Thanking and Honoring Loco Bloco Co-Founder, Jose Carrasco

In its 28th year, thanks to many community members, especially Jose Carrasco, Loco Bloco has gone through many transformations, celebrating cultural arts and supporting young artists to flourish in their craft. Most recently being recognized at SF Carnaval as a 1st place winner in the 2022 Parade, and earning The Ellen Magnin Newman Award from the SF Symphony in spring 2021.

Jose Carrasco dancing in the streets of San Francisco in 2022’s SF Carnaval 

(photo source: William Jenkins from Mission Local)

We want honor and thank Jose for all his decades of hard work and dedication to Loco Bloco, as he transitions out of this formal role as Artistic Director. 

Looking Back: Jose Carrasco

Jose spent most of his childhood and youth in Louisiana and marveled at the grandeur of Mardi Gras. Soon after moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1980’s Jose was introduced to San Francisco Carnaval while working on social justice.

In 1994, he joined efforts with Karla Castillo, creating cultural arts programming for youth, which soon blossomed into Loco Bloco. Together with other community based artists and members Heather Watkins, Tanya Mayo, Patricia Ovando, Abdi Jibril, Eric Norberg and many others, Jose continued to create the now legacy of Bay Area Afro-Latinx youth culture. 

In a short time, Loco Bloco grew into an emblem of youth power through music and dance in the Bay Area, performing not only in protest marches for social justice, but also on stages with internationally acclaimed artists, like Tito Puente Jr. and John Santos. Loco Bloco being youth led, they became leaders in the composition of dance and music, infusing hip-hop rhythms into the instrumentation.

Jose Carrasco is pictured above in a red kangol bucket hat as Loco Bloco leads a performance in Vieques, Puerto Rico. (photo source: Loco Bloco Concilio Facebook) 

Loco Bloco: Artistic Reimagination 

Rather than shutting down programming, Loco Bloco found ways to thrive during the pandemic and meet the needs of isolated youth and families to practice cultural arts while maintaining physical and mental wellness. Rehearsals were moved to parks for two key performances, Carnaval and ReclaMisión (Dia de los Muertos), which were staged safely in outdoor settings traveling to a variety of San Francisco neighborhoods.

Loco Bloco met the community where they were at, reminding them that art could heal. The performances were received enthusiastically by audiences, who were invited to enter a world outside isolation and connect. Jose’s vision continued, always including and imagining a world beyond the barriers that weigh communities of color down. 

Transitioning to New Artistic Leadership

A new generation of veteran Loco Bloco artistic leaders have emerged, creating the most recent Carnaval “Rebirth” (and 1st place winner) artistic production: 

  • Mayela Carrasco, Lead Choreographer, Costume Design and Production and Artistic Direction

  • Kai Lyons, Lead Musical Composer

  • Ahkeel Mestayer, Bateria Director

  • Akemi Smoot, Choreographer

We thank Jose for all his love and hard work in Loco Bloco, especially as we say goodbye to him as the Artistic Director. We look forward to the trailblazing and innovating artistic productions that will surface under the new artistic leaders.

❤️Gracias de todo corazón, Jose ❤️ 




Jamestown