SUNGOD

About the Performance:
Sungod (Destiny) is a multi-sensory 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. In this work, Joyce would attempt to combine her Igorot dance culture with her improv, butoh, her kali martial arts stick skills, modern dance and her latin dance training 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 & Creative Team
Created and performed by: Joyce Laoagan
Stage Manager: Sabrina Morabito
PA: Becca Lazar

About the Lead Artist:
Joyce Lao is an Indigenous Filipino-American artist from the Igorot (Ibaloi/Bago) people of the Cordillera region. Based in New York City, she is an actress, performer, producer, director, and arts educator. Trained in psychology, special education, music, arts administration, and dance, she has studied at Juilliard, Stella Adler, and HB Studios. Her award-winning work spans film, theater, and international festivals including Edinburgh Fringe. She founded The Ally Artists Group and The Young Artist, co-created immersive theater projects, and champions Indigenous and POC artists while advancing arts education, social justice, and cultural preservation globally and collaboratively.

About the CWP Evolution Festival
The fifth annual CWP EVOLUTION FESTIVAL presents original works of theater, dance, music, comedy, and interdisciplinary performance by NYC-based artists at venues across Manhattan in June and September 2026. Participants receive free performance & rehearsal space, marketing & technical support, a guaranteed artist fee, performance photography and archival videography, and more! Learn more about the festival and the 20+ other shows on the schedule at www.centeratwestpark.org/evolution-festival-2026