About OX
OX was founded in 2008 by Cornelius.
OX keeps the world queer commissioning experimental performance centering queer and trans voices across race and gender expression. OX builds bridges between genres, artists, and professional networks within drag and choreographic contexts. OX’s core values – experimentation, collaboration, and a thriving Queer arts community – directs us toward work that is artistically rigorous, engaged with community and and widely accessible.
OX produces large-cast live theater events, participates in group shows, and co-curates evening-length performances using queer modalities such as drag, nightlife entertainment and go-go performance as a point of departure. OX presses against the edges of genres, complicates the "work" of creating, and questions assumptions about what performance is, can be and produces.
With the aim of building artistic exchange between San Francisco and larger performance OX has been building international professional and artistic connections to European performance scenes and stages, since 2013.
Our Mission
OX is dedicated to enriching SF’s queer art landscape through commissioning interdisciplinary and experimental performance work that amplifies queer/trans voices across race and gender expressions. Our mission is to create and grow a sustainable ecology of artists, genres, performances, education, and professional networks centering drag and choreographic experimentation. We curate and produce unique theatrical events guided by our values: rigorous artistry, community engagement, and accessibility to all. With 15+ years in the SF drag and contemporary dance scenes, combined with a decade of presence in European contemporary dance, we bring both experimentation and experience to the SF landscape.
History & Legacy
OX continues a 15-year legacy of creating platforms for systematically under-resourced/excluded artists to make art for living wages. Throughout the many iterations of the WorkMORE! series, OX has responded to the needs expressed by our drag family members and wider queer communities. With ongoing initiatives to better reflect our audiences in our programming, we center the work of QTBIPOC, GNC, and trans artists. OX is proud to continue producing an event roster with a strong majority of artists, technicians, and administrators who share in these identities.
Since the pandemic shutdowns, new community needs have arisen, especially for younger artists and artists with disabilities. Younger artists face a real scarcity in mentorship, opportunities, and production resources. In response, OX has increased programming that focuses on intergenerational skill-sharing, artist development, and early-career performance opportunities. The Show (2024) is an example of this, with the finale showcasing a newly-developed aerial work by Major Hammy, for which OX provided extra production budget to cover the materials and mentorship from Joanna Haigood of Zaccho Dance Theatre. Forever will continue this initiative by creating mentorship opportunities for younger performers.