I’m rather pleased with myself today, as I’m curating the June Eth-Noh-Tec salon, and this is who I’ve got lined up:

• Nara Denning, filmmaker, who recently spoke to my Fil Am Arts course earlier this semester after I showed her black and white silent film Madalien the Small.
• Aileen Ibardazola, poet whose first book is traje de boda, published by Meritage Press.
• Ron Quesada, the multi-instrumental musician behind Kulintronica.
• Sean San Jose, actor and co-founder of the theater company Campo Santo.

In addition, Eth-Noh-Tec’s Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo and Nancy Wang will perform. So, each artist has 15 minutes, then the conversation/Q&A with the audience. It’ll be a very good evening.

The Eth-Noh-Tec performance space is on the top floor of a beautiful Victorian on South Van Ness, and is also good for projecting film and slides. I think I’m getting pretty good at this. Something amazing always happens at the events I curate, some unanticipated chemistry or something that transforms the event into a cohesive program. Something cosmic like planets aligning, artists vibing on one another’s work and performance.

What I like: artists who are cool, down to earth, and who bring their A-game, keep their banter relevant, who share the space and are present for/receptive to/respectful of their co-presenters.

What I dislike: divas who bring their drama and passive aggressive self-effacement, who hog up the space, ramble, and willfully go over time, and who disrespect their fellow artists.

BTW I haven’t reported back on the last PAWA reading with Gina Apostol, Arlene Biala, Vangie Buell, and Niki Escobar, so let me just end by saying that event was all of the positive stuffs I’ve said above about what I like in artists I choose to include in reading and performance events.

Now, on to plan our May API Heritage Month reading.