Deaf Ancestors: Fly Loud by Urban Jazz Dance Company
About this Event
Created and Directed by Antoine Hunter of Urban Jazz Dance Company (Zahna Simon, Paunika Jones , Kelly Garrett )
Deaf Ancestors: Fly Loud is an original aerial dance production that celebrates Deaf culture, ancestral wisdom, resilience, and the universal longing for freedom. Inspired by Virginia Hamilton’s acclaimed book The People Could Fly and The Little Prince, this visually immersive work explores how imagination, hope, and community allow the human spirit to rise beyond the limits placed upon it.
Hamilton’s powerful retelling of the African American folktale tells of enslaved people who possessed an ancient gift - the ability to fly to freedom. For those who could not escape, storytelling became its own form of liberation, carrying hope, memory, and dignity from one generation to the next. The Little Prince reminds us that the greatest truths are often invisible to the eye and that wonder, love, and imagination can transform the way we see ourselves and the world.
These inspirations come together in a uniquely Deaf artistic experience where visual language replaces spoken sound and movement becomes the voice of the ancestors.
Using aerial ropes, ladders, windows, suspended structures, and dynamic physical movement, the performers journey between earth and sky, memory and possibility, history and the future. Every ascent represents courage. Every fall reveals resilience. Every lift embodies trust, collective strength, and the enduring power of community. The stage becomes a living landscape where gravity is challenged and freedom is imagined.
Rather than portraying flight as an escape alone, Deaf Ancestors: Fly Loud asks a deeper question: What allows us to rise? Is it our ancestors? Our dreams? Our culture? Our imagination? Or the communities that continue to lift us even when the world tells us we cannot fly?
Created and performed by Deaf artists, the work celebrates visual storytelling as a language of its own. Through expressive choreography, sign language, aerial dance, and breathtaking imagery, the performers reveal that Deaf culture is not defined by the absence of sound but by the richness of vision, connection, creativity, and human expression.
Deaf Ancestors: Fly Loud honors those who dreamed of freedom, those whose stories survived against all odds, and those who continue to soar today. It is a celebration of Black history, ancestral memory, Deaf culture, imagination, and the limitless possibilities that emerge when we dare to fly loud.
Learn more at www.sfaerialartsfest.org
Learn more about the company at www.realurbanjazzdance.com
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FULL FESTIVAL SCHEDULE:
Witness grace, courage, and masterful storytelling as aerial artists transform Fort Mason's waterfront campus into a playground of movement during San Francisco's premier weekend of live aerial arts, vertical dance on film, and site-responsive performance!
August 7 – 9, 2026
Fort Mason Center for Arts & CultureTickets: $15–$75 | All Ages
Zaccho Dance Theatre and Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture proudly present the Seventh Biennial San Francisco Aerial Arts Festival, a three-day celebration of contemporary aerial dance, circus arts, and site-responsive performance.
Experience breathtaking performances from internationally recognized aerial artists alongside the next generation of innovative performers. Set against the spectacular waterfront backdrop of Fort Mason, the festival transforms theaters, galleries, and public spaces into stages where artists defy gravity and reimagine what movement-storytelling can be.
From theatrical works and intimate performances to youth showcases and site-responsive installations, the San Francisco Aerial Arts Festival offers audiences a rare opportunity to experience the full spectrum of aerial arts in one incredible weekend.
THE COWELL THEATER SHOWCASE
Cowell Theater | Friday, August 7* & Saturday, August 8 | 8:00 PM
*ASL services provided on Friday only.
An evening of powerful contemporary aerial performance featuring acclaimed artists Amelia Rudolph, Darielle Williams, Nina Sawant, Ron Oppenheimer, Cirque Vida, and Joey the Tiger. Expect daring physicality, innovative apparatus work, and embodied storytelling.
THE NEXT GENERATION
Cowell Theater | Saturday, August 8 | 1:00 PM
A family-friendly matinee celebrating emerging youth performers from Zaccho Youth Company, San Francisco Youth Circus, Circus Mecca, Kinetic Arts, People's Circus Theatre, and Ashland Aerial Arts.
NEW SITE WORK
Gateway Pavilion | Saturday, August 8 | 3:00 PM * & 5:00 PM
Gateway Pavilion | Sunday, August 8 | 2:00 PM & 4:00 PM
*Saturday's 3pm Show includes ASL interpretation and Artist Talk Back
Two newly commissioned site-responsive works by Veronica Blair and Megan Lowe Dances featuring Megan Lowe and Roel Seeber. These immersive performances activate Fort Mason's architecture and landscape, inviting audiences to experience aerial dance in unexpected ways.
NEW EXPERIMENTS
Gallery Performance Space | Sunday, August 9 | 7:00 PM
An intimate showcase of emerging and experimental work featuring Katherine Hutchinson, clarissa dyas & B Dean, Ciarra D'Onofrio, Anna Yanushkevic, Kelsey na Gealai, and Azraa Muhammad.
SAN FRANCISCO AERIAL ARTS FILM FESTIVAL (Free)
Returning for its second season, the San Francisco Aerial Arts Film Festival presents a curated collection of films from artists around the world exploring movement, flight, architecture, and imagination. Film screenings are free and run alongside the live festival programming throughout the weekend.
Whether you're a longtime fan of aerial arts or discovering the form for the first time, the San Francisco Aerial Arts Festival offers a weekend of awe-inspiring artistry, athleticism, filmmaking, and creative possibilities!
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SPECIAL EVENTS (Free)
Sunday, August 9, 2026 @11am-12pm
Deaf Ancestors: Fly Loud by Urban Jazz Dance Company
Zaccho Studio | 1777 Yosemite Ave, #330, San Francisco, CA 94124
{NOTE: This event is NOT at Fort Mason.)
FREE w/ RSVP
The San Francisco Aerial Arts Festival is pleased to announce a FREE special event by Antoine Hunter’s Urban Jazz Dance Company, hosted at Zaccho Studio.
When Light Listens is a powerful Deaf-led aerial dance work-in-progress created by Antoine Hunter and the Urban Jazz Dance Company. Blending aerial arts, contemporary dance, visual storytelling, and embodied movement, the piece explores how rhythm can be experienced through vibration, sight, touch, memory, and human connection.
Learn more at www.sfaerialartsfest.org
Learn more about the company at www.realurbanjazzdance.com
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Sunday, August 9, 1:05-1:50pm
FIELD NOTES
Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture: The HUB
FREE - No RSVP necessary
Spirit Chasers: A 30-Year Passion with the Human Form in Nature
Presentation and Conversation with Author, Susan Murphy and Photographer, Don Carson
For more than thirty years, aerial dance pioneer Susan Murphy and photographer Don Carson have explored the relationship between body, landscape, and spirit through a singular artistic partnership.
In this special presentation, the couple shares selections from Spirit Chasers: A 30-Year Passion with the Human Form in Nature, a stunning collection of photographs, writings, and reflections born from decades of creative exploration throughout the American West.
Blending movement, photography, poetry, and the natural environment, Spirit Chasers offers a meditation on embodiment, place, time, and connection. Through images, stories, and conversation, Susan and Don invite audiences into the artistic process behind a body of work that celebrates both the wildness of nature and the expressive possibilities of the human form.
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All ticket sales are final. No refunds.
Primary Venue Information
Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture
Gateway Pavillion, Pier 22 Marina BoulevardSan Francisco, CA 94123
Paid parking is available onsite.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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