5th Annual Loisaida Festival TheaterLab 2018

Co-produced by MEZCOLANZA NYC & Loisaida Inc.

Starting at 12:00 pm on La Plaza Cultural Community Garden

[Read Press Release here!]


The Loisaida Festival’s Theater Lab, a production of Loisaida Inc. with Mezcolanza NYC, returning for the third year to the Plaza Cultural on the SW corner of 9th Street & Avenue C in the East Village as part of the annual Loisaida Festival on Sunday, May 27th. Among the highlights of the program is the New York premiere of ¡Ay María!, a play that explores the post-Maria reality for an isolated group of neighbors in Puerto Rico that must come together after the storm.

The play was initially written to provide catharsis to performer and audience alike following the devastation of Hurricane Maria. In turn, members of Mezcolanza NYC will be among those discussing the role of contemporary theater and performance in post-Maria Puerto Rico as part of a panel discussion organized by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, which will take place days before the festival, on Thursday, May 24th at 6pm.

Loisaida Inc. remains committed to the voices of Puerto Rican playwrights and performers in wake of Hurricane Maria. Following a special one-night only performance of Pateco, el sepulturero by acclaimed Puerto Rican actor Teofilo Torres this past December, the Loisaida Center will again host another timely theatrical work that addresses the aftermath of Hurricane Maria with humor, improvisation, satire, and introspection.

This creative window into the island’s trauma and the resilience of local communities is also an extension of the theme of the annual Loisaida Festival: “Bridging Resurgence: From Sandy to Maria.”


Schedule:


12:00 pm. Fernandito Ferrer / DJ /

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the artist: Fernandito Ferrer is a soulful singer-songwriter of nueva trova and folk fusion from Sabana Grande, PR. This year at Loisaida’s TheaterLab he will be spinning an eclectic mix of reggae, pop and soul to jump start the afternoon. Fernandito is a long time Loisaida contributor and once again we have been fortunate to have him as  TheaterLab’s  stage manager. His services as a stage manager are very underrated as he’s experience spans over 20 years in the industry.


12:25 pm. Julián Garnik / Performance / 2018 Loisaida Theater Lab Emcee

Title: A mis Amigos de la Locura

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the artist: Julián Garnik is an actor and director from Puerto Rico based in New York City. His theatre credits include Jacob in Morning at the Bridge Theatre in Manhattan and El actor tiene permisos part of the III Festival del Monólogo Latinoamericano in Cienfuegos, Cuba. As a director, his short films La Secadora and Tessellation have been screened in several festivals around the world, such as the Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival and the Durham Regional International Film Festival.


12:35 pm. Anthony Rosado / Performance /

Title: Hatuey’s Dream

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the piece:  For the sake of revealing true stories, archiving indigenous & contemporary Caribbean practices, and sharing methods of ancestral commemoration, I will facilitate interviews. As part of the Native Caribbean Heritage Preservation Project, the interviews function to provide future generations with the inherent understanding of where they come from, so they may know who to become. Interviews with historians, contemporary practitioners, and other descendants of Caribbean peoples will be recorded in effort to (1) act as a digital archive with printed transcriptions and (2) portions of each interview will be presented in a solo performance where I embody each interviewee. This form of oratory storytelling descends from Native Caribbean communicative modes of information sharing and is glorified in Hatuey’s Dream.


12:50 pm. Calle Joroba / Clown Theatre /

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the artist: : Calle Joroba es un colectivo de clown teatral, teatro físico, circo y títeres creado por el mimo, teatrero y maestro Luis Oliva en el año 2014. La misión del colectivo es poder exponer a través de estas técnicas temas universales como lo son la creación, la escasez del agua, la contaminación del aire, entre más. Su repertorio de piezas incluyen “Am i Ea” (2015), la primera pieza que estrenó el colectivo en el Circo Fest En el 2015 y “Wata” (2016) también presentada en el Circo Fest, que luego estuvo de gira por diferentes escuelas en Puerto Rico. .


1:15 pm. Casa Cruz de la Luna / Theater /

Title: The Marquis de Sade is Afraid of the Sea (second movement)

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the piece: A re-visitation of the 1918 legendary earthquake in the South West of Puerto Rico; bodies resurrected from the flood; agitation of the masses, and the peaceful violence of quotidian life meet in the staging of this text by Aravind Enrique Adyanthaya. Featuring: Alejandra Morales, Christopher Cancel, Laura Mercedes and Caridad del Valle.


1:35 pm. Teatro 220 / Improv Troupe /

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the artists: Grupo de jóvenes actores latinos que por medio de la improvisación teatral, llevamos comedia, música y entretenimiento para toda la familia. Nuestro fin es llevar alegría, risas e impactar a su audiencia con un mensaje refrescante y positivo. El grupo está compuesto por: Andrés López-Alicea, Gilberto Gabriel, Zuleinette Ralat y Venuz Delmar. Teatro 220, significa que somos ese conducto de 22O voltios de locura por el cual transmitimos alegría y carcajadas a nuestro público.


02:00 pm Mezcolanza NYC Performances 


1. Kairiana Núñez / Performance / 15 min

Title: Chiquita

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the piece: In Chiquitita, Ms. Miller Parachute Woman is a character that moves between ridiculous and reality. Between the joke and the speeches that have us cornered in the dependency.
She is a right-wing military officer. She is a recalcitrant Republican. She repeats neoliberal spiels as if there were critical ideas she owns. The fact is that many military were part of the so-called “Reconstruction” of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. They took over the streets along with the local police. The military returned, as they always return.

En Chiquitita, la Sra. Miller Parachute Woman es un personaje que se mueve entre el ridículo y la realidad. Entre el chiste y los discursos que nos tienen acorralados en la dependencia. Ella es una oficial del ejército de derecha. Ella es una republicana recalcitrante. Ella repite el discurso neoliberal como si tuviera ideas críticas que le pertenecen. El hecho es que muchos militares fueron parte de la llamada “Reconstrucción” de Puerto Rico después del huracán María. Tomaron las calles junto con la policía local. Los militares regresaron, como siempre regresan.

About the artist: Actress taurine and Puerto Rican. Graduated from the Drama Department of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, (2009). She began his career in 1996 with Pedro Santaliz, and later became a founding member of the theater group in the streets Jóvenes del 98 under the direction of Maritza Pérez Otero. Later she continued his training with Puerto Rican teachers and artists Rosa Luisa Márquez, Teresa Hernández, Viveca Vázquez, among others. In Argentina, she trained at Sportivo Teatral with Mirta Bogdasarian and Ricardo Bartís (2011-2013, Buenos Aires), and was part of the Quinto Piso Theater Companies, directed by Daniel Godoy, and El Rizoma Collective (2011-2016, Buenos Aires) . In 2017 she returns to Puerto Rico, where despite the imbalance, she bets on continuing to grow artistically, professionally and ideologically.


2. Karen Langevin / Performance / 15 min

Title: Fortune

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the piece: An interactive whimsical game of chance that uses improvisational movement to foretell. Fortune winks at the futility of our desire to know the future through the unavoidable presence of the body.

Fortuna, Un juego de azar interactivo que usa la improvisación de movimiento como herramienta para predecir. FORTUNA es un guiño a nuestro deseo banal de conocer el futuro, usando la inevitable presencia del cuerpo.
​diseño camisa: ​Zaida Goveo Balmaseda.


3. Luna y Vecky / Musical Performance / 30 min

Title: Luna y Vecky

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the piece:  After having expanded their audience to more than 15 people, Luna and Vecky decide to make a little concert in ​the Loisaida Theater Lab​. Luna and Vecky studied music at Berkley and fuse their music with different musical genres and performance. They use their music to express their darker feelings. They have been depressed for more than 10 years.

Luego de haber expandido su público a más de 15 personas, Luna y Vecky deciden hacer un conciertito en el Loisaida Theater Lab dentro de la Plataforma Mezcolanza​. Luna y Vecky estudiaron música en Berkley y fusionan su música con distintos géneros musicales y performance. Usan su música para expresar sus sentimientos más oscuros. Llevan en depresión más de 10 años.


03:30 pm ¡Ay María!


4. ¡Ay María! / Short Play / 30 min

 

About the piece:   Some neighbors who did not know each other before hurricane Maria, have joined after the catastrophe, to collect debris, share food and rely on their needs. These neighbors are the actors and actresses. Some of the people / characters represented in the piece are taken from the Puerto Rican reality, people / characters that we find in our neighborhoods, urbanizations or towns. We also parody public figures and politicians who through the media have been part of the hurricane experience.

Cast: Mickey Negrón, Mariana Carbonell, José Eugenio Hernández, José Luis Guitierrez, Marisa Gómez
directed by​: Maritza Pérez Otero​

Unos vecinos que no se conocían antes del huracán se unen después de la catástrofe, para recoger escombros, compartir la comida y apoyarse en sus necesidades. Estos vecinos son los actores y actrices. Algunos de las personas/personajes representados en la pieza son sacados de la realidad puertorriqueña, personas/personajes que encontramos en nuestros barrios, urbanizaciones o pueblos. También parodiamos las figuras públicas y los políticos que a través de los medios han sido parte de la experiencia huracanada.

​Elenco: Mickey Negrón, Mariana Carbonell, José Eugenio Hernández, José Luis Guitierrez, Marisa Gómez
Dirección: Martiza Pérez Otero.


5. Mickey Negrón / Performance / 15 min.

Title: Carpeta

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the piece: A look at the process of persecution that the Puerto Rico Nationalist Party experienced in the past and the current crisis.

​U​na mirada al el proceso de persecución que vivió​ el movimiento nacionalista de PR en el pasado y la ​resistencia actual.


6. Paulina Pagán / Performance / 15 min.

Title: Bestias de paraíso 2 – El fuego y la jicotea*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the piece: In honor of my Caribbean grandmothers, especially Levina Wiltshire (1938-2014) In this piece my body becomes a river, a vessel, a bridge between my ancestors, our island ecology, Puerto Rican bomba, its violent history and the joy of dancing. *The jicotea (Trachemys stejnegeri stejnegeri) is the only native Puerto Rican freshwater turtle. The bomba song “El fuego y la jicotea,” composed by Christian Tonos, ignited this creative process.

A mis abuelas caribeñas, en especial a Levina Wiltshire (1938-2014) En esta pieza mi cuerpo funge de río, de nave, de puente entre mis muertas, la ecología isleña, la bomba puertorriqueña, su sangrienta historia y el placer de bailar. *La jicotea (Trachemys stejnegeri stejnegeri) es la única tortuga nativa de agua dulce de Puerto Rico. La canción de bomba “El fuego y la jicotea,” compuesta por Christian Tonos, fue uno de los detonantes de este proceso creativo.


6. Eduardo Alegría and Desmar Guevara / Musical Performance / 30 min.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the artist: Puerto Rican musician and singer-songwriter, developed in theater and experimental dance, improvisation, democracy and politicization of the body. This amalgam of disciplines informs his work. Part of training as an actor he did with the director Maritza Pérez Otero in the political theater. He is an observer of the country and of society.On this occasion he will sing accompanied by Desmar Guevara on the piano.

Músico y cantautor puertorriqueño, desarrollado en el teatro y en la danza experimental, la improvisación, la democracia y politización del cuerpo. Esta amalgama de disciplinas informa su trabajo. Parte de formación como actor lo hizo junto a la directora Maritza Pérez Otero en el teatro político. Se nombra a sí mismo como: un observador del país y de la sociedad.​ En esta ocasión cantará acompañado por Desmar Guevara en el piano.


Mezcolanza NYC


About TheaterLab co-producers:

MEZCOLANZA NYC 2018 – 13th Edition

Mezcolanza is a cultural platform born in 2013 in the city of Buenos Aires produced by Helen Ceballos. It gathers short pieces of artists and multi-disciplinary collectives in order to maintain a live and open stage for the processes and creations of emerging artists in different cities around the world. We aim to erase distances and expose pieces of author, which account for the social reality that is lived in our changing environments. To date, Mezcolanza has hosted over 250 artists among the cities of Buenos Aires, New York and San Juan de Puerto Rico. On this occasion, Mezcolanza visits the city of New York for the third time and celebrates its twelfth edition. We have convened 14 multidisciplinary artists. These artists work in theater, performance, movement, music, improvisation, construction, musical composition, costume making, sculptures, sound and video art. In this edition of the Festival Loisaida and within the framework of the Theater Lab. Mezcolanza presents the urban interventions of 14 outstanding artists from the local and international scene of Puerto Rico, Latin America and the United States, interlacing the scenic discourses of these creative artists with their status as permanent immigrants.


04:35 pm Community Pageant


Loisaida Community / Short Play / 20 min

Photo by: Ryan John Lee

 

About the piece:   The pageant is a large scale outdoor performance, using giant puppets, painted flats, masks, costumes, music and dance performed by and for the community to tell the their own story.


#LoisaidaFest@LoisaidaFest

Sonidos Primarios

Saturday, October 10th

Loisaida Inc and Plenatorium Project present a double feature:

12:30pm

Sonidos Primarios: a hands-on discussion and presentation by artists who produce kid-friendly cultural content featuring an album of traditional Puerto Rican music for children by Viento de Agua, a Grammy Nominated bomba and plena contemporary band dedicated to de production of new music and projects as well as teaching the traditional rhtyms… Bring the kids! $5 suggested donation

Come share with Grammy-nominee and percussion master Tito Matos about the experience and details of recording a kid’s musical record. Tito and his group Viento de Agua have just released a children’s songs record, Sonidos Primarios, and he comes to share the experience and to perform a few of the songs from the record. He will be joined in the discussion by the members of the band Aclopaditos, who have vast experience in teaching and recording for children. Acopladitos will also perform a few songs for the enjoyment of all. Bring your little ones!

Following the presentation:
2:30pm

‘The New Latinos’ – screening and guided discussion featuring Tito Matos and Tato Torres.

Join us in the viewing of ‘The New Latinos’, episode 4 of The Latino Americans documentary series. This 60 minutes episode, that dwells on the experience of the Caribbean migration (Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican) to the United States, will be followed by a hands-on-drums one hour discussion reflecting on the musical aspects of these diasporic groups; the discussion will specifically revolve around the preservation, innovations, and hybridization of the musical traditions of these three groups after their arrival to the continental United States. The hands-on-drums discussion will be led by Grammy Award nominee, the maestro Tito Matos, and Tato Torres, founder, singer and leader of the group YERBABUENA. This viewing and talk are part of the Loisaida, Inc. Center’s Plenatorium Project initiative and part of the American Library Association/NEH Grant The Latino Americans, LA500.

Sponsored by The National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association with Acopladitos and Viento de Agua

Introduction to Primo Drum

Rafael Maya - Primo Drum Workshop

Click on promotion above to purchase tickets for this workshop.

Loisaida Inc. logo

 THE LOISAIDA CENTER IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE:

In partnership with Afro-Inspira and Proyecto Unión


INTRODUCTION TO PRIMO DRUM

With Master Bomba drum percussionist Rafael Maya

 (Dance interpretation and Improvisational language)


Workshop description:

This workshop will be about dance interpretation using the language and drum of Puerto Rico’s Bomba. We will be discussing what is needed in preparing for your quest into primo drum playing and will be going over basic variations and language used during improvisation. We will also be diving in hands on with examples of different forms of looking at interpreting dance. Finalizing with ways of adding your own individuality and energy to the equation. Join the Bomba community through movement and song!!!

Bring your own drum/conga/djembe

Requirements: Basic knowledge of Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba rhythms a plus! No one will be turn away for lack of skills.

Saturday October 25th, 2014 3:30pm to 5pm
Cost: $15
Residents of the Lower East Side $10
Djembes for rent $ 5.00 (first come first serve)


 

Bio:
Rafael Maya Alvarez was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. He is the founder and director of Desde Cero and founder and director of Proyecto Union. Rafael also has participated in Bomba groups such as Majestad Negra(Member and Coreographer), Compania Folklorica De Loiza, Restauracion Cultural(VP, Co-Director), Tambuye, Tendencias(Co-Director), Carabali, Sabor a Bomba, Fiesta Bombera, Son de Plena, y Bomba Tour. Rafael is currently teaching with the project Gigantes de la Bomba who offers classes twice a week in the Plaza de Recreo of Carolina and to schools in the Municipality of Carolina. Rafael has participated as an instructor in programs such as “Vida Plena”, “Head Start,” “Upward Bound”, “Taller Fotoperiodismo”, “Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena”, “Program of continued education”, “Early Start” and “Bomba de Oro”. Rafael also gives bilingual Bomba workshops for the Univeristy of Puerto Rico’s(Rio Piedras campus) exchange student program and is currently giving class in The U.N.E. University(Carolina). He was invited and gave his latest Master Class in Berkeley College of Music in Valencia, Spain. For several years he was one of the dance and percussion instructors for the Corporacion Pinones se Integra in Loiza an also for Arthur Murray Dance Studio is Santurce. Rafael has travelled to numerous countries providing lectures and performing, because for Rafael, the most important element in his work is cultural education.