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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260110T160000
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CREATED:20251212T053126Z
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SUMMARY:Chinese Couplets: A Film by Felicia Lowe
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/chinese-couplets/
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/2025/12/Chinese-Couplets-Preview-1080-x-1080-px.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260111T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260111T143000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20251030T163029Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251216T052106Z
UID:22603-1768136400-1768141800@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:From Ally to Activated: Breaking Barriers to Community Action
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/activated/
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/2025/10/Redesigned-Get-Activated-FB-1080-x-1080-px-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260125T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260125T160000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20251229T212949Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251229T213238Z
UID:22767-1769349600-1769356800@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:Reparations: A Film by Jon Osaki
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/reparations-film/
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/2025/12/Reparations-FB-1080-x-1080-px.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260204
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260315
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20260114T160348Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260224T185220Z
UID:22798-1770163200-1773532799@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:Topaz Toddlers Exhibition: Children’s Art from an American Concentration Camp
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/topaz-toddlers/
LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States
CATEGORIES:Upcoming Events,Upcoming Exhibitions
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Topaz-Toddlers-FB-1080-x-1080-px-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260207T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260207T160000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20251225T030557Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260204T212416Z
UID:22758-1770462000-1770480000@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:Lunar New Year x Black History Month 2026: 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/lny-bhm-2026/
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/2025/12/Celebrating-Asian-African-American-Solidarity.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260213T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260213T130000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20260121T225442Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260121T225727Z
UID:22841-1770984000-1770987600@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:February Mending Circle
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/mending-feb2026/
LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States
CATEGORIES:Upcoming Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Mending-Circle-Evergreen-Preview-White-Background.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260222T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260222T160000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20260120T072722Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260121T042457Z
UID:22815-1771768800-1771776000@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:Honoring Day of Remembrance: Children’s Art from an American Concentration Camp
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/day-of-remembrance-2026/
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/2026/01/Topaz-Toddlers-FB-1080-x-1080-px-v2.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260228T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260228T130000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20251218T155311Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260219T203515Z
UID:22743-1772280000-1772283600@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:Bilingual Bike Commuting Basics Workshop (Cantonese and English)
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/bike-basics/
LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States
CATEGORIES:Upcoming Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Bike-Commuting-Feb-28-English-1080-x-1080.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260306T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260306T130000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20260303T201924Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260303T202235Z
UID:22986-1772798400-1772802000@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:March Mending Circle
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/mending-feb2026-2/
LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States
CATEGORIES:Upcoming Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Mending-Circle-Evergreen-Preview-White-Background.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260315T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260315T150000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20260219T084830Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260219T084959Z
UID:22932-1773579600-1773586800@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:Tales of the Tofu Goddess: A Tribute to the Artful Life of Flo Oy 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/tofu-goddess/
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/2026/02/Tofu-Goddess-Preview-1080-x-1080-px.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260318
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260524
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20260226T194319Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260226T224303Z
UID:22956-1773792000-1779580799@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:Our Language\, Our Story: Photos by Joyce Xi
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/joyce-xi/
LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States
CATEGORIES:Upcoming Events,Upcoming Exhibitions
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Joyce-Xi-Exhibition-PREVIEW-1080-x-1080-px.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260320T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260320T210000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20260227T233159Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260310T194052Z
UID:22970-1774033200-1774040400@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage: Nowruz with the Persian Classical Trio
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/persian-classical/
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/2026/02/Nowruz-2026-Preview-1080-x-1080-px-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260403T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260403T130000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20260327T192619Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260327T192722Z
UID:23133-1775217600-1775221200@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:April Mending Circle
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/mending-apr2026/
LOCATION:Oakland Asian Cultural Center\, 388 9th St. #290\, Oakland\, CA\, 94607\, United States
CATEGORIES:Upcoming Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://oacc.cc/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Mending-Circle-Evergreen-Preview-White-Background.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260411T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260411T150000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20260323T211521Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260409T233740Z
UID:23100-1775908800-1775919600@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:Southeast Asian New Year Celebration 2026
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/sea-ny-2026/
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/2026/03/SEAsian-NY-2026-1080-x-1080.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260418T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260418T180000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20260323T185428Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260323T190026Z
UID:23090-1776528000-1776535200@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:Echoes of Eureka: A Youth Opera Bridging History and Hope
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/echoes-eureka/
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/2026/03/Echoes-of-Eureka-FB-1080-x-1080.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260425T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260425T140000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20260326T233054Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260327T210412Z
UID:23119-1777118400-1777125600@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:The OACC 2026 Interactive Artist Showcase
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/oacc-showcase-26/
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/2026/03/Interactive-Artist-Showcase-FB-1080-x-1080-px.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260426T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260426T170000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20260331T221747Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260331T223148Z
UID:23139-1777208400-1777222800@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:Tea & Tiles: A Sunday Social With 13 Orphans
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/tea-tiles/
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/2026/03/Tea-Tiles-FB-1080-x-1080-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260503T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260503T150000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20260326T234447Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260327T215414Z
UID:23126-1777813200-1777820400@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:Strong Like Bamboo
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-bamboo-26/
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/2026/03/Strong-Like-Bamboo-FB-1080-x-1080-px.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260517T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260517T160000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20260409T230626Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260413T185722Z
UID:23171-1779026400-1779033600@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:Stories from the Edge of Sea: A Book Launch With Andrew Lam
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/andrew-lam/
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/2026/04/Andrew-Lam-Book-Launch-FB-1080-x-1080-px.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260530T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260530T210000
DTSTAMP:20260422T021438
CREATED:20260413T185348Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260417T001308Z
UID:23198-1780167600-1780174800@oacc.cc
SUMMARY:Celebrating Our HeART-Filled Heritage: Celebrating the Zither—Asian American Identity and Cultural Survival
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/asian-zither/
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/2026/04/Asian-Zither-FB-1080-x-1080-px.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Oakland Asian Cultural Center":MAILTO:programs@oacc.cc
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR