Loisaida Inc.

Tale 53;Snowhite
2017-11-17 20:00 - 21:00 UTC | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Loisaida Inc. & Maskhunt Motions proudly present:
Tale 53;Snowhite
with: Deborah Hunt & Shanti Lalita

Tale 53; Snowhite is a sinister story told inside an intriguing wooden artefact that houses a toy theatre (with two- dimentional painted puppets moving on tracks), objects, a kamishibai (for backdrop changes) and a cranky or moving panorama. It is based on “Snowhite”, the creation of reknowned Spanish author and illustrator Ana Juan.
Deborah Hunt, (theatre maker, maskbuilder and operator, puppeteer, teacher and autor) has adapted and directed the tale and manipulates the puppets and backdrops. Shanti Lalita, (cellist, poet and performer) is the composer and live musician.
Far from the disneyesque version of Snow White, our tale relates the life of a young woman who falls prey to a blood thirsty stepmother, an hostile city, hustling dwarves and a rapacious prince. Based on the original story Tale 53 (The Little Snow White) of the Grimm Brothers published in 1812, the story of Ana Juan offers a biting and pertinent stare at the situation of women still relevant to our times. Justaposed with the beauty of the puppets, objects and painted backdrops, Tale 53;Snowhite promises a unique theatrical experience.
Toy theatre is a kind of theatre in miniature that flourished in the 19th century in Europe. The small theatres, scenery, backdrops and characters were printed on paper, painted and cutout and the stories were presented in the salas and drawing rooms of private houses, often accompanied with live music.
Hunt has presented the work in Puerto Rico (San German and San Juan) at the Odin Teatret in Denmark and now in New York. It will be presented at the Festival Internacional de Títeres de Matanzas en Cuba in 2018. Additionally I can offer a daylong workshop using the artefact of the show (toy theatre, kamishibai, cranky) as a point of departure. Participants work in groups creating short stories using these techniques.

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Fantasy Island: Exhibition Closing
2017-11-18 18:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
For Shey Rivera Ríos and Huáscar Robles, Hurricane María is an atmospheric manifestation compounded by the fiscal crisis troubling Puerto Rico’s urban landscape. The installation and performance Fantasy Island is an experience that explores how tourism and consumer culture sell a “fantastical” luxury lifestyle, a tropical paradise twisting crisis into “opportunity”. A door opens into a real estate office selling dreams of luxury and reconstruction and the viewer delves into a dizzying spell of animated gifs, performance and altars.
For Fantasy Island, Rivera transformed Loisaida’s space into a real estate office surrounded by a black and white grid that envelops visitors while monitors flash GIFs that borrow aesthetics from the vaporwave movement. In one image, a hand waves a wad of cash to a “Puerto Rico” neon sign while icons of the Virgin Mary and a ram, both cultural symbols of Puerto Rico’s syncretism and colonial history, spin in an enticing, dizzying spell. Viewers are also inspired to reflect on how natural disasters such as the path of hurricanes affecting not only Puerto Rico but also our Caribbean neighbors maybe twisted into “opportunity” after the crisis subsides.
For the Loisaida Center, a cultural enterprise with deep roots in the Nuyorican and Latinx New York community, Fantasy Island stretches the island to New York and its Puerto Rican and Caribbean diaspora as it hits common issues they all grapple with.
The opening reception will include a special performance.
Throughout the fall, and beyond, the Loisaida Inc. Center’s programming will provide opportunities to pledge support to the relief and recovery efforts in the Caribbean.

Teófilo Torres es: Pateco en Loisaida
2017-12-28 20:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Thespian Maestro, TEOFILO TORRES, performs about post-hurricane María crisis in specially commissioned X-mas show. One night only @ LOISAIDA CENTER.

NEW YORK, NY, DECEMBER 15, 2017 – Puerto Rico’s most treasured monologist, Teófilo Torres, whose acting career spans over 40 years ––will perform at Loisaida Cultural Center on December 28th with his new creation: Pateco el Sepulturero (Pateco the Gravedigger).
Pateco’s character is borrowed from an old Puerto Rican folk tale. Legend has it that in 1899, after the deathly devastation of hurricane San Ciriaco, so many people died in the island -both during and in the hurricane’s aftermath- that dead bodies were left piling up at the gate of a local cemetery. The gravedigger was called Pateco, it is said. From then on, after someone has passed away, the people in the island have been known to say that ‘Pateco took them under’, ‘a fulano se lo llevó Pateco’.

Torres’ take on Pateco comes back to life in 2017, this time after hurricane María devastated Puerto Rico, to take to the grave those “dead bodies” and zombies now piling up all over the island. Torres’ Pateco character is portrayed as a half-drunk, half-political pundit, that has found a new devotion to singing jíbaro folk music “Décimas”. He is a jokester, however a complicated character that takes a swing at killing us (the audience) softly with his rhymes, and makes us aware of the current political and fiscal crisis facing the Caribbean island.
You can find more information online at loisaida.org/events
Loisaida Inc. has produced many performances throughout this year, some that recasts the current fiscal crisis of Puerto Rico, and more recently others hosting visual artists, musicians and academics interpreting through their work the impact on Puerto Rican communities in the wake of the 2017 hurricane season. Loisaida keeps the creative diaspora stemming from the Caribbean island to present a forward-looking merger of eco-urbanism and art-based community making.

Teófilo Torres (born 6 March 1954 in Ponce, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican actor, director and professor of theatre. He has acted for both television as well the big screen, and has performed in Puerto Rico and internationally.

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Teófilo Torres (born 6 March 1954 in Ponce, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican actor, director and professor of theatre. He has acted for both television as well the big screen, and has performed in Puerto Rico and internationally.

ReconstruirMX@Loisaida
2018-01-13 19:00 - 22:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Please join us on January 13th, 2018 for a night of music, dance, tamales and the celebration of the artistic spirit in the rebuilding efforts of communities impacted by the 2017 earthquakes in Mexico. Performances by Sandra Soto Silva, The Josh Craig and more.
In November of 2017 an art benefit was held at 41 Cooper Gallery for communities devastated by earthquakes in Mexico. Through the raffling of over 100 artworks generously donated by local and international artists we were able to fundraise $13,000 USD in support of the relief and rebuilding efforts of the artist collective Los Carpintruenos, the Museo Comunitario del Valle de Xico, and Centro Cultural Bacaanda.
While we began organizing partly due to our familial ties to Mexico and with the intention of making a gesture of support and camaraderie across borders, these efforts have been an urgent reminder to connect with international artistic communities; the need to stay connected, share stories and ideas, and cultivate long lasting relationships that transcend locality and lived experiences.
In December we visited Los Carpintruenos and the Museo Comunitario del Valle de Xico, whose work and energy is truly impressive and inspiring. The purpose of the upcoming event at Loisaida is to share the stories of these artistic communities and their impassioned work as well thank our extended NYC community for their ongoing support.

Los Carpintruenos, whose name combines carpinteros (carpenters) and truenos (thunder), is a group of seven volunteers whose mission is to generate effective, quick, and direct aid in the construction of houses and temporary refuges in both a long- and short-term capacity to regions affected by the earthquake. Los Carpintruenos met while assisting with carpentry, demolition, reconstruction, and rescue work in the area around calle de Gabriel Mancera, Mexico City’s post-earthquake “ground zero”. Buoyed by a sense of purposeful collective energy, they decided to stay in touch as they continued to assist with rebuilding efforts throughout the capital. More recently, they have expand their work beyond Mexico City, transporting supplies to the towns of Jojutla and El Jicarero in the state of Morelos and to this date successfully built 16 wooden houses for individuals and families left homeless.
Museo Comunitario del Valle de Xico located in Valle de Chalco, on the outskirts of Mexico City, the Museo Comunitario del Valle de Xico was built on an ex-hacienda dating to 1529. The Museum now houses an impressive collection of pre-Columbian objects and safeguards the archaeological remains of the Valle de Xico. In response to the earthquake, the museum has partnered with organizations in the region to deliver supplies directly to affected populations. To date, they have sent out three brigades and with our support they are now establishing medical outposts to assist those with medical needs.
Centro Cultural Bacaanda is a project founded by the Visual Artist Cristian Pineda Flores in May of 2006 in Juchitán of Saragossa, Oaxaca. It is an artistic proposal that unites the efforts and ideas of artists in diverse disciplines to create dynamics of exchange, formation, contemporary artistic production and cultural diffusion in the state of Oaxaca, especially in the region of the Isthmus. After the September 7 earthquake—which destroyed hundreds of houses in Juchitán—architects, engineers, people dedicated to the field of construction with experience, organized to support those that lost their homes and everything there.

Book Talk: Street Gangs of the Lower East Side
2018-01-16 18:30 - 20:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Details
With “The Street Gangs of the Lower East Side,” Jose Cochise
Quiles and Clayton Patterson provide a brutally honest, self-reflective and moving account of one person’s struggle to break the cycle of violence and poverty since birth through creativity and compassion for others in the East Village / Lower East Side. Quiles pulls no punches about the experiences that took him from gang leader to an historian of gangs, artist, and author who creates with a joyous yet desperate edge, for the sake of sheer survival.
Free with Registration
Co-sponsored by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and Loisaida Inc.
Books for sale and signing following the program.
This event is fully accessible.

Soul of a City - Exhibition Ongoing
2018-01-19 18:00 - 2018-03-18 20:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Katharine Wright, in conjunction with neighborhood photographer, Ryan John Lee have curated an auction wall to benefit the initiatives of Loisaida Inc. The wall showcases local and international artists, emergent and established artists, all representations of the DIY, immigrant ethos here in Loisaida. Check out the artwork below.

Silent Auction Now Live!

Loisaida Inc. is proud to present Ryan John Lee. Contact us to view exhibition by appointment. Lee is a photographer/filmmaker based in New York City. He is a longtime resident of the Lower East Side. The soul of a city is manifested through its inhabitants: the newspaper sellers, subway riders, pavement pounders, and window shoppers. These seemingly banal routines and daily chores are what feed a city’s energy and identity. Soul of a City represents a collection of these everyday moments I’ve been fortunate enough to capture. Some are humorous or touching, while others are heartbreaking. In these photographs, I’ve aimed to transform the ordinary into something more magical and highlight the calm within the chaos of the urban landscape.

ECOLOGICAL CITY - CREATIVE CLIMATE ACTION PUBLIC PLANNING MEETING
2018-02-07 18:00 - 20:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
ECOLOGICAL CITY – CREATIVE CLIMATE ACTION PUBLIC PLANNING MEETING
Wednesday February 7th @ 6:30 pm
@ Loisaida Inc. Center – 710 East 9th Street btw. Aves. C & D

Loisaida Inc. Center’s 2018 Artists in Residence; Earth Celebrations engages the Lower East Side community through: ECOLOGICAL CITIES, a theatrical pageant and environmental action project to co-develop and bring together climate resiliency and ecological sustainability plans within the gardens, neighborhood and waterfront of the Lower East Side of New York City, and highlight its contribution to the city and address global climate challenges.

View Calendar and Register Today for the FREE Community Workshops.

Ecological Arts Puppet Workshops
2018-02-24 12:00 - 16:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Puppet Workshops with artist: Lucrecia Novoa
1st Session
Saturday, February 21st, 2018

Join us and take action on climate!
Participate in Earth Celebrations’ ECOLOGICAL CITY in partnership with Loisaida Inc. Center, LUNGS Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens and over 20 community partners.
Ecological City engages the Lower East Side community through creative strategies co-creating a theatrical pageant and environmental action project to develop and bring together climate resiliency and ecological sustainability plans within the gardens, neighborhood and waterfront of the Lower East Side of New York City, and its contribution to city and global climate challenges.
PUPPET & COSTUME WORKSHOPS:
Costumes: Every Wednesday starting February 21 from 6-9pm
Puppet: Every Saturday starting February 24 from 12-4pm
@ Loisaida Center 701 East 9th St. (Bet. Aves. C & D)
ECOLOGICAL CITY PAGEANT
Saturday May 12th, 2018

Sign up to participate.

El Semillero Benefit Event
2018-02-27 18:30 - 21:30 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Tuesday, February 27th 2018 – 6:30 pm
Doors open at 6:00 pm – Loisaida Inc. 710 East 9th Street New York, NY 10009

El Semillero
El Semillero is what we call the new 2018 Media & Technology component at the Loisaida Inc. Center. It is an idea-activator, a makerspace for creative cross-training, prototyping, and multi-disciplinary collaboration. The community can make use of our low and high-tech equipment and facilities in addition to the roster of workshops we’re offering for personal and professional development.
Creativity and its profound effect on our own well-being and that of the world are bound together. Therefore, art, culture, fulfillment, and productivity are interdependent. We believe that neighborhoods should act as their own cultural developers and sustainable economic engines. El Semillero is a space for our youth and elders, mentors and mentees, artists and scholars, experts and beginners. We welcome students, young professionals, local entrepreneurs, parents, and grandparents. We’re building an accessible idea incubator where all Loisaida community members can come together to dream, collaborate, and create. El Semillero is for our future-makers.

Loisaida has survived these past 38 years because of the support of the community. In this, our first ever fundraising campaign, we’re asking you to invest in El Semillero, our programs, and projects that support the resilience of our Latinx community footprint and legacy.

Purchase tickets to event:

How many tickets?

1 $50.00 USD2 $100.00 USD3 $150.00 USD4 $200.00 USD

Artist Level Perks
We are here for you! As an artist-level contributor, you can gain access to the fundraiser celebration, enjoy libations and eats from local vendors, and exercise your right to party to the sounds of D’Marquesina.

How many tickets?

1 $150.00 USD2 $300.00 USD3 $450.00 USD

Seedling Level Perks
Make us grow! Dig in at the seedling level and your contribution gives you all of the “Artist” level benefits, plus a signed limited edition print by artist Adrián “Viajero” Román.

How many tickets?

1 $250.00 USD2 $500.00 USD3 $750.00 USD

Germinator Level Perks
You are truly making us blossom! At this level, recieve all of the “Artist” level benefits, plus the first six Germinators get a pair of tickets to their choice of either Shakespeare in the Park’s Othello, Twelfth Night, or The Public’s run of Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Miss You Like Hell. All other Germinators will receive an autographed print by photographer Máximo Rafael Colón.

Silent Auction Now Live!

EVENT HONOREES:

* After completing the PayPal/Credit/Debit card transaction to purchase tickets above, depending on pledge level, further instructions and information will be provided. Please note that no tickets will be mailed. You will receive confirmation that your contribution has been received. If you have questions about making a credit card donation, please contact or email us. If you are interested in Sponsorship Opportunities at the Presenting level or for any other questions, please fill out contact form below:

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Help us build this future by donating to our campaign and keep Loisaida thriving!

Ecological Arts Costume Workshops
2018-02-28 18:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Costume Workshop with artist: Michele Brody
1st Session
Wednesday, February 28th, 2018

Join us and take action on climate!
Participate in Earth Celebrations’ ECOLOGICAL CITY in partnership with Loisaida Inc. Center, LUNGS Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens and over 20 community partners.
Ecological City engages the Lower East Side community through creative strategies co-creating a theatrical pageant and environmental action project to develop and bring together climate resiliency and ecological sustainability plans within the gardens, neighborhood and waterfront of the Lower East Side of New York City, and its contribution to city and global climate challenges.
PUPPET & COSTUME WORKSHOPS:
Costumes: Every Wednesday starting February 28 from 6-9pm
Puppet: Every Saturday starting February 24 from 12-4pm
@ Loisaida Center 701 East 9th St. (Bet. Aves. C & D)
ECOLOGICAL CITY PAGEANT
Saturday May 12th, 2018

Sign up to participate.

Noche de Bohemia with Joe Louis
2018-03-02 19:30 - 21:30 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Joe Louis returns with his experimental bohemia to NYC from PR. Come and enjoy a night full of stories to wait for the end of the world and face it. Come to love and be loved with music and vocal improvisation. Swimming in the “Río Piedras” had never been so far away. (https://soundcloud.com/user-553207317/rio-piedras-vol-1-joe-louis-y-los-bohemios)
Joe Louis regresa con su bohemia experimental a la ciudad de Nueva York. Vengan a disfrutar una noche llena de historias para esperar el fin del mundo y afrontarlo. Vengan a amar y ser amados con la música e improvisación vocal. Nadar en el “Río Piedras” nunca había estado tan lejos. ( https://soundcloud.com/user-553207317/rio-piedras-vol-1-joe-louis-y-los-bohemios)
Check out the presentation if you missed it:

Sponsored by Integra Managed Health Plans

The Native Caribbean Heritage Preservation Project - Exhibition
2018-03-23 18:30 - 2018-03-30 20:30 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
2018 Loisaida Artistic Residency Recipient, Anthony Rosado presents:

The Native Caribbean Heritage Preservation Project – Exhibition
Friday, March 23 from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm through Friday March 30, 2018

Exhibition Description:
Ní’Tiñao means “relative; friend; progenitor” in Kalinago, and is eponymous with the Taíno peoples of the Caribbean. Rosado’s work focuses on historical, indigenous Caribbean definitions of identity and the influence of their values, spirituality, horticulture, and language today, as well as our relation to these definitions right here in Loisaida.
Rosado’s exhibition aims to refute euro-colonial claims that the Ní’Tiñao were a divided peoples who went extinct. Via art and storytelling, we exist.
Objective:
In effort to honor Arawak Tainx ancestors of the Caribbean while providing their scions with the legitimacy and empowerment of cultural identity, The Testourmonials Project will research, draft, and present an Arawak Tainx Heritage Day that intends on one day being celebrated annually and internationally. As Founder and Artistic Director of The Testourmonials Project I will develop a campaign and build a case to support city-wide, national, and international commemoration of the Arawak Tainx Heritage.
Visitors of my Open Studio Residency will have access to traditional and modern practices cultivated by Arawak Tainx ancestry. Through partnership with The Loisaida Center, the “Arawak Tainx Heritage Day” will ensure unity and mobility for intersectional needs of Tainx progenies. Unity will be present during a hands-on workshop, community discussion, performance showing, and exhibition. The intersectional needs of Tainx descendants will be revealed via interviews with revolutionaries actively preserving the Arawak Tainx culture. Your participation on this journey, which will continue long after the Residency’s end, is the vital mobility produced from our advocacy against erasure of Arawak Tainx traditions.
The project aims to research, archive, and memorialize the herstory, history, principles, spirituality, practices, and core values of the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. Following research, the “Tainx Heritage Day – Celebration Model” will be drafted. This model will be shared with organizations indigenous to the Arawak Tainx peoples via online survey and interviews, as well as the aforementioned workshop and community discussion. The model will consequently be redrafted considering review by active members of the Arawak Tainx community and their modern day practices. Once the model is complete, a proposal will be drafted and campaign launched to consider the “Arawak Tainx Heritage Day” an annual city-wide, then state-wide, thereafter country-wide, and finally internationally recognized holiday. The holiday will be presented during Summer 2018 via promotion during events, workshops, festivals, and more hosted by organizations who supported the holiday’s culmination.

The Testourmonials Project will host an exhibition at Loisaida Inc. Center opening Monday, March 26 – 30, 2018. The exhibition will be relaying information, sources, reflections, visual art, commissioned photography, and an installation to share the research.

About Anthony Rosado:

Fabric Yarn Workshop
2018-04-17 18:00 - 21:30 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Description
Learn how to recycle fabrics and clothing into a fun material that can be used for
knitting, weaving, crocheting and many other crafts.
Details
Workshop Duration: 1-2 hours
Cost: FREE
Languages: English and Spanish
Level: No previous knowledge required
Dates: April 17th, 2018 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm
For participants to bring:
• Unused fabrics, Old/Stained T-shirts and/or clothing that you are willing to let go of/cut
up and transform
About Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda
Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda is a fiber artist whose work serves as a hands-on
manifesto of the symbiotic relationship we can have with our surroundings. She makes
slowly and mindfully, using local/organic fibers, recycled or found materials, and natural
dyes. These materials are transformed through traditional craft techniques she
respectfully re-contextualizes. Her practice weaves together fiber-art, soft sculpture, material rescue, and
contemplative performance. Zaida Adriana advocates the slow, ethical and hand-made through talks and workshops
at places like Duduá, Manufacture NY, Slow Fashion Spain/Ethical Fashion Academy,
Eileen Fisher, Bloomingdales, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art. She serves as the
Country Coordinator of the Fashion Revolution movement in Puerto Rico.

Restoring the heart of Ni'Tiñao - Exhibition Closing
2018-04-20 19:00 - 22:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Please join us for the closing reception of Restoring the Heart of Ni’Tiñao!
A part of: The Native Caribbean Heritage Preservation Project & Exhibition.

Ní’Tiñao means “relative; friend; progenitor” in Kalinago, and is eponymous with the Taíno peoples of the Caribbean. Loisaida Inc.’s artist-in-residence, Anthony Rosado’s, work focuses on historical, indigenous Caribbean definitions of identity and the influence of their values, spirituality, horticulture, and language today, as well as our relation to these definitions right here in Loisaida. His exhibition aims to refute eurocolonial claims that the Ní’Tiñao were a divided peoples who went extinct. Via art and storytelling, We Exist, he tells us.Objective:
In effort to honor Indigenous Caribbean ancestors while providing their descendants with the legitimacy and empowerment of cultural identity, The Testourmonials Project will research, draft, and present an Indigena Caribe Heritage Day that intends on one day being celebrated internationally. As Founder and Artistic Director of The Testourmonials Project, Rosado will develop a campaign and build a case to support city-wide, national, and international celebration of Caribbean Heritage.
The project aims to research, archive, and memorialize the herstory, history, principles, spirituality, practices, and core values of the native peoples of the Caribbean. This project contributes to the “Ní’Tiñao Heritage Day – Celebration Model”. This model will be shared with organizations indigenous to the Ní’Tiñao via interviews, as well as a community engagement workshop and performance components.
Descendants will learn of traditions, practices, values, and foods cultivated by ancestors whose stories are made accessible. The model will consequently be redrafted considering review by active members of the Arawak Tainx community and their modern day practices. Once the model is complete, a proposal will be drafted and campaign launched to consider the “Ní’Tiñao Heritage Day” an annual city-wide, then state-wide, thereafter country-wide, and finally internationally recognized holiday. The holiday will be presented during Summer 2018 via promotion during events, workshops, festivals, and more hosted by organizations who supported the holiday’s culmination.
Through the course of the residency at the Loisaida Inc. Center, Anthony’s project aims to use the researched and archived history, herstory, principles, spiritual practices, and core values of the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean as means to follow the Native Caribbean Day – Celebration Model. The exhibition, culminating his residency, will be relaying information, sources, reflections, visual art, commissioned photography, and an installation to share the research.

About Anthony Rosado:
After graduating Trinity College with a BA in Theatre & Dance, Rosado performed in works by Anabella Lenzu, Deborah Goffe of Scapegoat Garden, Lindsey Dietz Marchant, Carmen Caceres of Dance Action, and Leyya Mona Tawil of Dance Elixr. He studied with George Emilio Sanchez during Hemispheric Institute‘s Summer 2015 EMERGEnyc Performer’s Program.
Rosado has choreographed performances for Ange Noir Café via Chez Bushwick‘s ’24 hour Choreographer’s Project’, Issue Project Room & the Eden’s Expressway Open Performance Series via Movement Research, Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance via their Blaktinx 2015 & Out Like That! 2016 Performance Series & Dancing While Black‘s Masculinities Reborn Series, Gallatin Arts Festival‘s Black Lives Matter series, The Moon Show, and The Judson Church Open Performance Series.
As curator, Anthony has presented the Universal Humyn Love Series at Make The Road NY, the #NativeBushwick Artist Lecture Series at Brooklyn Fire Proof, en casa afuera at The Loisaida Center, and Progress in Five Myles Gallery. He was a 2016 Artist in Residence with Chez Bushwick. Currently the 2018 Artist in Residence at The Loisaida Center. Anthony is also curating and organizing group-led workshops, performance and discussion series as Founder of The Testourmonials Project.

Taller de Soles (Sol Lace Workshop)
2018-04-23 18:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Sol Lace Workshop /// Taller de Soles
with: Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda
Description
Learn how to make beautiful and intricate lace pieces through a simple and meditative
technique with Puerto Rican fiber artist, Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda, who will
introduce us to the technique as it is worked in her native country of Puerto Rico.
Understanding the essence of the technique gives us a vocabulary that we can apply in
both traditional and experimental/contemporary contexts.
What are Soles?
Sol lace is a type of needle lace usually worked in pieces or appliqués. The technique
consists of drawing a net of thread and then weaving and knotting radially to form
patterns. It has its origins in Spain and arrived to the Americas in the 16th century,
where it continued to develop into variations known as Ñandutí, Soles de Maracaibo,
Renda, and simply Soles. Sol Lace is most often used to decorate heirloom clothing,
baby blankets and home linens, but also assembled to create beautiful lace fabrics and
accessories.
Workshop – “Immersive Introduction to Sol Lace” – 6 hrs
Join us for an immersive workshop, where you will learn about the origins of the
technique and see traditional and contemporary examples. Zaida Adriana will share the
basic knowledge to make Soles of different sizes, shapes, and decorative patterns. You
will leave with two completed Soles, and the materials to keep creating and
experimenting.
Details
Duration total: 6 hours (2 days)
Languages: English and Spanish
Level: No previous knowledge required
Number of participants: min. 5, max. 8
Price: $80 (includes materials fee)
Materials included in KIT: Sol cushion, Sol pattern, needle, thread, and instruction
booklet
Dates: Monday, April 23rd from 6-9pm / Tuesday, April 24th 6-9pm
About Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda
Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda is a fiber artist whose work serves as a hands-on
manifesto of the symbiotic relationship we can have with our surroundings. She makes
slowly and mindfully, using local/organic fibers, recycled or found materials, and natural
dyes. These materials are transformed through traditional craft techniques she
respectfully re-contextualizes. Her practice weaves together fiber-art, soft sculpture,
material rescue, and contemplative performance.
Zaida Adriana advocates the slow, ethical and hand-made through talks and workshops
at places like Duduá, Manufacture NY, Slow Fashion Spain/Ethical Fashion Academy,
Eileen Fisher, Bloomingdales, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art. She serves as the
Country Coordinator of the Fashion Revolution movement in Puerto Rico.
As recipient of the Lexus Grant for Artists, she is currently exhibiting a large installation
inspired by Sol lace at the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico, and is an Artist in Residence
at Beta-Local’s La Práctica. During the month of April, she is visiting NY and taking part
in the Textile Arts Center’s Work In Progress Residency.

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Cocinando Justicia
2018-04-30 18:30 - 20:30 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Direct from Puerto Rico, Giovani Roberto, an organizer with Centro de Apoyo Mutuo – CAM (Center of Mutual Support), Caguas, will be discussing how its projects and others, are creating alternative solutions to meet the basic sustenance needs of the Puerto Rican people after Hurricane Maria. Other speakers include Melissa Fuster, Professor of Public Health Nutrition at Brooklyn College, and Huascar Robles, author/journalist/producer of Catatonia podcast.

Central Ethic
Through implementing CAM principles of “ayuda mutua y esfuerzo propio” (mutual help and self-effort) the process of creating a new, regenerative Puerto Rico and allowing a return of the island’s vitality. CAM principles function in contrast to the legacy of colonial policies which continue to eliminate public services and infrastructure, and compromise natural resources for the exclusive benefit of private interests. The ethic of ‘mutual help and self effort’ has proven effective in creating a viable, alternative solution or the people of Puerto Rico, as evidenced by the increasing interest of participants and volunteers received daily in service to the CAM.
Background & Growth
Centro de Apoyo Mutuo ~ Caguas, appeared 8 days after the passing of Hurricane Maria, occupying abandoned space, providing services such as meals, material resources, acupuncture and alternative therapies, and workshops to the public while receiving support from local community volunteers, and later from supporters outside the island.
Weeks after the Centro de Apoyo Mutuo started in Caguas, several groups and individuals across the island helped organize CAMs in their communities, following the call for collective action to island activists and progressive groups, resulting in 8 CAM’s throughout the main island, including 1 on the island of Vieques. Currently there are 8 CAMs, some with a peoples kitchen, some with agro-ecological projects, workshops, alternative community educational projects, and acupuncture and therapeutic spaces.

**Giovanni Roberto is a Puerto Rican social justice activist and organizer for the Center for Political, Educational and Cultural Development (CDPEC) based in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Roberto is a former student leader of the 2010-2011 mobilizations and strikes at the University of Puerto Rico.
Melissa Fuster is an assistant professor of Public Health Nutrition at the City University of New York Brooklyn College. Her current research addresses the sociopolitical and cultural factors affecting culinary and nutritional outcomes in the Hispanic Caribbean region and its transnational communities in the US. Previous to joining Brooklyn College, Prof. Fuster was a Provostial Faculty Fellow in Food Studies at New York University.

Fiestas de Cruz at Loisaida
2018-05-05 18:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Loisaida Inc. and its project The Plenatorium are pleased to host a performance and ritual stemming straight from the faith based history of Puerto Ricans in the Lower East Side. The “Feast of the Holy Cross” roughly translates into “Fiestas de Cruz” and members of the community have kept it alive from generation to generation through oral history. On these days during the month of May, many families, neighbors, friends and strangers would gather to recite a live rosary chant accompanied by Puerto Rican traditional plena sounds.
Musical Accompaniment / Quinto Sonó, Sammy Tanco, Nelly Tanco
Festival Coordinators / Maitreyi Villaman Matos, Yawo Pepe Flores, Bala Soto
Please RSVP as there is a limited capacity.

Dome Building Workshop
2018-05-06 14:00 - 16:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Dome Building Workshop
A project by: Matthew Mottel in collaboration with Loisaida Inc.
Sunday, May 6 from 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm (estimated time)

Overview:
The history of dome building on the LES goes back to when CHARAS built domes in collaboration with Buckminster Fuller in 1972/73. Syeus Mottel documented this effort in his photo-journalism book CHARAS THE IMPROBABLE DOME BUILDERS , first published in 1974 and now re published in 2017 by Song Cave Press & Pioneer Works.
Through a collaborative project between Loisaida Inc., La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez and DIAP (Digital Intermedia MFA program at City College), artist and researcher Matthew Mottel (Syeus Mottel’s son) will build 2 geodesic domes (one at La Plaza and the other at the Loisaida Inc. Center’ courtyard) as an interactive art installation. In interviewing Carlos “Chino” Garcia as part of his research, Matthew was told that the domes CHARAS built functioned as both recreational activity spaces and as experimental examples of how to build disaster relief housing in non urban areas. The same functions apply now. The dome at La Plaza Cultura, will be seen from the street, with high visibility. This will bring people to the other dome in the courtyard and exhibition happening at Loisaida Center, which will feature a more detailed documentation of the original events of 1972-73.
This work highlights the achievements of CHARAS and hopefully expands the pressure on the NYC mayoral office to follow through on their promise to re-acquire El Bohio for the Loisaida community.
The week of the exhibition opening, many public performances, talks and workshops will transpire in both the Loisaida Center dome, and at La Plaza Cultural. These events will be influenced by the type of programming that happened during the 20+ years of events and exhibitions of El Bohio before being pushed out of its iconic and historic location on 9th Street, formerly known as P.S. 64.

Resources:
The Improbable Dome Builders
Matthew’s essay on the book.
The video that will be screened during the exhibition opening; CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH – Wednesday, May 9 at 6:00 pm

Schedule, Programming & Activities:

Saturday, May 5 at 6:00 pm – Archive exhibition of the 1972/73 CHARAS Geodesic Dome opens during Fiestas de Cruz at Loisaida Center.
Sunday, May 6 at 2:00 pm – Dome Building Workshop where participants will assist in the building of a 12′ geodesic dome. There will also be a special screening of archival footage from Bucky Fuller.
Wednesday, May 9 at 6:00 pm – Geodesic Domes unveiled with exhibition at Loisaida Center and La Plaza Cultural with performance by poet Edwin Torres.
Thursday, May 10 at 12:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center.
Friday, May 11 at 6:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center + Oral history project of the Lower East Side featuring interview with Chino Garcia by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, with documentary screening of Matthew Mottel’s video CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH at 6:00 pm.
Saturday, May 12 at 12:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center + performances in the afternoon thru evening at La plaza Cultural and Loisaida Center Courtyard.

CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH: Reception + Performances
2018-05-09 18:00 - 20:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH: Reception + Performances

A project by: Matthew Mottel in collaboration with Loisaida Inc., La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez and DIAP (Digital Intermedia MFA program at City College

Overview:
The history of dome building on the LES goes back to when CHARAS built domes in collaboration with Buckminster Fuller in 1972/73. Syeus Mottel documented this effort in his photo-journalism book CHARAS THE IMPROBABLE DOME BUILDERS , first published in 1974 and now re published in 2017 by Song Cave Press & Pioneer Works.
Through a collaborative project between Loisaida Inc., La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez and DIAP (Digital Intermedia MFA program at City College), artist and researcher Matthew Mottel (Syeus Mottel’s son) will build 2 geodesic domes (one at La Plaza and the other at the Loisaida Inc. Center’ courtyard) as an interactive art installation. In interviewing Carlos “Chino” Garcia as part of his research, Matthew was told that the domes CHARAS built functioned as both recreational activity spaces and as experimental examples of how to build disaster relief housing in non urban areas. The same functions apply now. The dome at La Plaza Cultura, will be seen from the street, with high visibility. This will bring people to the other dome in the courtyard and exhibition happening at Loisaida Center, which will feature a more detailed documentation of the original events of 1972-73.
This work highlights the achievements of CHARAS and hopefully expands the pressure on the NYC mayoral office to follow through on their promise to re-acquire El Bohio for the Loisaida community.
The week of the exhibition opening, many public performances, talks and workshops will transpire in both the Loisaida Center dome, and at La Plaza Cultural. These events will be influenced by the type of programming that happened during the 20+ years of events and exhibitions of El Bohio before being pushed out of its iconic and historic location on 9th Street, formerly known as P.S. 64.

Resources:
CHARAS The Improbable Dome Builders (((THE FUTURE IN ACTION)))
Through the lens of avant-garde architectural theory, the CHARAS Lower East side community group and Buckminster Fuller’s assistant, Michael Ben Eli construct a geodesic dome on an unused plot of land in the shadow of the Manhattan bridge in 1972-1973. The CHARAS members built the geodesic dome to control their own destiny.
CHARAS: The Improbable Dome Builders resonates in 2018. Ever present are the needs of affordable housing, the occupation of public/unused space for civic use, and the participation of communities to take self determined action when governmental institutions forgo their public duty.
CHARAS THE IMPROBABLE DOME BUILDERS: (((THE FUTURE IN ACTION) produced by Matthew Mottel includes archival interviews and photography from 1972/73 by Syeus Mottel with CHARAS members Chino Garcia and Karen Becker. In October 2017, Sal Becker and Chino Garcia, return to the dome construction site on the Lower East Side to reflect on their achievements and speak about the purpose of their dome building activity.
Matthew Mottel’s essay on the book.
The video that will be screened during the exhibition opening; CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH – Wednesday, May 9 at 6:00 pm

Schedule, Programming & Activities:

Saturday, May 5 at 6:00 pm – Archive exhibition of the 1972/73 CHARAS Geodesic Dome opens during Fiestas de Cruz at Loisaida Center.
Sunday, May 6 at 2:00 pm – Dome Building Workshop where participants will assist in the building of a 12′ geodesic dome. There will also be a special screening of archival footage from Bucky Fuller.
Wednesday, May 9 at 6:00 pm – Geodesic Domes unveiled with exhibition at Loisaida Center and La Plaza Cultural with performance by poet Edwin Torres.
Thursday, May 10 at 12:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center.
Friday, May 11 at 6:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center + Oral history project of the Lower East Side featuring interview with Chino Garcia by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, with documentary screening of Matthew Mottel’s video CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH at 6:00 pm.
Saturday, May 12 at 12:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center + performances in the afternoon thru evening at La plaza Cultural and Loisaida Center Courtyard.

CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH
2018-05-09 18:00 - 2018-05-11 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH

A project by: Matthew Mottel in collaboration with Loisaida Inc., La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez and DIAP (Digital Intermedia MFA program at City College

Overview:
The history of dome building on the LES goes back to when CHARAS built domes in collaboration with Buckminster Fuller in 1972/73. Syeus Mottel documented this effort in his photo-journalism book CHARAS THE IMPROBABLE DOME BUILDERS , first published in 1974 and now re published in 2017 by Song Cave Press & Pioneer Works.
Through a collaborative project between Loisaida Inc., La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez and DIAP (Digital Intermedia MFA program at City College), artist and researcher Matthew Mottel (Syeus Mottel’s son) will build 2 geodesic domes (one at La Plaza and the other at the Loisaida Inc. Center’ courtyard) as an interactive art installation. In interviewing Carlos “Chino” Garcia as part of his research, Matthew was told that the domes CHARAS built functioned as both recreational activity spaces and as experimental examples of how to build disaster relief housing in non urban areas. The same functions apply now. The dome at La Plaza Cultura, will be seen from the street, with high visibility. This will bring people to the other dome in the courtyard and exhibition happening at Loisaida Center, which will feature a more detailed documentation of the original events of 1972-73.
This work highlights the achievements of CHARAS and hopefully expands the pressure on the NYC mayoral office to follow through on their promise to re-acquire El Bohio for the Loisaida community.
The week of the exhibition opening, many public performances, talks and workshops will transpire in both the Loisaida Center dome, and at La Plaza Cultural. These events will be influenced by the type of programming that happened during the 20+ years of events and exhibitions of El Bohio before being pushed out of its iconic and historic location on 9th Street, formerly known as P.S. 64.

Resources:
CHARAS The Improbable Dome Builders (((THE FUTURE IN ACTION)))
Through the lens of avant-garde architectural theory, the CHARAS Lower East side community group and Buckminster Fuller’s assistant, Michael Ben Eli construct a geodesic dome on an unused plot of land in the shadow of the Manhattan bridge in 1972-1973. The CHARAS members built the geodesic dome to control their own destiny.
CHARAS: The Improbable Dome Builders resonates in 2018. Ever present are the needs of affordable housing, the occupation of public/unused space for civic use, and the participation of communities to take self determined action when governmental institutions forgo their public duty.
CHARAS THE IMPROBABLE DOME BUILDERS: (((THE FUTURE IN ACTION) produced by Matthew Mottel includes archival interviews and photography from 1972/73 by Syeus Mottel with CHARAS members Chino Garcia and Karen Becker. In October 2017, Sal Becker and Chino Garcia, return to the dome construction site on the Lower East Side to reflect on their achievements and speak about the purpose of their dome building activity.
Matthew Mottel’s essay on the book.
The video that will be screened during the exhibition opening; CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH – Wednesday, May 9 at 6:00 pm

Schedule, Programming & Activities:

Saturday, May 5 at 6:00 pm – Archive exhibition of the 1972/73 CHARAS Geodesic Dome opens during Fiestas de Cruz at Loisaida Center.
Sunday, May 6 at 2:00 pm – Dome Building Workshop where participants will assist in the building of a 12′ geodesic dome. There will also be a special screening of archival footage from Bucky Fuller.
Wednesday, May 9 at 6:00 pm – Geodesic Domes unveiled with exhibition at Loisaida Center and La Plaza Cultural with performance by poet Edwin Torres.
Thursday, May 10 at 12:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center.
Friday, May 11 at 6:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center + Oral history project of the Lower East Side featuring interview with Chino Garcia by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, with documentary screening of Matthew Mottel’s video CHARAS IS ALIVE ON SPACESHIP EARTH at 6:00 pm.
Saturday, May 12 at 12:00 pm – Exhibition hours at Loisaida Center + performances in the afternoon thru evening at La plaza Cultural and Loisaida Center Courtyard.

Chino Garcia Oral History and Screening of CHARAS is Alive on Spaceship Earth
2018-05-11 18:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Chino Garcia Oral History and Screening of CHARAS is Alive on Spaceship Earth
Friday, May 11, 6:00pm
Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 E 9th Street

presented as part of Lower East Side History Month

GVSHP‘s Oral History Project helps to preserve memories of the Village and East Village. Our newest release features Carlos “Chino” Garcia, co-founder of the East Village’s CHARAS El Bohio Cultural and Community Center.
Chino will join us in conversation with Bonnie Sue Stein, Executive and Artistic Director of GOH Productions. They will discuss Chino’s life and activism, from youth and migrant communities in the 1950s to the education-focused Real Great Society, the founding of CHARAS in the 1970s, and more.
CHARAS first built domes in collaboration with Buckminster Fuller in 1972. Artist and scholar Matthew Mottel will present his short documentary about CHARAS based on archival footage ofSeyus Mottel (his father), working on the Improbable Dome Builders.
This event is fully accessible.
Free. Reservations Required.

Register here.

Ecological City
2018-05-12 11:00 - 17:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
ECOLOGICAL CITY PROCESSION
SATURDAY MAY 12, 2018 (rain date May 13)
#DANCERS, #MODELS, #ARTISTS, #PERFORMERS, #BODYPAINTERS #PUPPETEERS #ACTIVISTS #PHOTOGRAPHERS #VOLUNTEERS

PLEASE SHARE and invite friends to join and VOLUNTEER FOR #ECOLOGICALCITY – this is not a parade to watch but a transformational experience – become a garden, river and climate solution spirit – help as a marshal- many roles. Experience the ECOLOGICAL URBAN PILGRIMAGE FROM THE GARDENS TO THE RIVER on the LES of NYC – not to be missed!

Earth Celebrations’ ECOLOGICAL CITY, a climate action, ecological urban pilgrimage and performance art event – features a spectacular 6 hour procession featuring visual art, giant puppets and costumes with 20 site performances of dance, music, theater and poetry celebrating sustainability solutions throughout the community gardens, neighborhood and East River Park waterfront on the Lower East Side of New York City.
VOLUNTEER: Sign up to wear spectacular costumes – direct puppets – marshal procession
NEEDED: MAKE-UP/BODY PAINTERS, ARTISTS, DANCERS, PERFORMERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS
SIGN UP FOR A ROLE – CONTACT:
FB Message: https://www.facebook.com/EarthCelebrations/
EMAIL: mail@earthcelebrations.com
SIGN UP: http://earthcelebrations.com/volunteer-ecological-city-sign/
MORE INFO: http://earthcelebrations.com/ecological-city-project/
FB EVENT SHARE: https://www.facebook.com/events/856985337794345/

Earth Celebrations’ ECOLOGICAL CITY in partnership with Loisaida Center Inc., LUNGS-Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens and over 50 partner organizations and groups including NYC Community Garden District, Green Map, GOLES (Good Old Lower East Side-Housing/Resiliency), LES Ready!, Lower East Side Girls Club, Lower East Side Ecology, East Village Community Coalition, East River Park Coalition, Solar One, Waterfront Alliance, University Settlement, Earth School (PS364), Sixth Street Community Center, Arts Loisaida, MOS Collective, Gaia Institute, East 4th Street Block Association, Times Up, Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, FAB (Fourth Street Arts Block Association), Theatre for the New City, Hunter College-School of Community Organizing and New York University. Numerous groups and residents throughout the neighborhood are invited to join.

This program is made possible with support from Fund for the City of New York, New York Community Trust, Con Edison, Howard Bayne Fund, private foundations, individuals and
Creative Engagement / Creative Learning, supported by the New York CityDepartment of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council

Last One Standing - Premier *SOLD OUT*
2018-05-25 18:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
DESCRIPTION

Loisaida Inc., producers of the annual Loisaida Festival, are pleased to host the significant event in honor of one of the most iconic pillars of the Puerto Rican, Nuyorican, and Latinx community, Adela Fargas, founder of the restaurant Casa Adela.
Filmakers Gary Cruz and William Rosario from Yagrumo Productions documented Adela’s life for the last four years culminating in their latest documentary “Last One Standing”. They have immortalized the trajectory of this beloved Loisaida Icon.
The reception will feature a special performance from local musician and organizer, David Soto as Daso Y El Grupo Cemi and an acoustic set by Juan Pagan.
Doors open at 6:30pm and the screening begins promptly at 7:45pm.

DATE AND TIME

Fri, May 25, 2018
6:30 PM – 10:00 PM EDT
Add to Calendar

LOCATION

710 E 9th St
710 East 9th Street
New York, NY 10009

The 31st Annual Loisaida Festival
2018-05-27 11:00 - 17:00 | Avenue C Corridor, 12th - 6th Streets on Avenue C, New York, NY, 10003, United States

5th Annual Loisaida Festival TheaterLab 2018
2018-05-27 11:00 - 17:00 | Avenue C Corridor, 12th - 6th Streets on Avenue C, New York, NY, 10003, United States
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★

Performances: CHARAS is Alive on Spaceship Earth
2018-06-09 18:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Films Charas, an independent cinema program, was an ongoing series during Charas’ operation of El Bohio on 9th street between Avenues B and C. Bradley Eros, Lary7, Kit Fitzgerald and many others, known as the Optipus collective, were integral members of the East Village projection/film/video community. This performance in and around the dome in the Loisaida Center courtyard is a homage to the character and experimentation that was nurtured at El Bohio.
Please join us from 6 – 9pm at 710 East 9th Street.

‘Optipus’ organized by Bradley Eros with Kit Fitzgerald and many more! :

film, slides, video, overhead:liquid, loops, screen materials;

+ electronics, keyboards, voice, strings, percussion, foley + toys

http://www.residencyunlimited.org/residencies/bradley-eros/

https://www.eai.org/artists/kit-fitzgerald/titles

Exhibition Closing: CHARAS is Alive on Spaceship Earth
2018-06-27 18:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Please join us for the closing reception of the exhibition:
CHARAS is Alive on Spaceship Earth
with special performances from Art Jones, Krisia Ayala and Yuko Otomo.

Art Jones will create live audio/video mix featuring the animated sights and sounds of NYC’s utopian future-past, projected onto artist Krisia Ayala’s installation. Both artists will use the dome as a sculpture to be activated through their own creative interventions.
Yuko Otomo: a visual artist & a bilingual poet (poetry & haiku). She also writes art criticism, essays & does translation. In visual art, she has been concentrating herself on the study of “pure abstraction” & has created a body of work covering over 3 decades. Her work has been shown in various gallery spaces; such as Tribes Gallery, Anthology Film Archives Courthouse Gallery, ABC No Rio, Brecht Forum, Gallery 128, Knitting Factory & Vision Festival. As a poet/writer, she has read her work in venues such as St. Marks’s Poetry Project, Bowery Poetry Club, Issue Project Room, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Nuyorican Poet’s Café etc. She also has read in Germany, France & Japan. She has been published in many magazines & literary publications such as Recluse, 6×6, Long Shot, Appearances, The Unbearables Assemblage Magazine, Downtown Anthology, Senritsu & others. Her books include “ Garden: Selected Haiku” (Beehive Press), “Small Poems”, “The Hand of the Poet” (by Ugly Duckling Presse). She also has a huge volume of critical writing on art such as “On Artist & Studio”, “On Artuad: Writing & Drawing”.
Krisia Ayala: Puerto Rican born and New York City based teaching artist, interested in digital mixed media art, print design and sound installations. Her works on paper range from artist books to large format prints. Ayala has focused her artistic research into developing visuals inspired by migratory issues. Her biggest motivation is to explore and illustrate the similarities between avian and human migration, intending to blur the lines that differentiate the human and avian migratory experience. Instagram: Krisia.ayalart

Lying Lydia - Open Reading
2018-07-22 19:00 - 21:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Loisaida Inc. and Caborca Theatre present:
Lying Lydia
Open Reading

New work by the Loisaida Inc. Center’s 2014 artists in residence –CABORCA.
Written and directed by Javier Antonio González and featuring Laura Butler Rivera, Yaremis Félix, and Tania Molina, Lying Lydia is a piercing look at our civilization’s targeting of women, colonies, and the truth. In the mold of Churchill and Fornes, Lying Lydia is a mysterious and darkly funny chamber work featuring masterful performances from some of Caborca’s veteran actors, as well as an original soundscape by Keenan Hurley.

Truth may have died in the disaster. Two women are confined and forced to paint the landscape that may have once been. One of them is Margaret. The other is Lying Lydia, so called because everything she says is a lie. How do you know? Listen, you can hear her thinking. Like they said you would.
LOISAIDA INC. CENTER
710 E 9th Street, Manhattan
Free Admission
7pm

About Caborca:
Hailing from Puerto Rico, US America and beyond, Caborca makes sprawling, adventurous works in theatre and film. Combining epic auteurship with a tuned ensemble of actors and a flux of collaborators, we bridge language, background and media, inviting our audience, guest artists and members alike, to delve into the pleasure of seeing anew.
Caborca steals its name from the novel The Savage Detectives, by Roberto Bolaño, in which a magazine of the same name is the official organ of visceral realism.

Opinions like those expressed while in a panel, event or presentation, performance or through artwork are expressed by the author in his personal capacity and are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Loisaida Inc. its affiliates or staff.

Circo Social - Circus & Community
2018-07-28 14:00 - 18:00 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Loisaida Inc. and La Cia Yoyo present:
Circo Social
Juggling, Equilibrium and Acrobatics Workshops for Teens and Young Adults.

The different disciplines of the Circus, promote and enhance the development of multiple skills and protective factors, both at the group and individual level. In the group field, these techniques promote respect of one another, solidarity, mutual support, group identity and confidence as an important driver for the practice of various circus techniques. At the individual level they boost self-esteem, help manage tolerance, promote the ability to rise up, resiliency and learning from failure, to develop a sense of humor is a protective factor, help to know and to be surprised of oneself, to visualize the potentialities and to respect the body as a tool of work and artistic expression.

Circo Piquiniqui

Las diversas disciplinas del Circo, promueven y potencian el desarrollo de múltiples habilidades y factores protectores, tanto a nivel grupal como individual. En el ámbito grupal promueven el respeto, la solidaridad, el apoyo mutuo, la identidad grupal y la confianza como motor importante para la práctica de las diversas técnicas circenses. A nivel individual potencian la autoestima, ayudan a manejar la tolerancia a la frustración, promueven la capacidad de levantarse, la resiliencia y aprender de los fracasos, desarrollan el sentido del humor como factor protector, ayudan a conocerse y sorprenderse de sí mismo, a visualizar las potencialidades y a respetar el cuerpo como herramienta de trabajo y expresión artística.

Loisaida Inc. Center – 710 East 9th Street and Avenue C
Saturday, July 28 – 2pm to 6pm
*Register below:
1 Workshops divided into 2 age groups:
Group 1 ages 7 to 12 years
Group 2 ages 13 to 18 years.

Eye of the Storm
2018-08-01 18:30 - 20:30 | The Loisaida Inc. Center, 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY, 10009, United States
Issue Launch: Eye of the Storm

Wednesday, August 1 at 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Public Event – Panel

Hosted by Loisaida Inc. and North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)

Overview:
Nearly a year after Hurricanes Irma and Maria rocked the Caribbean, what lessons can we learn? In the midst of the 2018 hurricane season, what can both affected communities and their allies do to prepare for future climate events and prevent the kind of destruction the hurricanes wrought on the region?
In this panel, contributors from our summer issue of NACLA attempt to answer these questions, exploring the conditions that have led the Caribbean to where it is today. It is impossible to ignore the ways in which neoliberal capitalism, colonialism, and climate change have come together in the Caribbean to reanimate and strengthen economic and racial hierarchies that have long marked the region and its place in the world. From Puerto Rico to Barbuda and beyond, how we can create a safer and more just future for the region as a whole?
Featuring:
Hilda Lloréns, University of Rhode Island
Zaire Dinzey-Flores, Rutgers
Kenneth Gould and Tammy Lewis, Brooklyn College
Marie Cruz-Soto, NYU Gallatin
Moderated by Michelle Chase, Pace University, and Laura Weiss, NACLA
This event is free and open to the public.
