530T172120Z UID:13547-1685282400-1685293200@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Strong Like Bamboo: Stories of Resilience for Healing in the Era of Anti-AAPI Violence DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/strong-like-bamboo/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Sunday-May-28-2023-200pm-1-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230519T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230519T200000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104234 CREATED:20230406T221701Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230522T191245Z UID:13557-1684519200-1684526400@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Find Your Crew: Connecting Bay Area Filmmakers and Content Creators DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/findyourcrew/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/6.png ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230513T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230513T200000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104235 CREATED:20230329T222814Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230516T184739Z UID:13553-1684000800-1684008000@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: Son of Paper DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/cohh-sop/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/05132023-COHH-SOP-2.png ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230422T193000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230422T213000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104235 CREATED:20230221T192837Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230424T194501Z UID:13420-1682191800-1682199000@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: Joe Kye\, SURRIJA\, and Nikbo DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/cohh-rootingself/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/04222023-COHH-Rooting-Self-IG-flyers-1.png ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230303T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20230422T210000 DTSTAMP:20260409T104235 CREATED:20230221T195319Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230424T194523Z UID:13438-1677862800-1682197200@oacc.cc SUMMARY:Current Exhibition: Li Ching World DESCRIPTION:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide A Performance by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance \n \nSaturday\, Apr. 19\, 2025 \n3 PM \nFREE \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide is an adaptive multi-media dance and theatre work observing Cambodian Genocide Remembrance Day and the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. The piece will honor genocide survivors\, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit\, and how Cambodian arts have been\, and continue to be\, transmitted from generation to generation.   The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide investigates the relationship between art and war\, exploring how Khmer classical dance\, particularly Apsaras\, fabled female celestial beings\, has embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection.   Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today\, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat. The performance is all tied together by a live soundscape by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh.    Joining Charya’s tour de force performance on stage will be dancer Chakra Sokhomsan and select Bay Area Cambodian community dancers.   A talkback with the artists and genocide survivors will follow the performance\, moderated by Mory Chhom.   OACC’s “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” Asian American & Pacific Islander performing arts series will provide a platform for local Asian and Asian Pacific Islander culturally relevant artists that inspire intergenerational and cross-cultural exchange. This program series is sponsored by Matson\, the Bank of Marin\, and Dr. Raymond L. Eng. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Register\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Production Team \n \n \n \n Charya Burt: Creator\, Choreographer\, Lead Performer\n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer\, choreographer\, vocalist\, and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide\, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters\, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. The Rebirth of Apsara\, her recent Hewlett 50 Arts Commission\, premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center.   An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance\, Burt has performed her original works nationwide at venues including Jacob’s Pillow\, San Francisco Opera House\, Oregon Shakespeare Festival\, and many others. Her recent choreographic works include Beautiful Dark (2024)\, about the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty\, Silenced (2018)\, Of Spirits Intertwined (2018)\, and Heavenly Garden (2016).   A true culture bearer\, Burt’s mission is to continue preserving and renewing her art form\, elevating the professionalism of community dance groups\, and creating innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is the founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, based in the San Francisco North Bay. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chinary Ung: Composer \n \n \n \n “Louk Kru” Chinary Ung was born in Cambodia and spent his early childhood in Prey Lovea\, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. His first exposure to Western classical music was as a teenager\, and he was so drawn to it that he came to New York in 1964 to study clarinet performance (at the Manhattan School of Music) and\, later\, composition with Chou Wen-Chung at Columbia University. During the Cambodian genocide\, where nearly 2 million people died\, Ung feared that the country would lose its precious musical heritage because the Khmer Rouge regime targeted artists. He devoted himself to learning the neat-ek\, the Cambodian xylophone\, and performing traditional pin peat music (the Cambodian gamelan ensemble) throughout the United States. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Kalean Ung: Writer \n \n \n \n Performer and playwright Kalean Ung is an award-winning Cambodian-American multi-disciplinary theater artist whose professional career ranges from Shakespeare to experimental theatre to contemporary opera and solo performance. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre\, Disney Hall\, REDCAT\, and The Getty Villa\, among others\, collaborating with critically acclaimed theatre and opera companies\, including Critical Mass Performance Group\, The LA Philharmonic\, Rogue Artists Ensemble\, Independent Shakespeare Company\, and CalArts’s Center for New Performance. Kalean’s voice acting can be heard as the lead in Denis Do’s award-winning\, animated feature about the Cambodian genocide\, FUNAN.   For this adaptation\, additional story development and text by Charya and Rob Burt. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel: Musical Director/Performer \n\n \n \n \n \n Joel Davel (Musical Director) is an accomplished percussionist whose performances and compositions range from classical to highly experimental. Davel is known for his many appearances in theatrical productions\, for many performance collaborations with composer Paul Dresher and Vân-Ánh Võ and for his 20 year association with electronic music designer Don Buchla. Davel is the music director and composer for dNaga Dance Company and PCB designer for Buchla. He performs on the Marimba Lumina\, an instrument he built and co-designed. Davel holds a Bachelor of Music from Northern Illinois University and MFA from Mills College. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Chakra Sokhomsan: Dancer\n\n \n \n \n \n Born and raised to Khmer refugee parents\, Chakra is an activist\, artist\, and educator. The Cambodian community in Chakra’s hometown\, Long Beach\, CA\, helped develop his passion for the arts. He carries over ten years of Khmer Classical Dance training under Prumsodun Ok\, Charya Burt\, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro\, and Reaksmey Lath. Recently\, Chakra graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Dickinson College. He has also worked and performed with Alessio Trevisani\, Sarah Skaggs\, Pilobolus\, the American Dance Festival\, and more. Currently he is a teaching artist with the Modern Apsara Company in Long Beach\, CA. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt: Director\n \n \n \n \n Rob Burt\, Executive Director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance\, is a theatre director\, producer\, and educator. A theatre teacher for over 35 years\, he directed and produced over 100 theatrical productions\, many for his award-winning playwriting program at Elsie Allen High School in Santa Rosa\, California. The school’s 350-seat theater was named in his honor in 2017. From 1990-1992\, Burt taught playwriting at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh\, Cambodia\, producing original plays with actors from Cambodia’s National Theatre. Here\, he met his future wife\, Charya\, who was on the university’s dance faculty. In 1993\, he helped Charya establish her U.S. dance company and has been her creative partner ever since. \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company: \n \n \n \n Charya Burt Chakra Sokhomsan Hannah Chea Baron Lim Moragaut Souet Samounn Sydnee Thy \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Meet the Moderator \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Mory Chhom is a Cambodian American and a dedicated public health leader with nearly 20 years of experience serving immigrant and underserved communities. Currently serving as the Director of Population-Focused Prevention and Early Intervention\, she oversees culturally and linguistically responsive programs that promote wellness and equity. She serves on the board of the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants and the Editorial Board for Health Promotion Practice.  URL:https://oacc.cc/event/lichingworld-2/ LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States CATEGORIES:Featured,Past Exhibitions ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Copy-of-20230301_LiChing_Opening_Panel.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR