Cal Performances at Home is much more than a series of great streamed performances. Fascinating behind-the-scenes artist interviews. Informative and entertaining public forums. The Cal Performances Reading Room, featuring books with interesting connections to our Fall 2020 programs. For all this and much more, keep checking this page for frequent updates and to journey far, far Beyond the Stage!
Major support for Beyond the Stage is provided by Bank of America.
Beyond the Stage
Martha Graham Dance Company Celebrates 100 Years of Revolutionizing Modern Dance
Martha Graham Dance Company Celebrates 100 Years of Revolutionizing Modern Dance
Martha Graham’s connection with UC Berkeley dates back further than the creation of her own company! Learn more about this revered company and its iconic founder.
By Mark Van Oss, Cal Performances’ Communications Editor
Pictured at top: Martha Graham Dance Company in Hope Boykin’s En Masse (Luis Luque)
Celebrating its 100th anniversary, the legendary Martha Graham Dance Company returns to Zellerbach Hall for the first time in more than 10 years with performances on Saturday and Sunday, February 14–15, 2026. Programs include classic Graham works such as the iconic Appalachian Spring, the psychological thriller Night Journey, and the anti-war protest Chronicle—all featuring Isamu Noguchi’s original sets—alongside newly commissioned dances by some of today’s most compelling choreographers.
Saturday evening’s performance features Cortege, a new work by the in-demand team of Baye & Asa, created in response to Graham’s seminal war protest Cortege of Eagles. And Sunday’s matinee includes the Bay Area premiere of En Masse by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater alum Hope Boykin, as well as Jamar Roberts’ We the People, a collaboration—part lament, part protest—with roots musician Rhiannon Giddens exploring themes of determination and resistance.
“It’s an extraordinary honor to welcome the Martha Graham Dance Company back to Cal Performances,” said Cal Performances Executive and Artistic Director Jeremy Geffen. “Many in our audience remember with admiration the company’s previous visits, stretching from 1970 to their most recent Berkeley appearances in 2014, and the February 2026 engagements offer Bay Area dance lovers the chance to re-engage with seminal works that have defined the company’s past, along with the newly commissioned work—from some choreographers already known to our audiences—that will shape its future. All of this combines to provide a truly not-to-be-missed highlight of the 2025–26 season.”
Pictured: Martha Graham performs her work Immediate Tragedy
Martha Graham’s connection with UC Berkeley dates back more than a century, to July 1916, when Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn—then at the leading edge of the emerging modern dance movement in the United States—brought their Denishawn company to the Greek Theatre for a special Dance Pageant of Egypt, Greece and India program. That performance featured 170 dancers accompanied by the San Francisco Symphony and the UC Chorus; present on stage, a promising 22-year-old dancer named Martha Graham, in what is believed to be her San Francisco Bay Area debut.
The rest, of course, is history. Today, Graham is recognized—alongside figures such as James Joyce, Pablo Picasso, Igor Stravinsky, and Frank Lloyd Wright—as a primal artistic force of the 20th century. Her distinctive, groundbreaking movement technique has been carried in dancers’ bodies for generations; the works she commissioned have grown and multiplied over hundreds of performances; and her contributions to the art of stage design and dance production are countless.
Indeed, Graham’s name would become synonymous with American modern dance and her school and company would grow to become the training ground for the next generation of American dancers and choreographers, including such luminaries as Merce Cunningham, Pearl Lang, Paul Taylor, Glen Tetley, and Alvin Ailey, all of whom would also form companies and play major roles in the emerging dance programming on the UC Berkeley campus.
Graham founded her company and school in 1926, while living and working out of a tiny Carnegie Hall studio in midtown Manhattan. As early as the 1930s, her dancers reflected diverse cultural backgrounds, and Graham’s commitment to experimentation and attention to contemporary social, political, psychological, and gender issues has forever altered the scope and direction of the art form.
For full program information as well as tickets to Martha Graham Dance Company in GRAHAM100: A Celebration of the Company’s 100th Anniversary, visit the event detail page.
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Keeping the Rhythm Alive: Third Coast Percussion & Salar Nader Honor Zakir Hussain
Keeping the Rhythm Alive: Third Coast Percussion & Salar Nader Honor Zakir Hussain
“Almost every musician teaches; it’s a way for their legacy to live on. It lives on in their recordings, their compositions, and their students. This project is special to us because it’s all three aspects of Zakir’s legacy in one evening.”
By Angelina Josephine Rosete, Cal Performances’ Engagement Writer
When Third Coast Percussion (TCP) takes the stage with tabla virtuoso Salar Nader on November 1, the music carries more than melody—it carries memory. Murmurs in Time, the final major work composed by the late Zakir Hussain for the Grammy-winning ensemble, unfolds as both a celebration and continuation of his remarkable legacy. For the musicians, each note is a chance to honor a friend, mentor, and musical visionary whose influence reaches far beyond the stage.
David Skidmore, co-founder and Executive Director of Third Coast Percussion, recalls the ensemble’s long-held admiration for Hussain, who tragically passed away last December. “He was such a generous and humble person, especially when you consider that he really was—in my experience—the finest musician I’ve ever worked with,” he says. TCP had dreamed of collaborating with Hussain for a long time, and when the timing aligned a few years ago, they invited him to compose a work and perform with them. As he was in and out of Chicago touring with other music groups, Hussain would visit TCP’s studio, teaching rhythms, sharing concepts of Hindustani classical music, and leaving the ensemble with ideas to improvise and refine. “We worked together as he was writing the piece,” Skidmore explains. “And this became Murmurs in Time.”
The collaboration offered more than just musical instruction; it was a chance to witness Hussain’s rare ability to connect with musicians and audiences alike. As Skidmore notes, “It’s almost impossible to overstate his impact on the world of percussion.” Earlier this year, TCP was part of a memorial concert for him at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco; it was a gathering of Hussain’s collaborators that highlighted his unique combination of virtuosity and reliability. “That performance really drove home for me how musically and personally he was able to connect with so many different people—whether they were other musicians or audience members; simultaneously, he was able to perform music at a level unlike anyone else and somehow be relatable as a person,” Skidmore recalls. “Such an incredibly rare combination.”
For this performance, the ensemble shares the stage with one of Hussain’s most devoted students: Salar Nader, who began studying under Hussain at the age of 7. “Having the opportunity to meet Salar is one of the many gifts that Zakir left us with,” Skidmore says. “Almost every musician teaches; it’s a way for their legacy to live on. It lives on in their recordings, their compositions, and their students. This project is special to us because it’s all three aspects of Zakir’s legacy in one evening.”
Nader performs Hussain’s part in Murmurs in Time, bringing his own musical take while honoring the rhythms and nuances of his teacher’s work. “We get to see this glimpse of Zakir and his incredible musicianship and legacy through Salar every night,” Skidmore says. The first half of the evening showcases some rhythmically exciting music TCP has been touring with, by composers such as Jessie Montgomery, Tigran Hamasyan, and Jlin; the second half unfolds with a tabla solo composed by Nader in tribute to Hussain, flowing into the masterwork itself—a living dialogue between teacher, student, and ensemble. Reflecting on this experience, Nader shares with us, “I am honored and humbled to be premiering my guru’s composition with Third Coast Percussion at his hometown venue, Zellerbach Hall, and hope that we can carry his spirit in every performance that we do together.”
Beyond technical mastery, Skidmore emphasizes the emotional heart of the performance. “I can’t think of a better way for us to honor his legacy than to continue that; to bring his rhythms and music to audiences we’re meeting on tour,” he shares. “I hope that everyone feels the joy of the music and the joy that we feel performing it.” Hussain shared a long and meaningful relationship with Cal Performances, having regularly performed on its stage for over 20 years. Through his programming, he used his platform to share his own genius, as well as to introduce Berkeley audiences to extraordinary percussionists from a diverse array of musical traditions and backgrounds. For TCP, it is “particularly meaningful to be able to bring this piece that he wrote and this music to the audience that knew him so well,” Skidmore reflects.
Through Murmurs in Time, Third Coast Percussion and Salar Nader offer more than a tribute; they offer continuity. Hussain’s rhythms, teachings, and spirit resonate in every note, reminding audiences that live music has a unique power of preserving memory, inspiring collaboration, and carrying legacies forward—one performance at a time.
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Explore More 2025–26 Season Features
Step into Tradition: A Curated Guide to the 2025–26 Season
Step into Tradition: A Curated Guide to the 2025–26 Season
Your cultural matchmaking guide to 2025–26 season highlights.
By Angelina Josephine Rosete, Cal Performances’ Engagement Writer
Looking for your next unforgettable cultural experience? Think of this as a “cultural matchmaking guide,” where your intellectual curiosity about history, tradition, and artistic innovation meets the performances best suited to you. This season, Cal Performances offers a carefully curated lineup that bridges past and present, highlighting the enduring power of artistic legacies while embracing fresh, contemporary interpretations. From the splendor of royal courts to the bold ingenuity of modern dance, from timeless choral masterworks to compelling cultural expressions, there is truly something for everyone—an opportunity to be inspired, challenged, and delighted by the dynamic dialogue that persists between classical artistry and contemporary expression.
If you have ever been captivated by the grandeur of imperial courts, the pageantry of royal ceremonies, or the ways music has shaped cultural heritage, the Vienna Boys Choir offers a window into a living heritage that has spanned over five centuries. Founded in 1498, this remarkable ensemble was originally formed by the Habsburg court, embedding the artistry of young voices into the very fabric of European life. Their repertoire spans centuries, highlighting works that demand precise intonation, clear diction, and the unique tonal purity only boy sopranos and altos can provide. Today, their performances continue to honor that legacy, blending classical masterpieces with carefully curated contemporary works that demonstrate how tradition can evolve without losing its essence.
Attending a Vienna Boys Choir concert is more than simply hearing music—it is experiencing history in motion. Their crystalline harmonies, precision, and youthful energy bring centuries-old compositions vividly to life, connecting audiences to the elegance and sophistication of the past while showcasing the enduring power of music to move and inspire. With each performance, the choir demonstrates mastery of vocal blend, phrasing, and contrapuntal clarity, indications of a practice perfected over generations.
If you are fascinated by the evolution of modern dance and the ways in which movement can express the deepest currents of human emotion, the Martha Graham Dance Company’s centennial program offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It is impossible to overstate Graham’s influence—her innovative technique of contraction and release, her sculptural use of the body, and her rigorous attention to emotional expressivity have shaped generations of dancers and choreographers.
Returning to Cal Performances for the first time in over a decade, the extraordinary Martha Graham Dance Company celebrates 100 years of her legacy with a program that balances canonical works with contemporary responses. Audiences will experience the iconic Appalachian Spring, a key work of American modern dance; the psychologically intense Night Journey; and the anti-war protest, Chronicle; each performed with Isamu Noguchi’s original sculptural sets that integrate seamlessly with Graham’s choreography. The program also highlights newly commissioned works inspired by Graham’s own pieces.
This performance exemplifies Graham’s lifelong commitment to artistic experimentation and social engagement, continuing her legacy of portraying powerful women, drawing from sources as varied as Greek mythology, Native American ceremonies, and modern art. From the precise articulation of her signature contractions, to the dramatic tension in every phrase of movement, this celebration of the company’s 100th anniversary offers both an immersive historical perspective and a vivid, contemporary reimagining of Graham’s revolutionary contributions to dance. For anyone captivated by the balance of continuity, originality, and expressive power, this program promises an unforgettable encounter with one of the 20th century’s most transformative artistic voices.
The world’s most celebrated interpreters of Renaissance polyphony, the Tallis Scholars return this Easter season with a program illuminating the profound mysteries of Christian faith. Anchoring the evening is Tomás Luis de Victoria’s magnificent Missa O magnum mysterium, surrounded by motets from Thomas Tallis, Giaches de Wert, and Jacobus Gallus. The program bridges five centuries by incorporating works from contemporary Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, whose Tribute to Caesar reflects on Christ’s teachings, while Virgencita presents a modern vision of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Traditional Renaissance polyphony, the interweaving of multiple melodic vocal lines that became popular in the 15th century, forms the foundation of this repertoire, showcasing a style of music in which each voice contributes to a complex, harmonious texture. For listeners, the draw is not only in hearing these masterpieces live, but in experiencing the clarity, balance, and precision that the Tallis Scholars have perfected over five decades, demonstrating without question the expressive power of polyphony to evoke awe, wonder, and divine mystery.
Founded in 1973 by Peter Phillips, the ensemble has transformed Renaissance sacred music from specialized repertoire into an essential pillar of classical repertoire through over 2,200 concerts and 60+ acclaimed recordings. Phillips’ international recognition and the Tallis Scholars’ crystalline clarity and ethereal unity of voice continue to prove that the greatest expressions of faith speak across centuries with undiminished power. For those who delight in the sonority of interwoven voices, this concert offers a special chance to hear polyphony at its highest level: precise yet human, historical yet immediate, and sacred yet universally moving.
For 50 years, San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet has redefined what a string quartet can be—pushing the form beyond its Western European roots to become a living, evolving art that engages with the people and issues of our time. Their impact spans thousands of concerts, recordings, and commissioned works, but their upcoming performance at Cal Performances offers something especially resonant: stories of migration, memory, and belonging told through music.
Joined by the celebrated pipa virtuoso Wu Man and cultural historian David Lei, Kronos presents Beyond the Golden Gate, a far-reaching hybrid presentation that traces Chinese American experiences across generations. From intimate personal reflections to newly commissioned works, the evening highlights how music can carry cultural identity—bridging continents, honoring ancestry, and speaking directly to the present. For audiences curious about the intersection of personal heritage and artistic innovation, this performance is more than a concert; it is a portrait of cultural resilience. Kronos’s legacy reminds us that string quartets are not only keepers of tradition, but also vital storytellers reminding us of who we are and where we come from.
Experience the vibrant celebration of Día de los Muertos with Lila Downs, the Grammy- and Latin Grammy-winning singer whose artistry is deeply rooted in her Mixtec heritage. Audiences who love storytelling through music will be captivated by Downs’ seamless blending of traditional songs, original compositions, and performances in Spanish, English, and the indigenous languages of Oaxaca. Backed by a dynamic all-star band, her commanding voice and stage presence turn each song into an immersive, celebratory experience, making the past feel alive in the present—the perfect atmosphere for a holiday dedicated to honoring and remembering loved ones who have passed on. This is a performance for anyone eager to experience music that bridges generations, honors ancestral legacies, and traces rich cultural traditions—making it both an unforgettable experience and deeply moving moment.
For those captivated by classical ballet’s rich heritage, the Paris Opera Ballet offers a rare glimpse into a company whose artistry stretches back to the era of Louis XIV. But in Red Carpet, tradition meets a thrillingly modern vision: UK-based choreographer Hofesh Shechter transforms the stage into a world where classical precision collides with dynamic, emotionally charged movement.
The choreography fuses disciplined technique with bold, raw gestures, creating a performance that is both technically masterful and intensely expressive. Audiences will be drawn into a visually striking spectacle, complete with moving catwalks, a monumental chandelier, and CHANEL-designed costumes inspired by evening wear and cabaret, balancing glamour with grit. Shecter and Yaron Engler’s original score, performed live and blending free jazz, Mediterranean influences, and pulsing techno rhythms, amplifies the energy and immediacy of the dance. This singular West Coast performance offers an incredibly unique opportunity to witness a company at the forefront of ballet, where centuries-old traditions are reinvigorated with daring, contemporary artistry. Far from conventional ballet, Red Carpet fuses rigorous classical technique with bold, modern movement, creating a performance that is as exhilarating and provocative as it is breathtaking.
The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band offers a rare and vital perspective on jazz, illuminating a long-overlooked chapter of the genre’s history. Emerging from a legacy shaped by resilience and creativity, Indigenous musicians have long contributed to jazz as vibrant ensembles and big bands flourished across the US and Canada in the early twentieth century. Yet, despite their talent and influence, their contributions were often uncredited, and their influence unrecognized.
Guided by composer and arranger Julia Keefe and co-founder Delbert Anderson, this ensemble celebrates that legacy while forging new paths. Drawing on traditional songs, rhythms, and stories from Indigenous cultures spanning North and South America, the band reimagines them through the language of jazz, creating a repertoire that is both rooted in heritage and electrifyingly contemporary. Each performance honors the past while uplifting the next generation of Indigenous jazz musicians, blending virtuosity, improvisation, and cultural narratives into a singular musical experience. For listeners, this is more than a concert—it is a journey through history, identity, and innovation, showcasing the depth, diversity, and enduring vitality of Indigenous contributions to jazz.
From the rich layers of choral harmonies to the striking force of modern dance, this season’s lineup demonstrates that the arts are living, evolving dialogues between past and present. Each performance invites audiences to step into a world shaped by legacy, originality, and cultural memory—whether through the reinterpretation of ancestral music, the reinvention of classical forms, or the celebration of identity. These experiences remind us that curiosity, openness, and a willingness to explore new perspectives are at the heart of truly engaging with the arts. No matter your passion—whether it be history, cultural storytelling, or artistic experimentation—there is a performance waiting to ignite your imagination and expand your understanding of the world around you.
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Explore More 2025–26 Season Features
“Exile & Sanctuary”: The Politics of Hospitality
“Exile & Sanctuary”: The Politics of Hospitality
History of the Sanctuary Movement in the US
Produced and directed by Mina Girgis, Cal Performances’ Director of Education, Campus and Community Engagement; Directed and edited by Lindsay Gauthier. Full credits below.
Cal Performances’ 2025–26 season of Illuminations programming draws from the performing arts and UC Berkeley scholarship to explore the theme of “Exile & Sanctuary.” Hospitality has long been a fundamental ethic across cultures, yet in modern times, it has become a flashpoint of political debate. The Sanctuary Movement—born not from progressive politics but from conservative Christian values—offers a surprising origin story for today’s struggles over migration, refuge, and belonging. In this conversation, we examine how the act of offering sanctuary shifted from a moral obligation to a contested “liberal cause,” and what this history reveals about the power and limits of hospitality in a divided world.
This video features Leti Volpp, PhD, UC Berkeley’s Robert D. and Leslie Kay Raven Professor of Law in Access to Justice; Angela Marino, PhD, UC Berkeley professor of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; Stephanie Zonszein, PhD, UC Berkeley professor of Political Science; and Alex Saum-Pascual, PhD, UC Berkeley professor of Spanish and Portuguese, and member of the Executive Board for Berkeley Center for New Media.
For more on our 2025–26 season and our Illuminations programming, visit calperformances.org/illuminations.
Transcript
INTRODUCTION
Leti Volpp:
There’s a saying: “We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us. We are here because you were there.” In other words, we have migrated to the metropole from the colony because you were colonizing us in the past.
Angela Marino:
So if you’re Campesino and you’re in exile from a condition of violence, you might try to find sanctuary within the United States, but you’re in the heart of the beast looking for sanctuary from the very machinery all the way around that’s never facing what it actually did to cause that immigration in the first place.
Stephanie Zonszein:
For the displaced, even after living in a place for different generations, they’re still confronting the fact that they do not have full access to participation in society, the economy, politics.
Alex Saum-Pascual:
If we are understanding sanctuary as providing safety and protection to somebody who is endangered or feeling any kind of prosecution, it seems like the moral thing to do. It’s common sense. The problem comes when we redefine those people seeking exile as enemies or villains.
THE SANCTUARY MOVEMENT
Leti Volpp:
So the origins of the Sanctuary Movement in the 1980s began because members of religious communities saw that there was terrible violence in Latin America. In particular, the United States was helping arm and fund very repressive regimes in Guatemala and El Salvador. And in the process, almost a million people fled and came to the United States. At the same time, once those Guatemalans and Salvadorans applied for asylum, the rate of approval was between 1 and 3%, while the average rate of approval of asylum generally was about 30%.
Angela Marino:
I remember… a young man coming to my house when I was a kid, and hearing the story of what the paramilitary in El Salvador supported by the United States had done to their family members. It was torture. It was dismemberment. It was the most atrocious cruelty. And that kind of violence that was produced by the state was a condition of exile and sanctuary that was never heard about really in the mainstream of U.S. political discourse or political cultures. It remained something that people have fought for in the interfaith community to bring forward for as a Sanctuary Movement.
Leti Volpp:
So there was this, I think, very well-founded perception, which was that the United States essentially supported these military dictatorships that were producing all of these refugees, who then were not being recognized as actual refugees when they came to the United States. So members of religious organizations started feeding people, sheltering people, transporting people, providing them with legal aid, and there were a number of people who actually were criminally prosecuted for their activities as part of the Sanctuary Movement. So I think their linguistic similarities—obviously colonial regimes bring a language with them that they force the people they’re colonizing to learn, and it becomes the language of colonial administration. There become immigration pathways that exist for people from former colonies that shape why people go to the so-called metropole from the colony.
THE POLITICS OF HOSPITALITY
Stephanie Zonszein:
Starting perhaps in the 1990s, just at the end of the Sanctuary Movement… Before this, we had the two parties taking very similar positions in terms of immigration policy, so both parties would be wanting to give more rights to immigrants who were already in the U.S. But in the 1990s is when we see these two parties diverging in their policies, voters now starting to understand then immigration policy and immigration in general as something that is politicized: If you support the Democratic Party, then you’re liberal, and then you’re supporting more inclusionary policies If you’re supporting the Republican Party, then you’re not.
Alex Saum-Pascual:
I think “hospitality,” like any other word, can be activated to mean many different things that serve different intentions and with different power structures behind. So, when polarization is thriving and creating a certain battle over meaning, “hospitality” will be a word that can be activated to mean its complete opposite even.
Leti Volpp:
To whether or not I think of sanctuary as essentially a liberal act, I feel like it’s a human act. It’s a humane act. It’s recognizing that the stranger is the neighbor, is potentially the loved one.
Alex Saum-Pascual:
You could think of that as “liberal politics,” but if you’re thinking about just aiding people to escape possible death, it just seems the moral thing to do. There’s nothing inherently “liberal” about that.
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“Exile & Sanctuary”: Sanctuary and the Search for Belonging
“Exile & Sanctuary”: Sanctuary and the Search for Belonging
“Sanctuary is something that is much more personal. It can be a moment, it can be a song.”
Produced and directed by Mina Girgis, Cal Performances’ Director of Education, Campus and Community Engagement; Directed and edited by Lindsay Gauthier. Full credits below.
Cal Performances’ 2025–26 season of Illuminations programming draws from the performing arts and UC Berkeley scholarship to explore the theme of “Exile & Sanctuary.” As we define it, sanctuary is a word of hope, a place we long for when the world feels fractured. Whether born from exile or from the universal human yearning for belonging, the search for sanctuary shapes our lives and our art. In this conversation, we reflect on the tensions between home and homelessness, loss and arrival, hope and memory.
This video features Drew Dir and Ben Kaufman, Co-Artistic Directors of Manual Cinema; Leti Volpp, PhD, UC Berkeley’s Robert D. and Leslie Kay Raven Professor of Law in Access to Justice; Alex Saum-Pascual, PhD, UC Berkeley professor of Spanish and Portuguese and Berkeley Center for New Media; Julia Keefe, jazz vocalist, actor, activist, and educator; Lara Downes, pianist and radio Host; Angela Marino, PhD, UC Berkeley professor of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; and SanSan Kwan, PhD, professor and chair of UC Berkeley’s department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies.
For more on our 2025–26 season and our Illuminations programming, visit calperformances.org/illuminations.
Transcript
INTRODUCTION
Drew Dir:
Not all of us have experienced the kind of political or physical violence of actual exile, but all of us have sought refuge from work, from the stress of daily life, trouble with relationships or family life. We all need some kind of sanctuary.
DEFINING SANCTUARY
Leti Volpp:
If we think about sanctuary, it has very old roots. There are traditions of sanctuary across various great religions.
Alex Saum-Pascual:
The word I guess originates from a sense of a spiritual veneration, but I also like to think about it in its English connotation as a nature reserve, as a place that we create or we secure to regroup endangered species, allowing folks to regroup, to heal, and then fly free.
Drew Dir:
When you pair exile and sanctuary together, it almost sounds like sanctuary is the natural happy ending of exile, and I think a lot of Manual Cinema’s work deals with characters who are seeking a kind of sanctuary that they think they want, and then when they find it, they discover that it comes at a cost or it provides material sanctuary, but not spiritual sanctuary. The ambiguity around different forms of sanctuary, and who’s providing the sanctuary, and for what reasons, is an idea that we find very intimidating.
EXILE AND SANCTUARY
Julia Keefe:
I think they live in the same house together. You can find sanctuary after exile. You can find sanctuary before exile. You can find sanctuary within exile.
Lara Downes:
I don’t know that the act of being in exile necessarily introduces you to sanctuary. It can on some level. You are physically safe. Are you emotionally safe? No. I mean, I think that that’s such a part of the experience that you’re always like… You’re always broken. There’s always a part of you that’s missing because you left it back there.
Angela Marino:
I don’t know anyone who’s sought sanctuary [or] been in exile who has been unclear about what the journey actually is about or for. I think they’re so clear that it hits the nervous system every day.
Lara Downes:
You can’t go back to the way a relationship was yesterday or the way that your body every day is getting old. You can’t go back. So I suppose we’re in permanent exile in some way.
CHOICE
Alex Saum-Pascual:
On the one hand, we may think that there’s no choice in exile. But there could be a certain opportunity in leaving your country to find better reception for your ideas and to influence and change the culture of the other place. On the other side, we may not have choice around sanctuary because in many cases it may be a question of life and death. And unless we decide that helping someone [or] protecting someone from an imminent threat and death is a choice, then sanctuary shouldn’t be.
Angela Marino:
When we’re witness to exile or sanctuary, it’s an invitation for us to come together and to, as a community, resolve what those issues are.
Leti Volpp:
So in addition to religious organizations, we can also think of the so-called “sanctuary jurisdiction.” So cities, counties, states, they have decided to not use their own resources to assist in federal efforts to engage in immigration enforcement. They’re deciding to position themselves, their communities, as safe and welcoming places for people who are in exile, people who are refugees, people who are undocumented immigrants.
THE SEARCH FOR SANCTUARY
Alex Saum-Pascual:
The sense of sanctuary can be quite unique to those people fleeing political prosecution. In the case of the political condition of a political refugee, and in that case is a very clear condition. But if we’re thinking about sanctuary in more spiritual or metaphorical terms, I feel that’s more of a universal feeling.
Julia Keefe:
The human experience is painful no matter who you are or where you come from. You experience pain and you experience loss and you experience grief. You experience anger.
SANCTUARY AND ART
Julia Keefe:
Sanctuary is something that is much more personal. It can be a moment, it can be a song. It can be a lifelong spiritual practice. My artistic sanctuary is being up on the bandstand with my band, being able to be in performance with these amazing artists, and meditating and practicing this music, and sharing this music with an audience.
Lara Downes:
More and more I’m aware that when I share my music in any kind of a room, any kind of a space with others, it is an essential safe space. I think that is the value of it. I think that is the superpower of it.
SanSan Kwan:
Dance as a recreational practice can serve as a form of individual sanctuary, a space somatically for people to express longings for home, experiences of home, cherishing of home. I also believe that dance is a collaborative form, and when done in community, can create a real sense of collective empowerment, a sense of belonging.
Angela Marino:
First step I think is really understanding the capacity of the theater to bring about the kind of social change that a lot of us are envisioning and that we need in this moment.
SanSan Kwan:
I mean, just moving to a shared rhythm is itself kinesthetically a feeling of community.
Angela Marino:
If the empathy bridge is really going to be there and we’re trying to open that empathy bridge, it will collapse without having foundations. And the foundations should be rooted in the actual conditions that people face, and understanding what is the purpose of that empathy if not to actually generate the kind of world that we prefer to live in.
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Upcoming Related Events
“Exile & Sanctuary”: The Art of Exile
“Exile & Sanctuary”: The Art of Exile
“I think the art that is created in exile is a reflection of the unconquerable strength of the human spirit.”
Produced and directed by Mina Girgis, Cal Performances’ Director of Education, Campus and Community Engagement; Directed and edited by Lindsay Gauthier. Full credits below.
Cal Performances’ 2025–26 season of Illuminations programming draws from the performing arts and UC Berkeley scholarship to explore the theme of “Exile & Sanctuary.” As we define it, exile is more than a movement across borders—it is a rupture in belonging, a break in the story of self. In this conversation, we explore what it means to live and create in displacement: how exile reshapes identity, fuels creativity, and leaves traces in the art born from it.
This video features Julia Keefe, jazz vocalist, actor, activist, and educator; SanSan Kwan, PhD, professor and chair of UC Berkeley’s department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies; Alex Saum-Pascual, PhD, UC Berkeley professor of Spanish and Portuguese, and member of the Executive Board for Berkeley Center for New Media; Leti Volpp, PhD, UC Berkeley’s Robert D. and Leslie Kay Raven Professor of Law in Access to Justice; and Lara Downes, pianist and radio Host.
For more on our 2025–26 season and our Illuminations programming, visit calperformances.org/illuminations.
Transcript
INTRODUCTION
Julia Keefe:
The choice to leave your homeland is because it’s no longer livable for you and your family and your community and your descendants.
SanSan Kwan:
There is an energetic difference between the term “exile” and the term “migration”. When I think about the term “exile,” it means that someone is forcibly moved from one place to another against their will.
Alex Saum-Pascual:
You may choose to exile to a place and then use that possession of power from outside to influence and change the culture from the country you are leaving behind.
Leti Volpp:
Communities of people in exile long for a past that predated their needing to leave.
Lara Downes:
I have this tattoo on my arm. It says, “Here by the Pacific Ocean, it’s a long way from home.” And that’s my dad’s handwriting. He wrote this just when I was born and he was putting me to sleep at night and worrying about my existence in the world.
DEFINING EXILE
Leti Volpp:
There’s no legal definition of the term “exile.”
Alex Saum-Pascual:
I mean, it can range from just feeling other… by being in a country or a culture that is not your primary, but also, it could be an actual political situation of forced displacement.
Leti Volpp:
There is a legal definition of the term “refugee”: “One that has either experienced past persecution or has a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of one of five grounds: race, religion, national origin, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” And the refugee is somebody who has been forced to leave their home. They’re unable or unwilling to live in their country because they’re being persecuted, either by the state or by private actors that the state is unable to control. They’ve had to find another place to live.
Alex Saum-Pascual:
And in that sense, it’s definitely different from just feeling out of place or feeling othered. You may actually feel more at home in a foreign country when you’re feeling endangered by your own.
Lara Downes:
I think there’s a reason that Americans are obsessed with their roots. How do you feel at home in a place where most of us have not been for that long? I mean, most of us can’t trace our families back all that many American generations, so there’s always this feeling of where do I come from? And what did somebody have to do to leave that place? And why did they leave that place?
VIOLENCE
Alex Saum-Pascual:
The question of violence around exile is very complicated. We could be talking about material, physical, bodily threat, and in that case, violence definitely comes to the forefront. But then there could be other kinds of more subtle violence.
Leti Volpp:
The analogy I think about is a tree that’s being uprooted. There’s a violence involved in pulling that tree from the ground, pulling the roots from the ground, right? And so if we think of the person who’s forced to go into exile as having to leave their home, it seems like it would necessarily involve that kind of violence.
Alex Saum-Pascual:
When there’s external forces that are molding or shaping your behavior, when you don’t have the freedom to choose or be in the place of your choosing, that is a violent situation. It doesn’t come with bodily harm, but it comes with a psychological damage that comes from not being free to make your own choices.
THE RIGHT TO HAVE RIGHTS
Leti Volpp:
Something that I think about a lot are the writings of Hannah Arendt, who wrote The Origins of Totalitarianism. Essentially, you need a political body that actually will protect your rights. So when you think of the person who is in exile, the person who’s a refugee, they need a new nation state, a new political body to protect their rights. We could think, for example, of lesser protections where people are still considered members of a particular political community. Maybe they’re not fully citizens, but we think that they deserve some kind of membership. And certainly, when you think about the United States’ framework, the idea of the Constitution, persons are protected. You don’t need to be a citizen, for example, to be guaranteed due process or equal protection.
DISPLACEMENT AND CREATIVITY
SanSan Kwan:
Migration and exile have shaped the dance forms that we know today. When African and enslaved peoples were brought to the United States, plantation owners forbade them to play the drums, and so thus, tap was born, because they found other ways to embody the percussive traditions that they knew about without drums, but instead, with their bodies.
Julia Keefe:
There’s beauty in building community and reaching out and holding hands and knowing that you’re not alone in that experience, in the pain of the loss of language or the loss of culture, the loss of spiritual practices, the loss of life. There’s beauty in community, in that connection, and it also is a calling to rebuild, to reclaim, to keep moving forward, to honor the sacrifices that were made by continuing to uplift the next generation of Indigenous people.
THE ART OF EXILE
Julia Keefe:
The human experience of loss is a unifier. The human experience of resilience is a unifier. The human experience of expression is a unifier. Regardless of what happens, we dance and we sing and we create. It is our human nature. It transcends identity.
Lara Downes:
So 200 years ago, the reality in my family was not any kind of a dream for anyone, right? For my dad’s family, who eventually came to Harlem via Jamaica, I don’t know at what point in colonialism and enslavement they were experiencing life 200 years ago. My Jewish family from Eastern Europe, also not great 200 years ago. So I just think that in my blood is this spirit of self-expression as survival.
Julia Keefe:
I think the art that is created in exile is a reflection of the unconquerable strength of the human spirit.