March 2008 - May 2008
World Arts West is a San Francisco nonprofit organization that has been presenting and promoting dance and music from around the world since 1978. The organization produces the annual San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, which has featured more than 18,000 dancers from more than one hundred distinct cultures. Each year the Dance Festival provides the opportunity for thousands of people to connect with their own cultural traditions as well as those of others.
World Arts West is credited with helping to create the largest and most vibrant ethnic dance community in the world¬. Nowhere else in the world can you find the breadth of distinct ethnic dances being performed by local artists.
The San Francisco Bay Area has the unique demographics and extraordinary dancers to make this annual event possible. Local dance critic Rachel Howard wrote: I don't care how much or how little dance you've seen, you're going to see something in this festival that looks like nothing you've ever seen before. And you're going to be glad you saw it.
Photographer R. J. Muna began his career at the age of sixteen, photographing street demonstrations in Berkeley during the Vietnam War. He began to earn a living from his craft in 1976 following his graduation from San Jose State University with a fine arts degree.
Photography is not permitted.
©2008 by San Francisco Airport Commission. All rights reserved