Sonnier Francisco

I am so incredibly proud of Parangal Dance Company, and the people who have been bringing Parangal's mission and vision to life and practice. Ten years after joining Parangal as a performer and life student, I'm honored and humbled to join the Board of Directors to give back - to give my best to lift up, to provide resources for, and to help sustain our program, so that we can continue to provide safe spaces for growth, learning, teaching, advocacy, and telling our stories.

I joined Parangal in 2014, at a time when I was feeling burnt out at work and craving community involvement. It was shortly after a trip to Mexico, where I watched a moving, captivating performance of the Ballet Folklórico de México at the Palacio de las Bellas Artes in Mexico City, that I reached out to Parangal Dance Company via an interest form on their website. To my surprise, I instantly received a response in my inbox from Creative Director, Eric Solano, inviting me to participate in the next workshop in a few days. Eric's spirit of inclusivity, kindness, and authenticity in my first interaction with him still stays with me and inspires me everyday.

Walking nervously into the dance studio, I saw faces new to me, laser-focused on preparations for auditions in the upcoming San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. I was coming in with minimal dance experience - it had been 15 years since I had practiced any Pilipino dance, the last time having been at UC San Diego's Pilipino Culutral Celebration when I learned and performed Sakuting and Binanogbanog dances in undergrad. Regardless, everyone I met there in the studio assured me that I was welcome, and in the right place. Thank you, Marlon, Dio-Ann, Vanessa, Don, Marisa, Mariflor, Tita O, Eric and the many others I met that first day who made sure I felt welcome and seen, and made sure I came back in the weeks and years to follow. With patience, practice, and encouragement, I got more comfortable with movements and placement in Tausug Bunga Lima, Kalinga, Ga'dang, T'Boli and more. I continue to be awestruck by the talent and artistry that Parangal showcases, while demonstrating that we all have the innate ability to achieve it, regardless of where we start in skill level and circumstance.

In my time with Parangal Dance Company, I've gained lifelong friendships, mentorship, confidence, invaluable education, and discipline. I encourage everyone to find spaces, networks and people that resonate with you, and to always peel back the layers to look into the "why" we do what we do. Meaningfulness, joy, and connection live within these spaces and deserve our time and attention.

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Sonnier Francisco
he/his/him
Sonnier is second generation Filipino-American, with roots in Rosario-Salinas, Cavite, and San Narciso, Zambales. While he currently resides in San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area will always be his second home, having lived in the East Bay for many years. Sonnier is an environmental scientist for Caltrans, ensuring environmental compliance and environmental protections for vegetation management and wildfire fuels reduction projects for California State Highways. He is also a Secretary of the Interior-professionally qualified architectural historian, with over 10 years of experience in historic preservation work, a Master of Architecture degree from Cal Poly Pomona, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Structural Engineering from UC San Diego. His Masters Thesis on Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles explored the history of Filipino American placemaking, and featured the design of a performing arts center that incorporated elements of light, translucency, and textile patterning. He is a devoted dog, fish, and plant dad; a family caretaker; a loving partner to Damian, and a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community. In addition to dance, he enjoys hikes, travel, tide pools, cooking, painting, drawing, making jewelry, gardening, aquascape, and building live terrariums and paludariums