Queer Mvmnt Fest: Featured Artist Showcase

Saturday, June 6, 2026

Doors Open & Pre-Show Starts: 7:10pm

Showcase Starts: 7:30pm

Malashock Black Box Theater

2650 Truxtun Rd Studio #200, San Diego, CA 92106

Join us for a special performance of works by our featured artists, Jas Lin and Hearthealer, Andrea Muñiz, Alyah Baker, and Wilson Mendieta. There will be a brief Q & A after the performance in Studio 204.

This event is made possible in partnership with Malashock Dance thanks to the Prebys Venues Grant.

Learn more about the artists and Queer Mvmnt Fest at https://discoriot.org/qmf2026/

Seats are $25 for general admission, $15 for artist/student/low-income, and $40 for pay-it-forward.

Access

No one turned away for lack of funds. This event is ADA accessible. DISCO RIOT is committed to accessibility and holds with great care the needs of our entire community, especially those who are disabled and economically marginalized. We encourage you to contact Marty (email: queermvmntfest@disoriot.org) regarding any specific accommodation needs or waiver of admission fees.

Location: The theater is located on the second floor of Dorothea Laub Dance Place (accessible by elevator). The building has four entrances. The entrance from the lot closest to the movie theater and restaurant has a wheelchair ramp. Signage and DISCO RIOT staff will be there to help guide you to the theater on the second floor. Please email Marty (at queermvmntfest@discoriot.org) or Nicole (at education@discoriot.org) if you run into any issues.

Parking: There is free parking on the street and in the lot around Dorothea Laub Dance Place. There is also a free parking lot on the corner of Truxtun Rd. and Dewey Rd. Please reserve 15-20 extra minutes of your commute to find parking and make your way to the building. If you are able to, consider carpooling. 

 Meet the Artists: 

 NEMATOCYST Jas Lin (they/them) + Hearthealer (he/they) 

@allthatjasss www.jas-lin.work/ @heartheal3r Soundcloud

NEMATOCYST is a live collaborative duo from Los Angeles between performance artist/choreographer Jas Lin and writer/producer/DJ Hearthealer. Their transportive hybrid performances birth unique creature characters who roam through lush sonic dreamscapes. Their performances have carved immersive habitats across international venues including Creamcake’s 3hd Festival (Berlin), OUTsider Festival (Austin), Hong Kong Art Week, OIL (Shenzhen), Orbitware (Bali), Bussy Temple (Singapore), Cakeshop (Seoul), Shapeshifter (Bangkok), Eaton’s Consciousness Festival (Hong Kong), Red Room (Yangon), and more. In addition, their open movement workshops– rooted in play and experimentation– have been shared with Hong Kong Art Basel, AN(8)X Festival (Berlin), Pluto Space (Valencia), Maju Program (Seoul), Emerging Islands (La Union), and more.
Named after the stinging cells of jellyfish and other cnidarians, NEMATOCYST is a venomous injection of aliveness– a portal into another way of being.

 Andrea Muñiz (they/she) 

@_andreamuniz_

Andrea Muñiz (they/she) is a non-binary Puerto Rican movement artist. They approach their creative work with curiosity and care. As a performer, improviser, bodyworker, and choreographer, they center the body as the source of information and investigation. Andrea holds a B.F.A. from The Boston Conservatory. Their work has been presented at MELLE’s WIP, Salem Arts Festival, and Big Bang 16 among other platforms. They have been an artist in residence at the Dance Lab at the Boston Center for the Arts, and “Rough Drafts” by Midday Movement Series. Their work has been supported by the Next Steps for Boston Dance and the New England Dance Fund. They have had the honor of interpreting the works of Laila J. Franklin, Ryan Landry/The Gold Dust Orphans, Jessi Stegall, Amelia Estrada, and Jules Paramor. Andrea is a committed practitioner and facilitator of contact improvisation. They have taught regularly at Contact Improv Boston and will be teaching at the Ontario Regional Contact Jam and ARCS Festival in 2026. Andrea recently relocated to Montréal, Canada.

 Alyah Baker (she/her) 

@blackandbrownballet www.alyahbaker.com/dance

Alyah Baker is a dance artist, scholar, and choreographer working at the intersection of art and embodied activism. She is an Assistant Professor of Dance at UNC Charlotte, where her research focuses on queer aesthetics, Black feminist praxis, and community building through dance. Her pedagogical and choreographic research has been featured in local and national media, including Dance Teacher Magazine and the New York Times, and published in The Oxford Handbook of Ballet Pedagogy and Anti-Racism in Ballet Teaching. Baker earned her MFA in Dance(’21) and a B.A. in Sociology (’03) from Duke University. She has trained and performed professionally with companies including Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Oakland Ballet, and Carolina Ballet. The American Dance Festival, Choreography Project, Queering Dance Festival, North Carolina Dance Festival, Elon University, and Oakland Ballet are among the platforms that have featured Baker’s choreographic works. Baker and her company, AB Contemporary Dance, were recipients of the 2023-2024 National Performance Network Creation and Development Fund and have received additional awards from the Kenan Institute of Ethics, the Center for Cultural Innovation, and the North Carolina Arts Council. 

 Wilson Mendieta 

@wilsondances

Wilson Mendieta – Associate Professor at Chapman. Education: MFA in dance from UW; BFA in acting/minor in dance from Montclair State. Performing credits: television, radio, commercials, concert dance and Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals. Choreography: throughout the United States, including The Kennedy Center, and festivals in Colombia and Australia.

Q&A Facilitation by Amber St. James (she/her)

Amber St. James is the African Bearded, death dropping & dipping, cartwheeling, split queen known for her revolutionary activist work in and out of drag and her entertaining high energy performances. She is also the First Ever San Diego Mx. Gay and the first ever Mx. International Pride, both of which being gender neutral titles in the International Imperial Court System and the Imperial Court De San Diego. Outside of performing, Amber has been recognized for her amazing work building and sustaining the drag community at San Diego State University along with many other colleges across Southern California.