Key Takeaways
- The “Still Here Live Experience” is adding stops in Louisiana and Georgia as part of its ongoing Southern run.
- The production transforms hair salons into community storytelling spaces that address HIV stigma through performance, music, and visual art.
- CDC data cited in the announcement shows Black women accounted for 50 percent of U.S. HIV diagnoses among women in 2023, despite making up 13 percent of the female population.
WACO Theater Center continued its Southern tour of the “Still Here Live Experience” with a stop in Louisiana and upcoming dates in Georgia.
The immersive production, which centers Black women living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, visited B. Jolie Hair Salon in Baton Rouge from June 3-8 and is set for Buckhead Art & Company in Atlanta from June 17-21.
Supported by grant funding from Gilead Sciences, Inc., the “Still Here Live Experience” uses performance, music, and visual art to address HIV stigma and create space for conversation. The project turns the hair salon into a storytelling environment, leaning into the role that salons have long played as places of trust, connection, and cultural exchange among Black women.
The experience unfolds in two parts: An interactive installation and a live act. The installation features commissioned works built into salon fixtures such as hair dryers and shampoo bowls, with contributions from Emmy Award-winning producer Ashlei Dabney-Griffin, visual artist YoYo Lander, and Tony Award-winning wig designer Nikiya Mathis.
Among the gallery pieces is “More to Me,” a wig sculpture installation by Mathis and Amber Nicole inspired by Black women who lived with HIV/AIDS and have since passed away. “The Basin: Stream Rituals” uses a shampoo-bowl setting to explore Black women’s responses to diagnosis and care through dance video. Another installation, “Who Said That?,” invites visitors to sit under a hair dryer and listen to real social media comments that reflect both stigma and support around HIV/AIDS.
The live performance features Marinda Anderson, Neverending Nina, Milan Reneau, Jude Tibeau, and Akilah A. Walker, with movement direction by Roxi Victorian. Creative Directors williambryantmiles and Nickolas Vaughan conceived, developed, and produced the experience, which blends the aforementioned mediums into a 360-degree presentation.
According to the announcement, CDC data shows that Black women accounted for 50 percent of HIV diagnoses among women in the U.S. in 2023, while making up 13 percent of the female population. It also states that Black women were diagnosed with HIV at 11 times the rate of white non-Hispanic women.
In Baton Rouge, the June run began with a gallery-only viewing on June 3, followed by a launch night tied to B. Jolie Salon’s grand opening on June 4. Atlanta’s schedule includes a premiere and VIP reception on June 17, Emory COMPASS Day on June 18, Juneteenth gallery viewing hours on June 19, HBCU Night on June 20, and a post-show talkback centered on Black men supporting Black women on June 21.
Behind the larger “Still Here” initiative
The Southern tour builds on WACO Theater Center’s broader “Still Here” initiative. Earlier this year, the organization released Still Here Magazine, a 168-page editorial volume produced with support from Gilead Sciences, Inc. The magazine highlights the stories, resilience, and lived experiences of Black women impacted by HIV, either directly or through their families and communities. The “Still Here Live Experience” premiered in September 2025 at Dreamgirls Hair Salon in Los Angeles, where it ran for nine performances and reached more than 450 attendees.
WACO is led by Artistic Director Tina Knowles and Executive Director Shay Wafer. The Los Angeles-based performing and visual arts organization is dedicated to creating platforms for artists of the African Diaspora and supporting young people through year-round mentorship programs.