allgo is proud to present
~ Empanada, a play written by Anel I. Flores ~
the story of a Lesbiana en probaditas
When: Saturday, May 31, 2008
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Where: Mexican American Cultural Center
[600 River Street, Austin Texas 78701]
Admission: Free/Donations Accepted
Contact: Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano - (512) 791-8752 / lorenzo@allgo.org
After romancing and seducing audiences in San Antonio, Houston and Chicago, Empanada is hitting Austin with its candor, lyricism and audacity. Weaving audience emotions through comedy and dramatic moments, Empanada is a performance documentation of the difficult challenges a Mexican American faces when family, religion, cultura, and her inner truth come together. Illustrating the Lesbiana singing her sensuality through bilingual poems and short stories, live music, light design and photography, Empanada forces us to challenge our own beliefs and see life through the eyes of a woman engrossed in an eating disorder brought on by depression, and further societal, familial and self subjugation.
With high-caliber performances by San Antonio-based Marķa A. Ibarra, Ana Lisa Leos, Isabel DeLaCerda and Anel I. Flores, the main character defends the richness of her experience and artistic Mexican traditions and sexuality, regardless of their cultural contradictions, by placing value in her antepasadas, and baptizing herself Lesbiana. Further, in an exploration of her multi-divided world, Empanada's Chicana narrator challenges homophobia within herself, the lgbtq community, and society at large, by declaring her secretos through lyrical vignettes that reveal encuentros from within the prison and asylum of the cocina.
About the creator: Anel I. Flores is a native Tejana visual artist, teacher and writer. A holder of a BA in English and Art, and an MFA in Creative Writing, Flores has taught art and creative writing to people of all ages in several of San Antonio's public and private schools, cultural centers, museums, and privately from her studio, ARTery.
About the Director and Performer: Marķa A. Ibarra is a mother, director, writer, actor and teaching artist with a BA in Theater and Speech. A believer in the power of education through the arts, Ibarra currently teaches youth with Jump-Start Performance Co.'s Word Play and Healing Arts Programs. Ibarra is a co-founder of Cuento Theater, a children's performance bilingual acting troupe and co-founder of Mad Media, a multi-media performance company.
About the Performers:
Ana Lisa Leos (Congas, Percussion, Keyboard, Piano and Performance) is a native San Antonian, currently attending San Antonio College, where she is pursuing a degree in Special Education. She has appeared in a staged reading production of Sharon Bridgforth's, Con Flama. AnaLisa is proud to be working with this talented and honorable group of women.
Isabel DeLaCerda (Vocals, Percussion and Performance) is a native Texas whose love for music is influenced by her parents and love for Mariachi music is a reminder of her culture. She has performed with the UTSA Mariachi Los Paisanos and competed in the Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitilan annual statewide competition. Empanada will be her first staged reading. She is grateful to be working with wonderful artists. DeLaCerda considers her talent a work in progress and plans to resume her college education at San Antonio College where she will join the choir and take private singing lessons while pursuing a degree in Education.
About allgo
allgo works to create and sustain a statewide network of queer people of color activists, groups, organizations and allies, which through nourishment of relationships, grassroots organizing and artistic expression can radically transform systems and policies toward a collective liberation. www.allgo.org