Dos Noticias de Chicago

For Immediate Release:
Leo Suarez, 773.392.9697, info@lastablas.com

Join us for our second installment of Raices (Roots) Fridays, a night of Afro-Latin music and culture with a philanthropic cause

This weekly showcase of some of Chicago’s finest traditional Afro-Latin music ensembles and will benefit a different charity every month. The entire month of April benefits the Chicago AIDS Marathon and The American Red Cross of Greater Chicago has joined the effort to host every Friday in May.

Proceeds of every Friday night over the course of the month will go to the pre-selected charity, including every sale of Las Tablas’ famous sangria, widely acknowledged as one of the tastiest sangrias in the city.




This Friday, 4/17:

OgundaMasá is a performance group committed to preserving and performing various African influenced musical traditions from Cuba. They are the only Afro-Cuban The group is comprised of musicians, educators, and cultural affiliates working as a collective to continue and promote these traditions in Chicago. The group performs folkloric genres such as Rumba and Güiro; which are the musical root of Salsa music.

Next Friday, 4/24:

OgundaMasá will be joined by Nuestro Tambó (1st and 3rd Fridays), a Chicago-based group that is comprised of second and third generation Puerto Rican men and women who hail from the inner-city of Chicago and have committed themselves to the promotion and celebration of the Afro Puerto Rican genres of Plena and Bomba. They are unique in Chicago in that they represent Bomba as a living musical form rather than a folkloric tradition. They will also be celebrating the upcoming release of their debut CD.

Raices Fridays:

Every Friday starting April 3rd
2942 N. Lincoln Ave, 9:30 pm – 1:30 am$5 Mojitos, $5 Donation
$4 Cuba Libre, $5 Donation
All Sangria sales benefit Chicago AIDS Marathon in April and Red Cross of Chicagoland in May
Nuestro Tambó: 1st and 3rd Fridays
Ogunda Masá: 2nd and 4th Fridays

Casa Aztlán

Casa Aztlan is an educational and social center providing cultural activities, community service, leadership development services for teenagers and kids, adult education, citizenship, emergency services and community organization. Casa Aztlan is also on the vanguard of the human rights movement and immigrant's civil rights.

Since its foundation in 1970, Casa Aztlan has participated in organizing the power of the Pilsen community; it has fought for bilingual education, amnesty for undocumented workers, health services for the immigrant community, construction of the Benito Juarez High school and the West Side Technical Institute, development of adult education programs, program Circulo de Lectura Padre e Hijo which was converted into the Telpochcalli pre-school; and has helped create the alphabetical Hispanic council since 1980.

Casa Aztlan has developed an effective after school program for children between 7 and 14 years of age. This program offers kids academic help, sports, recreational activities, and cultural development through music classes and art. During the summer, Casa Aztlan provides community youth with work and safe place to spend free time.

Casa Aztlan also collaborates with many other community and educational organizations in order to better serve the Mexican Latino populations. An example of one such collaboration is the partnership between Casa Aztlan and the Chicago ENLACE program of Northeastern Illinois University which focuses on raising the percentage of Latino student enrollments and graduations in schools.

Casa Aztlan has also also developed a partnership with CALLIE and the Colaborativa Latina de Ciudadania, both of which help people in the Mexican community obtain United States citizenships through soliciting services and through Civics and English classes.

Casa Aztlan also sponsors annual events that incite community participation in the Pilsen neighborhood and immediate area. These annual events include, The Candlelight Dinner, The Viva Aztlan Festival, and La Posada. Aside from the above community events, groups of ceremonial Aztec dancers such as the Nahui Ollin and Quetzal-Yolotl, the Teatro Cuerda Floja, and the master of Folkloric dance Rene Cardoza were based out of Casa Aztlan.

Casa Aztlan also helped organize the largest Latino march in the history of the United States; the historic National March for Civil and Human Rights for Latinos in Washington D.C. in 1996. This event led to other activities in Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., and San Antonio, Texas.

Casa Aztlan also works with the Pilsen Alliance. The Pilsen Alliance is a community project focused on questions regarding public transportation, employment development, and other aspects of life that are important to the community.

All donations are tax exempt.
Visit Casa Aztlan at 1831 S. Racine Ave., in the heart of the Pilsen community. http://casaaztlan.org

Palabra Pura: Soul Food Worthy of Support

While his note is geared to Palabra Pura poets, I would ask gente in the Chicago area and elsewhere to read this, give generously, and support what is a seminal Latino poetry venue. Palabra Pura feeds the soul, celebrates our luminaries, makes poetry accessible for our community in a way that no other literary institution does. For more info about who and what Palabra Pura is, read: http://labloga.blogspot.com/2007/07/conversation-with-francisco.html
and http://labloga.blogspot.com/2008/02/palabra-pura-news-new-latino-poetry-on.html.



October 16, 2008

Dear Lisa:

As a board member of the Guild Complex in Chicago, last year I had the privilege of weighing in on the discussion that produced this re-vamped mission statement:

The Guild Complex, a community-based literary organization, presents and supports diverse, divergent and emerging voices through innovative programs including performances and readings. We look at literary culture and ask, “What’s missing?”

In the Fall of 2005, then board member and current board president Mike Puican answered that question (“What’s missing?”) in the following way: “There are no poetry reading venues in Chicago that deliberately and systematically welcome Latino and Latina poets.” So when Mike called me one morning and asked if I would be interested in helping create a Latino poetry reading series, one of my most enriching professional collaborations began. You know what I am talking about because you are a PALABRA PURA alum. And I am writing to more than thirty
of you—our PALABRA PURA familia!

As the Guild Complex moves forward in planning season four (2009), we are faced, as you can imagine, with growing challenges. We’ve received funding in the past from the Illinois Council on the Humanities and the Joyce Foundation. And yet we have come to understand that in order for this series to have long-term viability, we are going to have to tap individual giving, as well.

And it occurred to me: who better understands and, I hope, appreciates this series than those poets who have read in it? Who better understands that PALABRA PURA aims to promote community between poets, specifically through our pre-reading salon dinners, in addition to providing a Chicago venue for Latino and Latina poets to share their work?

We have ten readings per year where we invite a “visiting poet” from outside Chicago. With me so far? We are asking you to look at it this way: We are asking you to donate $5 to each of those ten visiting poets. 

If you can think about this in terms of giving future Palabra Pura readers $5 each, it will go a long way towards our being able to keep offering honoraria, in addition, of course, to travel and lodging.

And here’s the part I like the most: it’s a model for increasing sustainability. Next year, at the conclusion of season four, we’ll be joined by more PALABRA PURA alums, so that each year your $50 donation will be increased (if we remain faithful) by at least $500. It’s as if we were all forming a living and growing endowment for the future of the series. 

But don’t get me wrong: the annual budget for PALABRA PURA is much much larger than the $1500 or so I hope to raise from all of you. But it is an excellent and meaningful start at being more intentional about tapping individual giving. Also: future potential funders will be impressed if we can say that former participants in the series are among our most faithful supporters.

And finally: your $50 donation buys you an annual membership to the Guild Complex. If you have any questions about what a Guild “membership” means, please ask (this letter is already too long!) And it goes without saying that if the spirit moves you to donate more than $50 please do so since I imagine and understand that there may be personal economies who can’t give as much as $50. It also goes without saying that any amount, however modest, would be greatly
appreciated.

In a nutshell: I am asking you to consider making a tax-deductible donation of $50 towards a program you were a part of and, we trust, was a meaningful experience for you. You can make your donation by writing a check to “The Guild Complex.” Please write in the memo line “Palabra Pura.” Alternatively, you can make the donation online through pay pal by going to the Guild website (http://guildcomplex.org ). We only ask that you let us know if you have gone this route as we would like to keep track of the number of PALABRA PURA alums who have contributed. If you opt to send a check, the mailing address is:

Guild Complex
P.O. Box 478880
Chicago, IL 60647-9998

Again, please feel free to contact me, or Ellen Wadey, the Guild’s Executive Director, if you have any questions.

Thank you so much,

Francisco

Francisco Aragón
Co-curator, PALABRA PURA
Board member, The Guild Complex

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6:00 PM - 9:00 PM,
Tuesday, October 28
Reception and private viewing including guided tours of
La Vida Sin Fin - Day of the Dead 2008
National Museum of Mexican Art
1852 W. 19th St., Chicago

Plus a special program featuring
Jose Cruz, Founder and President of Immigration PAC,
speaking about the immigration issue in the upcoming elections

$30 in advance; $40 at the door
includes reception, private viewing and tours
For advance ticket price, payment by noon, October 27

On-street parking

Please visit the website to RSVP
www.latinosandjews.org/UpcomingEvents.html

WWW.NALAC.ORG

Featured Event

NALAC Regional Arts Training Workshop
November 14-15, 2008
Los Angeles, CA

at The New LATC
514 South Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

HOSTED BY: The New LATC, CONTRA-TIEMPO, Floricanto Dance Theater, Olin Theater Presenters, PALABRA A Magazine of Chicano & Latino Literary Art.

The National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC) will convene a Regional Arts Training Workshop in Los Angeles entitled “Creative Responders: Latino Art in Action Re-Affirming and Transforming the Future.”

The Regional Workshop is a forum for dialogue, professional development and technical assistance for the Latino arts and cultural field. The context of this gathering is focused on empowering Latino artists and arts and cultural organizations through ideas, solutions and strategies for sustainability.

We invite you to join other Latino artists, arts and cultural leaders, organizers, educators and activists in the Los Angeles, area for this rewarding two day meeting that will include presentations, workshops, dialogue, performances and exhibits.

Regional Workshop Tracks include:

• Resource Development and Capacity Building
• Leadership Development and Re-generation
• Establishing Relationships with Funders and Navigating Government Funding
• Arts Toolkit: Marketing Your Work and Reaching New Audiences
• Nuestras Casas: Development of Cultural Facilities
• Transnational Re-Connections: Immigration, Economic Justice & Social Impact
• Comerciantes Culturales: Organizing Communities through Arts Festiva
• Taking Latino Art and Culture into the Classroom
• Creative Responders: Re-Shaping the 21st Century Latino Narrative
• Latino Arts Town Hall Meeting

SPACE IS LIMITED FOR THE LOS ANGELES REGIONAL ARTS TRAINING WORKSHOP.
REGISTER TODAY TO ENSURE YOUR PARTICIPATION!
Made possible with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts; the JPMorgan Chase Foundation; the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; the Ford Foundation;Southwest Airlines; MetLife Foundation; City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs; The Center for Cultural Innovation in Los Angeles and individual donors, volunteers and NALAC members.

Los Angeles Host Committee: The New LATC, CONTRA-TIEMPO, Floricanto Dance Theater, Olin Theater Presenters, PALABRA A Magazine of Chicano & Latino Literary Art.

Click Here to read the October 2008 e-Boletin and find more information on this and other exciting exhibits, events, funding opportunities, resources and member happenings.

Direct Link:

http://www.nalac.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=164&Itemid=211


Join NALAC today at http://www.nalac.org to stay informed of important announcements and opportunities!

Support NALAC!

Click Here to make a secure tax-deductible contribution via Network for Good and help NALAC continue providing valuable programs and services to Latino artists and arts organizations across the country.



NALAC
1208 Buena Vista Street
San Antonio, TX 78207
PH: 210.432.3982
FAX: 210.432.3934
http://www.nalac.org

Encounter, Encourage, Envision…tu Arte en NALAC

You are currently subscribed to NALAC’s e-Boletín, the electronic newsletter of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture. If you no longer wish to receive notices from NALAC, please email info@nalac.org with the subject heading “Please remove from e-Boletín.”

SEND PRESS RELEASES, ANNOUNCEMENTS, QUESTIONS & COMMENTS TO: info@nalac.org

Please put e-Boletín in the subject heading.

The National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC) is dedicated to the preservation, development and promotion of the cultural and artistic expressions of the diverse Latino populations of the United States. Through this effort, NALAC is committed to the continuing struggle for the elimination of racism, sexism, ageism and discrimination against gay, lesbian and physically challenged populations. The objective is to recognize and support the varied standards of excellence grounded in the aesthetics and traditions of our root cultures.

NALAC receives generous support from the Ford Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, the MetLife Foundation, Southwest Airlines, Heineken USA, Texas Commission on the Arts, The Tobin Endowment, City of San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs, Tucson Pima Arts Council, San Antonio Area Foundation, Our Lady of the Lake University, NALAC members, individual donors and volunteers.

Lisa Alvarado

The Courage to Create

Rollo May proposes the theory that, "Creativity occurs in an act of encounter and is to be understood with this encounter as its center." The encounter is between the artist and the objective reality of what she is observing. The intensity of the encounter between artist and her world calls forth the creative act of bringing into being that which does not exist- the painting, the poem, etc.

The artist, by herself, does not conjure up the art, but rather is infused with the experience of relating to her outside world. This state, fueled by the unconscious symbols and myths about her place in that world that compel her to create being from non-being. I would also argue there is also a connection that needs to be explored by the artist--between the world of the present and the past, the living and the spirit world, the world of ancestry, the well of souls in which the heart of the collective unconscious resides. “Creative courage... is the discovering of new forms, new symbols, new patterns on which a new society can be built.”

It's May’s contention that creativity is a courageous act because an authentic act of creation takes an intensity of commitment and a deep quality of passion. This is because the artist is moving into uncharted territory in order to sit with the deeper recesses of the psyche, the realm of chaos and anxiety. “This is what the existentialists call the anxiety of nothingness."

I've frequently felt that anxiety, that 'dis-ease.' I spent many years trying to out that blot that feeling, along with a host of others, via alcohol and other drugs. It's is no surprise to me that I could only fully actualize my creative self as a feature of sobriety. I think about the real lives of alcohol-ridden, doomed drug-addict, art world wunderkind, and wonder what wellsprings were sealed up in order to not feel a psychic pain to much to bear. Artists delve into the substance their own existence, but also the deeper collective unconscious of the society that they inhabit. Living, resonant art informs this collective unconscious and also shapes it in a new way and can be a touchstone for how a society views itself. Rigid societies afraid of hidden truths repress art; requiring artists to understand that courage is required, and not back away in the face of opposition.

I believe that art making is an act of survival and resistance. During the periods of my life when the creativity has waned and it's felt like the demands of the outside world have swallowed me up, I have definitely felt depressed.The act of creativity fights that depression and more importantly, transforms it into something else, something viable. In what I hope is my best work, that idea of Every/Mujer resisting outside control, outside definition is communicated as well.

For work of the deepest kind to to emerge, I have to look as clear-eyed as I can at losses on the personal level, as well as those with larger social causes. As uncomfortable as that may be, it's also becomes a motivator, a source of knowledge, a driving engine. Joy is as well, by it is joy that results from emergence, a flinty and hard-won joy. Looking at the scope of the themes that pull at me again and again, I can see the arc of trauma, its aftermath and reemergence. As I continue to think about this, imagery from forensic science and pathology come to mind. The initial part of the process is the point of entry, where the bullet entered. Mid process is all about ballistics and trajectory, and the last, is exit wound and the healing.

Palabra Pura Kicks Off Its Third Year

ariel robello and Juan Manuel Sánchez

Gente! Exciting poetry news here in Chicago...Palabra Pura kicks off their third year January 16th, 8:30 PM, at their usual local, California Clipper, 1002 N California Ave.

For those of you unfamiliar with this superb salon of Latino poetry, here's an interview I did with one of its founders, La Bloga friend and excellent poet in his own right, Francisco Aragón. Believe me, a Palabra Pura experience is NOT to be missed, and it's been my pleasure to be part of the local steering committee, especially in the company of the likes of Ellen Placey Wadey, Mike Puican, Mary Hawley, y La Divina, Johanny Vazquez. Below is the first line up of what promises to be a stellar year of local Chicago poets paired with poets who've made their mark on the national scene.

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In her debut collection of poems, My Sweet Unconditional, ariel robello meets us at the horizon, where worlds blend in the blush of sunrise and sunset, where land meets sea, air – earth, and where man and machine interrupt the natural ebb and flow of life. Unapologetic, she declares her faith in a love that defies borders and with each poem she weds herself to a belief that unconditional love can still be found in the cracks of a urban sidewalk, dancing above puffing smoke stacks, behind a guerrilla’s mask, in the worn paint brush of an island love, blundering below a street lamp in Ensenada, spelled out in daisies on a Veteran’s tombstone, in the stitch of a huipil and most importantly—deep inside one’s own reflection. With language as radiant and dangerous as broken glass ariel robello cuts away at the political dogma and superficial beauty of a world unhinged to reveal a bloody but dignified glimpse of love in the hands of a New World survivor.

Having earned her chops on both the stage and the page, ariel robello represents a generation of poets as concerned with performance as they are with line breaks. ariel robello received a PEN West Rosenthal Emerging Voices Fellowship in 2002 and published her first collection of poems, My Sweet Unconditional in 2005 with Tia Chucha Press. The inspiration for her poetry stems from her work as a poet-in-residence and mentor to teens, advocate for immigrants’ rights, and teacher of English in schools, sweatshops, juvenile detention centers, and most recently at the community college where she now lives with her hijito in Tampa, Florida.

“Effortlessly, swimmingly, yet every line a ‘florescent ember’, seething and praying, these poems mark the debut of a powerful woman of letters; young yet wise, weary yet hopeful. ariel robello is the revolution in verse we’ve been waiting for – the spoken unspoken, the dreaded effervescence of truth conspiring with our souls. Chicana voices have always pushed deeper into the emotional terrain of conscience and witness, ‘My Sweet Unconditional’ does what poetry collections should always do – pull us into a universe so familiar yet frighteningly unknown with poems that awaken us to the political and personal traumas of our times, yet sweetened by the beauty of word and verse.

—Luis J. Rodriguez is an award-winning poet, journalist, memoirist, children’s book writer, essayist and fiction writer. He is author of the critically acclaimed “Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A.”

"Ariel Robello's My Sweet Unconditional is never insincere or sentimental. This first collection of point-blank narratives of the heart never misses. Playful and reasoned, witty and serious, My Sweet Unconditional's insinuation beckons and disarms. Ariel Robello's voice is one of a kind."—Yusef Komunyakaa, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet.

"Poetry Lover, beware the fire-and-ice urban joys of Ariel Robello! These are brutally savvy and deliciously vicious paeans to life, relentless in their celebrations of love, sacrifice and sex--and once beheld by the eyeheart, humbles rescues redeems."
—Wanda Coleman, poet, Los Angeles

"Ariel Robello has crafted remarkable poems that demand no less than a pure appreciation of art from you, even as they break your heart. There is nothing easy here: the music is grafted from a painful if illuminating life, but they shimmer with a rage that is transformative.
A voice to watch for." —Chris Abani, author of GraceLand and Dog Woman.

www.nupress.northwestern.edu

Paper -1-882688-29-5 $13.95

Available for sale on www.amazon.com

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Juan Manuel Sánchez was born and raised on the US side of the San Diego/Tijuana border. He holds an MA in Literature from UC San Diego and is currently in the final throes of his MFA at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has worked as an assistant editor for Ninth Letter, has lectured at various universities and is now Lecturer of Spanish at the University of Chicago. His work is forthcoming in Pembroke and in the anthology Junta: Avant-Garde Latino/a Writing.

Lisa Alvarado

Teatro Luna --Bright, Bright Light

Teatro Luna was founded in June 2000 by Coya Paz and Tanya Saracho, with an original ensemble of ten women from diverse Latina/Hispana backgrounds. They came together because they realized that the stories and experiences of Latina/Hispana women were undervalued and underrepresented not only on the Chicago stage, but beyond. Many of them had similar experiences of being asked to perform stereotyped images of that were often one-dimensional and, at times, offensive: spicy sexpots, voiceless maids, pregnant gangbangers, timid "illegal" immigrants, etc. They were also concerned that the few parts written for Latina women often went to non-Latina actresses. They felt that they had to do something. Their answer was Teatro Luna, Chicago's first and only all-Latina theater.

En el Futuro, they plan to perform published pieces and original works by new and established Playwrights along with their own original works. Teatro Luna is constantly looking for new works written by Latinas/Hispanas or about Latina/Hispana women.

If you'd like to make a submission, send a copy of your script to Reading Series Director, Teatro Luna, 5215 N. Ravenswood, Suite #210, Chicago, IL 60640 or email her at nrey1@msn.com. They look forward to nurturing la voz de la mujer Latina inside their artistic home, to giving Latina/Hispanas of all backgrounds an opportunity to tell their story.

In the meantime, a large percentage of their energia is spent on creating original pieces, developed by the ensemble. This has prompted the creation of the "Teatro Luna Developement Process." Poco a poco, the ensemble developed its own vocabulary and artistic vision which improves with every project. The ever changing process is described below. Ensemble members share stories, memories, ideas and thoughts with each other in a brainstorming session.

1 Members then bring in written stories, monologues, or more specific research to propose specific ideas for pieces.

2 During workshop/rehearsal, members divide into smaller groups (2-4 people) and experiment with adding movement, chorus, additional characters and other stylistic devices to the stories. The responsibility of these smaller groups is to find two or more dramatically different approaches to present the idea/story.

3 Versions of the story are "presented" or "pitched" to the rest of the ensemble, who critique and comment on the proposal. Often, different actresses will "try on" the same role to further expand and explore the possibilities of the subject and style of the piece.

4 Once the ensemble has chosen a "format", the scene is improvised several times (with the game of "character musical chairs" described above). The women who are watching write down character traits, story concept and themes, and any dialogue that stands out (at times particularly lively workshops have been videotaped).

5 The scenes are then scripted by an ensemble member and presented to the group in an "official" version.

6 Creating doesn't stop there. The rehearsal process remains open. Although actors work from the script in a relatively traditional manner, the entire process involves on-going discussion and collaboration from the ensemble. A couple of times, a finished scene or two were not finalized until a few hours before opening.

7 This is the "official" teatro luna process when developing original works, but they continue to refine and expand it to fit their needs, practicing our techniques in on-going workshops that include both established Teatro Luna members and newer Artistic Associates and Friends.

TEATRO LUNA ENSEMBLE

COYA PAZ (co-founder/co-Artistic Director) was raised in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Columbia, and Brazil, and moved permanently to the United States in the late 1980's. She is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Performance Studies at Northwestern University, where she also holds her MA. She has collaborated with Teatro Luna on all of our ensemble built projects (Generic Latina, Dejame Contarte/Let Me Tell You, The Maria Chronicles and S-E-X-Oh!) Additional Chicago acting credits include Impassioned Embraces, Etta Jenks, Death of a Salesman and Baby Boom En El Paraiso.

Directing credits include The Maria Chronicles and S-e-x-Oh! (with Tanya Saracho), The Drag King Rooftop Karaoke Hootchie Cootchie No Name Show and Musical Latin Extravaganza (with Michelle Campbell), Diane Herrera's The Dress and Marisabel Suarez's Three Days (part of Teatro Luna's Sólo Latinas Project). She has appeared in numerous independent film and performance projects, and enjoys singing in the shower. Coya is a contributor to the Oxford University Encyclopedia of Latino/as in the United States, and is committed to using performance as a strategy for social and individual change. coyapaz@yahoo.com

TANYA SARACHO (cofounder/co_Artistic Director) is a proud Co-Founder of TEATRO LUNA: Chicago's All-Latina Theater Ensemble and a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists. She was born in Sinaloa, Mexico and moved to Texas in the late 80's. Saracho attended Boston University where three of her plays, Miss Norma and the Alligator, Maya Takes a Moonbath and La Dueña, received Premiers. Tanya has studied writing with Maria Irene Fornes (Latin Am. Writers Retreat), Derek Wolcott, Kate Snodgrass and Claudia Allen. In Chicago, La Dueña received a staged reading at the Tony-Award-winning, Victory Gardens Theatre. Also while in Chicago, her writing has been featured in all of Teatro Luna's ensemble-built works including Generic Latina, Dejame Contarte, The Maria Chronicles, SOLO Latinas and S-E-X-Oh! Saracho's play Kita y Fernanda received a full production at Luna in early 2003, along with a reading at Repertorio Español while a finalist for the 2003 Nuestras Voces playwrighting competition. Other Awards include: The Ofner Prize given by the Goodman Theatre and Christopher B. Wolk Award at Abingdon Theatre in NYC (finalist).

Directing (and co-directing) credits include: The remount of Generic Latina, Piece of Ass for Estrogenfest and The Maria Chronicles for both the Goodman's Latino Theater Festival and the critically acclaimed full-length run at Teatro Luna, S-e-x-Oh!, Que Bonita Bandera and Three Days for SÓLO Latinas, and the upcoming Knowhatimean written by Idris Goodwin and Kevin Coval.

Chicago acting credits include: Sandra in Living Out with American Theatre Co./Teatro Vista, Vecina in Electricidad at the Goodman Theatre, The Angel in Angels in America, and Martirio in La Casa De Bernarda Alba with Aguijon Theater. In the winter of 2005, Saracho premiered her solo play To Red Stick at Chicago Dramatists, in Teatro Luna's critically acclaimed evening of solo work, SÓLO Latinas, which was later remounted in the 2005 Theatre-On-The-Lake Season. Tanya's voice can be heard around the country in many radio and television commercials. TeatroLuna@aol.com

DANA CRUZ (artistic ensemble) loves the ladies de Teatro Luna and is excited to team up with them. Recent Chicago credits include the Let the Eagle Fly at the Goodman's Latino Theater Festival, Maria Chronicles, and S-E-X-Oh! with Teatro Luna and Generic Latina with the touring company Teatro Luna... Anda, CityGirl & Game/Place/Show with the Neofuturists and Acts of Mercy by John Michael Garces with Flushpuppy Productions to name a few. She has performed professionally with companies in Chicago, New York and Boston and is currently teaching theater at Our Lady of Tepeyac High School and working as a massage therapist in Evanston, IL. She is an Aries. She hates talking about herself in the third person and is oh so excited to be marrying the T-man on June 2005. danamarieelez@hotmail.com

MIRANDA GONZALEZ (artistic ensemble/touring director) is an original founding member of Luna. Teatro Luna credits include the original production of Generic Latina, Probadita, Mas Probadita, both the New York and Chicago mountings of Dejame Contarte, SOLO Latinas and S-E-X-Oh! She has appeared in numerous industrials and commercials in the midwest, as well as the dearly departed Joan Cusack television series What About Joan? where she played a recurring role. Miranda is a loan officer and mother by day, and a Lunatica by night. mlina13@yahoo.com

suzette MAYOBRE(artistic ensemble) comes to us from the sunny state of Florida, where after a life of sun and fun, she decided to move to the bitter cold of Chicago! Fortunately, she met the wonderful ladies of Teatro Luna, who have made the transition easier and have provided her with numerous opportunities to nurture her art. Her roots in entertainment were planted while at the University of Miami, where she co-hosted a live, weekly morning show, worked at the university radio station, and produced a feature-length documentary entitled Last Night In Cuba, which she holds very dear to her heart. After receiving her degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Miami, she decided that she wanted to pursue her acting. She has worked on several commercials, industrials, voice overs, independent films and television, most recently as a guest reporter for Control, a Univision Network program. Her theater credits includes work with Teatro Luna, Teatro Vista, Salsation! and Eclipse Theatre among others. giugno10@aol.com

maritza Cervantes (artistic ensemble) is a Mexican-American actress/musician/artist born and raised in Chicago. Past credits include: Al son..que me toques Lorca La Molecula Artistica: Nido del Mar, La Casa De Bernarda Alba, Aguijon Theatre, Polaroid Stories, En Mortem Flush Puppy Productions, and S-E-X-Oh! with Teatro Luna. Maritza is Co-founder of the acoustic/hip-hop/soul influenced musical outfit the LUNA BLUES MACHINE. mari2420@aol.com

yadira CORREA (artistic ensemble) Crazy curly haired Puertorican who's acting credits include: Vagina Monologues, For Colored Girls/Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enough, María Chronicles, Sketchbook and S-E-X-Oh! yco76@hotmail.com

CURRENTLY PLAYING:
MACHOS

November - December 2007 at the Chicago Dramatists Teatro Luna is doing WHAT???? This fall, presentamos A new play by Teatro Luna.

MACHOS: Be a Man?...
Men. Women. Women dressed as men. Teatro Luna, Chicago's All-Latina Theater Company, announces the world premiere of MACHOS, an interview based play about contemporary masculinities. In 2006, frustrated with boyfriends, brothers, and bosses, the company of Latina women set out to answer the question: what are men really thinking?

The result is MACHOS, a performance drawn from interviews with 50 men nationwide and performed by an all-Latina cast in drag. From a young man's relationship with his correctional officer father to man cheating on his wife with himself, to an epic confrontation between fraternity brothers, MACHOS presents a range of true-life stories with Teatro Luna's trademark humor and unique Latina point of view.

MACHOS follows the critically acclaimed shows S-E-X-OH and LUNATIC(A)S and moves beyond the everyday stereotypes of gender, offering a complex look at how 50 men (and eight Latina women) learned how to be men. As always, Teatro Luna is cheeky, straightforward, and willing to ask even the most hard hitting questions: exactly how did you learn to use a urinal? MACHOS is presented In English with a sprinkle of Spanish.

MACHOS
Developed and directed by Coya Paz . Created by El Teatro Luna. Coya Paz is the Co-Artistic Director of Teatro Luna, and was named one of UR Magazine's 30 Under 30 in 2005 and one of GO NYC! Magazine's 100 Women We Love in 2007. She was the 2006-2007 Artist-In-Residence at the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture. Previous collaborations with Teatro Luna include Generic Latina, Dejame Contarte, The Maria Chronicles, and S-e-x-Oh!

Chicago Dramatists 1105 W Chicago Ave Chicago, Il 60622 Previews: November 5, 6, 7 @ 7:00 pm Runs: November 8th 0 December 16th 2007 Thursdays, Fridays, & Saturdays at 7:30 pm & Sundays at 6:00 pm

For more information, please call 773-878-LUNA or email us at: info@teatroluna.org

AND MORE GREAT NEWS

Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural & Bookstore
presents:
A SPECIAL AUTHOR READING & BOOK SIGNING with BETO GUTIERREZ

A Sentence with the District
A compelling collection of essays based on the actual experience of a former at-risk youth who became an inspired teacher at his alma mater high school in the San Fernando Valley. The stories reveal a moving glimpse into LAUSD, the nation's second largest school district, which repeatedly fails students of color and those on the front lines -- classroom teachers. The author sheds insight from a first person point of view that others, including administrators, dare not mention. In its frank and passionate tone, the book raises key issues that underscore a dire need for change.

SATURDAY Oct. 27th at 1p.m.
PICK UP YOUR COPY TODAY AT TIA CHUCHAS!
Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural & Bookstore
10258 Foothill Blvd.
Lake View Terrace, California 91342
(818)896-1479

Celebrate with Amigas Latinas!

SAVE THE DATE!!


November 3, Saturday

¡Siempre Latina!
Gala Dinner

Garden Manor
4722 W. Armitage
Chicago, IL
Tickets:
$60 advance
$70 at door

Available:

Mestiza
1010 W. 18 Street Chicago, IL
312 563 0132

Early to Bed

5232 N. Sheridan Rd. Chicago, IL
773 271 1219

Lisa Alvarado

DeLaTorre and a Chicago Feast for the Eyes

Artist Luis DeLaTorre and Francisco Toledo in Oaxaca

Luis DeLaTorre is an artist in constant motion translating through the language of colors, shapes and shadows his experience of being Mexican-American in the 21st century and the dualities of living between these two worlds. Luis DeLaTorre was born in McAllen, TX 1969 and raised in the states of Jalisco and Nayarít, Mexico. His mother migrated with Luis and his two older brothers to the Bridgeport neighborhood in Chicago.

DeLaTorre began using art as a coping mechanism to understand his new surroundings and fill the void of having been transplanted from the place that he had always known as home. The art work will later took on a life of it’s own incorporating elements of time, history, geography creating universal themes affecting us all such as war, spiraling economies and the commercialization of humanity.

While in high school DeLaTorre was inspired by the paintings of artists such as Salvador Dali, David Alfaro Siqueiros and comic book illustrators Alan Lee and Bill Sienkiewicz. It was then that he decided to pursue an education in art. After developing his art skills he enrolled at the American Academy of Art where he had the opportunity to study under Master Watercolorist Irving Shapiro and earn his degree in Fine Art.

DeLaTorre’s art is exhibited frequently in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe. He recently received a grant from the Illinois Arts Council. This fall he has been commissioned to do two murals one at Spry Elementary School and one at Columbia Explorers Elementary School. He will also be participating in two group shows one at Neleh Gallery in Chicago and the Owings -Dewey Fine Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His artwork is currently in museum and private collections.

A huge part of his creative process is experimentation and constantly learning new things. DeLaTorre enjoys collaborating with artists of all genres. In the fall of 2006 DeLaTorre created visual elements for a Teatro Vista production and in 2005 included an enormous backdrop mural commissioned by Luna Negra Dance Theatre for a performance at the Harris Theatre for Music and Dance. His work has also been displayed at the Día De Los Muertos exhibit at The National Museum of Mexican Art. DeLaTorre has been involved in gilding restoration work at the historic Auditorium Theatre, the Illinois and Iowa State Capital Buildings and participated in the Frank Lloyd Wright House “Wing Spread” restoration project in Racine, WI.

DeLaTorre is committed to art in schools engaging kids to focus their energy on their own creativity. He is an advocate of artistic projects that enrich them and keep their creativity focused. He frequently participates as a guest speaker in Chicago Public Schools to encourage the exploration of the arts. In 2005 he also did a mosaic mural created for the Columbia Explorer Elementary School. The mural was done with children from the Yollocalli Youth Museum (a initiative of the MFACM).

DeLaTorre has also implemented an artist apprentice program in conjunction with the Big Picture H.S. in Chicago that includes the participation of two students a year. In the future he plans to create a scholarship program for young artists, and help implement more arts programs into inner-city schools. Check out DeLaTorre's new blog you can keep up with whats happing at the studio and read about the process the artist goes through in creating the paintings.

SAVE THE DATES! Come Celebrate Chicago Artist Month!

October 5, 2007
Opening Reception
6pm to 10pm

Looking for a way to CELEBRATE Chicago Artist Month? Celebrate with us! You can come and mingle with art lovers, meet the artists and learn about the INCREDIBLE work being produced in the Bridgeport neighborhood. There will be a variety of incredible work hanging on walls and easels. EXCITING NEW works featured by DeLaTorre, Cleeland, Gama, Noyes, Brasch, Ingold and Wyzensagel. DeLaTorre’s Oil paintings on richly prepared wood panels and watercolor portraits will have you spell bound. Runs thru Oct. 31 by appointment.

Eastbank Artist Group Exhibit
DeLaTorre Fine Art Studio
1200 W 35th Street – 3rd Floor
Chicago, IL 60609
773-927-7030
http://www.DeLaTorreArts.blogspot.com


Saturday, October 6, 2007
Opening Reception
Time: 6 to 9pm

Abstract Global Communities brings together four artists from differing backgrounds whose creative talents collectively represent our world community. The collective creativity of these artists represents the global concept of art without borders or boundaries. Come to this delightful gallery housed in a Frank Lloyd Wright gem in the Bronzeville neighborhood and Indulge your art craving with the rich layers and succulent colors of DeLaTorre’s newest work. You can be one of the first to see the unveiling of his painting “An Ode To Hillary” oil on canvas.

Abstract Global Communities/Neleh Galleries International
Chicago Artist Month Group Show
Opening Reception
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Time: 6 to 9pm
3219 S. Calumet Avenue
Chicago, IL 60616
http://www.nelehgalleries.com

Friday, October, 26 2007
Día de los Muertos Group Exhibit DeLaTorre’s art is on the move! If you happen to be in Santa Fe stop in and check out this fabulous exhibit at the Owings-Dewey Fine Art gallery. This exhibit will feature DeLaTorre’s take on this traditional Día de los Muertos holiday. Over the past twenty years the gallery has exhibited thousands of accomplished works by many of America's finest painters and exploring a variety of historical and contemporary themes.

Día de los Muertos Group Exhibit Owings-Dewey Fine Art / North 120 East Marcy Street Friday, October, 26 2007 Santa Fe, NM 87501 http://owingsdewey.com

Thursday, November 1, 2007 Opening Reception
This year, DeLaTorre dedicates his ofrenda to the U.S. Constitution raising questions on the contemporary and historical role of this country. The work emerges from subconscious inspired images painted on panels drenched in thick hand-made gesso resulting in glazes and paint integral to the artwork.

Thursday, November 1, Opening Reception Dia de Los Muertos Group Exhibit Latino Arts, UCC 1028 S. 9th Street Milwaukee, WI 53204 latinoartsinc.org New Mural Commission! Columbia Explorer Elementary

DeLaTorre will be creating a mural that will be 168” X 288” and will have three layers and images relating to hope and the ability to rise above faceless crowds and imagine the endless possibilities through the arts and education. Unveiling TBA.

DeLaTorre Arts Studio
1200 West 35th Street - 3rd Floor
Chicago, IL 60608

Tel: 773-927-7030

or e-mail us at:
luis@delatorrearts.com
or
dpando@delatorrearts.com

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More about our friends

The El Paso Times ran a profile of Gustavo Arellano written by EPT's book editor:

http://www.elpasotimes.com/living/ci_7105135

Also, Rigoberto Gonzalez reviewed Javier O. Huerta's new book, "Some Clarifications y Otros Poemas" (Arte Público Press, $10.95 paperback):

http://www.elpasotimes.com/living/ci_7105139

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More Raúl Niño news:

After a long hiatus, it looks like Bloga friend, poet Raúl Niño will be very busy promoting Book of Mornings. Here's what's on tap in October here in Chicago. Raúl sent me a couple of quotes in his press release, and they are too good not to list.

A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.

W. H. Auden

For a writer only one form of patriotism exists: his attitude toward language.
Joseph Brodsky

October 17, Wednesday, at the Book Cellar, 4736-38 North Lincoln Avenue, at 7PM

On this evening of a "Local Author Night" -- it's reading with recently published writers Josh P. McClary, Lawrence Santoro, Renee Rosen and Mary Kinzie. This is a wonderful independent book shop, located in Lincoln Square, one well worth supporting. After all they serve wine by the glass, how many book stores can claim to do that?

October 23, Tuesday, at the Lincoln Park Branch Library, 1150 West Fullerton Avenue, at 7PM

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More News

First Macho feature at PROYECTO LATINA

Monday, Oct. 15 @ Tianguis Bookstore, 2003 S. Damen (across from the Blue line stop),
7:00 p.m. Free admission.

In honor of Teatro Luna's new Machos production, Proyecto Latina will present their first ever male feature, the wonderful Paul Martinez Pompa. The fabulous Diana Pando steps up as mistress of ceremonies for the evening. As always there will be Chisme box and open-mic.

Paul Martinez Pompa studied at the University of Chicago and at Indiana University, where he served as a poetry editor for Indiana Review. His chapbook, Pepper Spray, was published by Momotombo Press in 2006. His work has also appeared in the journals Borderlands and Barrow Street and the anthologies The Wind Shifts and Telling Tongues. Currently, he teaches at Triton College in River Grove, Illinois.

(Paul was the great poet who read at the inaugural Palabra Pura in 2006).

AND

The 17th Annual Gwendolyn Brooks Conference on Black Literature and Creative Writing

Fine Fury: Celebrating Gwendolyn Brooks at 90
October 17-20 2007 Chicago State University

As for that other kind of kindness,
if there is milk it must be mindful.
The milkofhumankindness must be mindful
as wily wines.
Must be fine fury.
Must be mega, must be main.

-- from Young Afrikans (of the furious) by Gwendolyn Brooks

Featuring:
Sonia Sanchez
Martin Espada
Ed Roberson
Tayari Jones
Donda West
Cheryl Clarke
Julius E. Thompson
Haki R. Madhubuti
Sterling Plumpp
Angela Jackson
Sandra Jackson-Opoku
Margo Crawford
Camille Dungy
Jacqueline Jones LaMon
Evie Shockley
Adrian Matejka
Gregory Pardlo
Randall HortonM
Kelly Norman Ellis
Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Bayo Ojikutu
Kalisha Buchanon

Workshops by Martin Espada and others. For registration information visit www.csu.edu/gwendolynbrooks or call 773-995-3750.

AND

PALABRA PURA: PETER RAMOS and BERNARDO NAVIA

Wednesday, October 17
California Clipper, 1002 N. California
(corner of California and Augusta), Chicago
Doors open 8:00 p.m. Reading begins 8:30 p.m
Free admission. 21 and over show. (Don't forget your i.d.)

PETER RAMOS's poems appear in Indiana Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, Verse, and Poet Lore. In 2000, he was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. The author of several chapbooks, including Short Waves (White Eagle Coffee Store Press 2003), Ramos is an assistant professor of English at Buffalo State College where he teaches courses in American literature.

BERNARDO NAVIA was born in Chile. As the oldest of four brothers in a Protestant missionary family, he had the opportunity to live and travel in many cities in Chile, as well as throughout diverse countries in Latin America. He has published essays, poems and stories in numerous journals and periodicals in Chile, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Columbia, and Chicago, especially in the periodical, contratiempo. In 2000, a book of his poetry was published, Doce muertes para una resaca (Madrid: Betania 2000), and he is presently in negotiations for the publication of a novel. Bernardo Navia is an assistant professor at DePaul University.

Palabra Pura is supported by The Joyce Foundation, Letras Latinas at the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and the Rafael Cintron Ortiz Cultural Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Lisa Alvarado