BANDALOOP Presents SOMEWHERE TO OAKLAND
July 8–26, 2025 | Frank H. Ogawa/Oscar Grant Plaza | Free Community Events
This July, BANDALOOP presents Somewhere to Oakland — a month of free vertical dance, music, and community ritual in the heart of the city, featuring scenes from BANDALOOP’s latest work FLOCK, a poetic story of migration told on the walls of City Hall and the Rotunda.
Engaging more than 50 local artists and partners, with major funding from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation Open Spaces and ParksCA Arts in Local Parks programs, Somewhere to Oakland reaffirms Oakland as the cultural life force that it is and brings that life back to its heart.
SOMEWHERE TO OAKLAND
Calendar of Events
Tuesday, July 8 | 12–1PM
Beginning At The Roots: Opening Ceremony; Movement, song, and a collective art project with BANDALOOP
📍 Great Jack London Oak Tree | FREE
Thursday, July 10 | 1:30–3:30PM
Stories as Treasures and Antidotes: History walk with Liam O’Donoghue
📍 Great Jack London Oak Tree | FREE (Limit 25)
Saturday, July 12 | 12–4PM
In the Shelter of Each Other: Community singing with Destani Wolf
*BANDALOOP open rehearsal
📍 Rotunda + Khan’s Alley | FREE
Thursday, July 17 | 1:30–7:30PM
Writing workshop w/ Maya Chinchilla. Poetry and storytelling / memory & healing
*BANDALOOP on City Hall + Samba in the Plaza
📍 City Hall. Meet in Plaza | FREE
Saturday, July 19 | 12–4PM
In the Shelter of Each Other: Community singing with Destani Wolf *BANDALOOP open rehearsal
📍 Rotunda + Khan’s Alley | FREE
Thursday, July 24 | 1:30–9PM
Bird talk & workshops TBA.
*BANDALOOP Open Dress-Rehearsal with CO-LLAB Choir, Somewhere to Oakland Soiree (ticketed)
📍 Various Locations starting inside Rotunda | FREE unless noted
Saturday, July 26 | 1–5PM |
*BANDALOOP presents FLOCK: A Vertical Dance Theater Performance + Collective Nest Building, poetry, community art, and musical guests
📍 Khan’s Alley, Rotunda, City Hall | FREE
*=Catch BANDALOOP live in action!
“As a 23-year resident of Oakland, I see this project as a love letter to the city my family calls home. I am deeply concerned that Oakland lives into its beauty, and that the many cultures that migrate and land here vibrate with belonging. ”
MORE ON Somewhere to Oakland
Taking flight in Frank H. Ogawa/Oscar Grant Plaza, Somewhere to Oakland will transform the iconic Jack London Oak Tree, the Rotunda Building, and Oakland City Hall into a flyway for vertical dance, community singing, and social art practice. This intergenerational project uplifts community voices through embodied storytelling that interweaves bird and human migration.
Somewhere to Oakland is a durational creation in public space all month, with a spotlight on accessible events taking place Thursdays & Saturdays. Co-directed by Artistic Director, Melecio Estrella, and Associate Artistic Director, Damara Vita Ganley, and originates from their own familiy migration stories, featuring multi-lingual musical score by Ben Juodvalkis and Destani Wolf.
Featured Artists + Collaborators:
BANDALOOP | Destani Wolf | Ben Juodvalkis | Liam O’Donoghue | Maya Chinchilla | CO-LLAB Choir | The Butterfly Effect | Sing Justice Choir | Rogelio Lopez | Aida Salazar | Tsuru for Solidarity | Nino Fernandez
We acknowledge that not all individuals honored by this work may feel safe gathering in public space. We invite those who do to co-create a nest of embodied hope and connection.
