The Center at West Park Presents
Sungod
Presented as a part of the CWP Evolution Festival
Sunday, June 28, 2026 @ 7:00PM
The Sanctuary at St. Paul & St. Andrew
263 W 86th St., New York, NY 10024
Sungod (Destiny) is a multidisciplinary live production weaving Ibaloi and Igorot tradition with global movement forms.
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Sungod (Destiny) is a multidisciplinary live production - a hybrid of film, dance, and music piece that follows Joyce's journey as she reconnects with her indigenous roots and discovers her inner strength. This is her love letter to her Father and to her Igorot community. In this work, Joyce combines her Igorot dance culture with her improv, butoh, traditional Filipino and Austronesian movements, modern dance and her latin dance background to tell the story. This is her attempt to create a piece that would marry all the cultural influences in her upbringing through the colonizations and inter-cultural exchange in the Philippines - Igorot, Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, American and Latin/Spanish.
Cast & Crew
Creator and Performer: Joyce Laoagan
Directed by: Veronica Dang
Stage Manager and Production: Sabrina Morabito
Special Guest Performers and Choreographers: Summer (Xiaoxia) Huang
Cordillera Cultural Ensemble: Gerry Dupingay, Edward Frenzel Yapyapan, MJ Payos, Rex Payos, Franklin Bentayen, Gertrude Albin Ariola, Jasmine Faith
About the Lead Artist
Joyce Lao (Laoagan) is an Indigenous Filipino-American artist of Igorot (Ibaloi/Bago) heritage based in New York City. She is a multidisciplinary performer, director, producer, and arts educator with degrees in Psychology, Special Education, Music, and Arts Administration, and training from Juilliard, Stella Adler, BDC, and HB Studios. She is currently completing her MA in Dance Education at New York University. Her work spans theatre, film, and immersive performance, with projects presented internationally. She is the founder of The Ally Artists Group, co-founder of the First Nations and Indigenous Playwrights and Composers Festival, and a member of the Cordillera Cultural Ensemble, advancing Indigenous representation and storytelling.