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Borderlands
The Performance in the Borderlands Project is a research, education and public programming initiative dedicated to the understanding and promotion of cultural performance in the borderlands between the U.S. and Mexico, and all the cultures this region comprises. Given the diversity of cultures and artistic traditions in these borderlands, this initiative defines performance broadly to include theatre, dance and musical practice as well as public performances of sacred and civic belonging. The project sponsors lectures, workshops, performances and public discussions with artists, critics, scholars and community members interested in performing arts in the region.
Key to our approach are events that not only present new works of engaging performance and lectures by scholars from around the world, but which also center around a spirit of community building. The events are artist-centered, and participants become more actively involved in the larger artistic community while they are in residency. This is as much for the benefit of the local community as it is for the artists, so that they leave with a sense of having been re-charged, and connected to students and local artists for possible connections in the future, as well as possible sources of inspiration to continue doing this vital work.
Fall 2011 Borderlands program at a glance:
Sept. 30 and Nov. 18, 6–10 p.m.
Civil Disobedience A celebration of urban movement, music, words, and arts from various local and international artists. Co–sponsored with Herberger Schools of Dance and Music. All ages welcome! ASU Fine Arts Plaza behind the ASU Art Museum, 10th Street and Mill Avenue. Free and open to the public.
Oct. 7–23
Zoot Suit by Luis Valdez, directed by Andrés Alcalá. Valdez's riveting play, with music and dance, portrays the life of a young man falsely accused of murder after the infamous 1943 Los Angeles "Zoot Suit Riots." Lyceum Theatre, ASU Tempe Campus. Purchase tickets at mainstage.asu.edu.
Friday, Oct. 7, 2 p.m.
"From the Margins to the Mainstream: US Latina/o Theatre and Performance."
Noted Chicano Theatre Scholar Jorge Huerta presents an overview of Chicana/o, Cuban American and (mainland) Puerto Rican plays and playwrights since the 1960s. Galvin Playhouse, ASU Tempe. Free and open to the public.
Saturday, Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m. ONE SHOW ONLY
No Roosters in the Desert, by Kara Hartzler, directed by Barclay Goldsmith. Presenting the Phoenix Premiere of Borderlands Theatre's award–winning play, based on the actual experiences of women crossing north into the Arizona desert. On their way they push the limits of their physical and emotional endurance, establishing connections with each other through the magical storytelling of an indigenous woman from Chiapas. See what audiences in Tucson, Chicago and Mexico City have been buzzing about!
Pre–show performances by spoken word poet Myrlin, DJ Alkeme, and filmmaker Efrain Robles begin at 7 p.m. Director Goldsmith and University of Arizona anthropologist Anna Ochoa O'Leary, who conducted the interviews with the women whose stories are told in this play, will participate in a community dialogue after the show. In local partnership with El Break – Isac Amaya Foundation.
Phoenix Center for the Arts Third Street Theatre
(1202 N. Third Street, at E. Moreland, downtown Phoenix)
Tickets available the night of the performance only. Come early, as this will surely sell-out! $10 general admission; $7 with student I.D.
Recent performances and residencies have included:
- Fall 2010 | From Mexico | Filmmaker Roy Germano screened his groundbreaking film about the lives of Mexican immigrants in America, titled The Other Side of Immigration
- Spring 2010 | From California | Buck World One
- Fall 2009 | From California | Teatro Campesino’s La Carpa de Los Rasquachis
- Fall 2008 | From Mérida, Yucatán | Ma´tinaa´ti Kech/No te entiendo/I don’t understand you
- Spring 2008 | From San Francisco | Secos y Mojados’ Enterrada/Buried in the body of remembrance
- Fall 2007 | From Buenos Aires | Teatro para niños – Chau Sr. Miedo
- Fall 2007 | From Los Angeles | Monica Palacios’s Greetings from a Queer Señorita
Performance in the Borderlands also frequently co-sponsors MainStage Season productions of the School of Theatre and Film.
The Performance in the Borderlands Lecture Series features regional, national and international scholars, critics and performance practitioners at public events on the ASU Tempe campus, as well as support public performances, consultancies, lectures and other events in communities throughout the Valley. Previous guests have included:
- Jorge Huerta, Endowed Chancellor’s Professor of Theatre, University of California–San Diego
- Deborah Paredez, Assistant Professor of Theatre, University of Texas at Austin
- Luís Valdez, founder, playwright and artistic director, Teatro Campesino
- Guillermo Gómez-Peña, performance artist
- John O’Neal, Artistic Director, Junebug Productions, New Orleans
- JoAnne Pottlitzer, playwright and director
- “Readings in Mexican Theatre” featuring a pane of researchers from the Centro de Investigación Teatral Rodolfo Usigli of Mexico, including Rodolfo Obregón, Israel, Franco, Socorro Merlín, Jovita Millán, Antonio Escobar and Rocio Galicia.
For more information on the Performance in the Borderlands project, contact:
Tamara Underiner | School of Theatre and Film | Arizona State University | PO Box 872002 | Tempe, AZ 85287-2002 | 480.965.7323 | 480.965.5351 fax | Tamara.Underiner@asu.edu