Rosario Ferré, 77

Noted Puerto Rican Author Rosario Ferré Dies At 77
by Sandra Lilley, NBC News, February 19, 2016

The political spectacle of Bread and Puppet Theater

Vermont's Bread and Puppet Theater
returns to New York for a December season.
(photos courtesy of Bread and Puppet Theater)

The Bread and Puppet Theater was founded in 1963 by Peter Schumann on New York City’s Lower East Side. Besides rod-puppet and hand puppet shows for children, the concerns of the first productions were rents, rats, police, and other problems of the neighborhood. More complex theater pieces followed, in which sculpture, music, dance and language were equal partners. The puppets grew bigger and bigger.

During the Vietnam War, Bread and puppet staged block-long processions and pageants involving hundreds of people. In 1974 Bread and Puppet moved to a farm in Glover in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

Read more and connect with Bread and Puppet Theater here. Volunteers are welcome for the theater's upcoming events in New York:

Upcoming shows and art auction 

at Theater for the New City

The Overtakelessness Circus
Saturdays-Sundays
December 12-13, 19-20 at 3pm

The Seditious Conspiracy Theater Presents: A monument to the Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera
Wednesday-Sunday
December 16-20 at 8pm

Bread and Puppet Theater Art Auction (live auctioneer and band)
Friday, December 18at 9:30pm

Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Streets), Manhattan
(map/directions)

Cheo Feliciano, 78

Cheo Feliciano, Debonair Salsa Singer, Dies at 78
by Bruce Weber, The New York Times, April 19, 2014

Rosie Perez offers master class for young performers

Rosie Perez holding a master class
at Baryshnikov Arts Center's Jerome Robbins Theater
Photo by Robert Leslie
courtesy of the National YoungArts Foundation

Actress, dancer, choreographer, director,
Rosie Perez has had to acknowledge and push past her fears
in order to be the accomplished, authentic artist she wants to be.
Photo by Robert Leslie
courtesy of the National YoungArts Foundation

Rosie Perez majored in biochemistry. That scientific headset remains with her, she says, making it easier for her to function in theater onstage--more in the moment, finely analyzing and managing each and every aspect of her performance--than in film, where so many, many others have control of the product.

That was one interesting revelation from a master class the multi-talented performer and Puerto Rican activist offered for high school arts students enrolled in this year's YoungArts New York week-long intensive. Held yesterday afternoon at Baryshnikov Arts Center's Jerome Robbins Theater, The 90-minute session gave a group of about twenty students in jazz, singing, dance and acting an opportunity to be observed and critiqued by this exceedingly sharp-eyed, frank and caring artist. And it also gave her a chance to share hard lessons learned from decades in the entertainment industry:

First off, check your attitude at the door, or you might get shown the door. 

"You're going to be dealing with a lot of older people who've been around a long time," she said. "When you get older, you don't have time to put up with people's BS, with chips on their shoulder."

Next up: Just plain do your art.

"If you're an artist and you aren't doing what you do, a part of you will be dying."

Nerds are it.

"That feeling that you have of never fitting in? That you're kind of weird? The reason you stand out as an artist is that you are not the norm. Embrace your oddity. Embrace it, honor it and cherish it."

No slacking off.

"You have to bring 100% professionalism, being prepared and pushing through your fears and stepping into your greatness, knowing who you are."

It was director George C. Wolfe who gave Perez that advice--"Push through your fears and step into your greatness"--and who once confronted her, as she waited to go onstage, with this:

"Are you still scared?"

"Yeah," she said.

"Good. Use it."

Passion. Use it, too.

"Have you seen my YouTube Soul Train compilation? Passion was leaking out of my pores. I learned to control it, manipulate that passion."

Your authentic self is your artist self.

"I used to spend a lot of time being someone else in my performance, thinking that that's what it is."

She thought she had to be Meryl Streep--although, she jokes, her accent was kind of a liability. But she watched jazz drummer Max Roach at a White House gig being nobody but Max Roach and was blown away by his cool. That gave her a clue. And she watched Sutton Foster, then a virtual unknown, step into the lead role in Thoroughly Modern Millie at nearly the last minute when another actress was fired--"Sutton Foster was read-day! Bitch was read-day!" Foster got her break and more than proved herself. And went on to win a Tony. Perez resolved to always be read-day, too.

"Where you find who you are and how you perform are those moments alone. That's how you develop the person you want to be."

Perez intently watching as
YoungArts New York participants perform.
Photo by Robert Leslie
courtesy of the National YoungArts Foundation

My favorite part of Perez's master class came when she quietly asked some members of a jazz combo, who had just played for her, to each take a moment to describe one of their colleagues as a musician. Each of the students did his or her best with this assignment but, as I see it, might have missed Perez's point. 

I think she was trying to get them to see that ability, and even style, is not enough. You have to have that little something something that is absolutely yours alone and that identifies you to your peers and your fans. Your signature. 

But they have time to work that all out.

* * * * *

YoungArts New York is a program of the National YoungArts Foundation, established in 1981 to "identify and nurture the next generation of artists in the literary, performing, visual and design arts, and to contribute to the cultural vitality of the nation by supporting the artistic development of talented young artists."

During YoungArts New York, March 31-April 7, 2014, approximately 100 YoungArts Winners in the visual, literary, performing and design arts will take part in a week-long intensive, working with masters in their field. These talented young artists will then present their work through several multidisciplinary performances at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and a visual art, photography and design exhibition, writers’ readings and cinematic arts screenings at the MoMA PS1. The week will culminate with a special screening of the HBO documentary series Anna Deavere Smith: YoungArts MasterClass at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

For a schedule of YoungArts New York exhibitions, readings, screenings and performances open to the general public this weekend, click here.

Applications to participate iin 2015 programs will be open from April 15 to October 17, 2014. For eligibility requirements, click here.

Eddie Pérez, 77

Eddie Pérez, 77, Salsa Musician
by The Associated Press, August 13, 2013

Ana "Rokafella" Garcia: The making of a break dancer

View video interview segments with 

Pioneer Break Dancer

Ana "Rokafella" Garcia

on

Makers

Musician Yomo Toro honored in the Bronx

In the Bronx, Honoring a Virtuoso of Latin Music
by Mona El Naggar, The New York Times, July 28. 2013

Moving with ancestral spirits: Dr. Marta Moreno Vega at NJPAC

Meet

Dr. Marta Moreno Vega

Saturday, May 4 (3-5pm)

Chase Room, New Jersey Performing Arts Center

screening of 

Let the Spirit Move You!  Espiritismo in Puerto Rico

Advance screening of Dr. Marta Moreno Vega's new film and research regarding ancestral Kongo-based sacred tradition of Espiritismo in Puerto Rico. Dr. Vega explores the divine knowledge of traditional elders and practitioners and expresses the concern that the tradition will not be passed on / transferred to younger generations because traditional practices are in danger of not continuing.

Also, learn more about Dr. Vega's life-long legacy and work in the following clips, including an excerpt from the HBO documentary: Latino List.

Baraka Sele

guest curator / moderator

information and tickets

NJPAC directions

    Latino List - Marta Moreno Vega Interview on Vimeo

    Latina Spotlight: Dr. Marta Moreno Vega on New Latina

Yomo Toro, 78

Yomo Toro, Latin Music Virtuoso, Dies at 78
by Ben Ratliff, The New York Times, July 2, 2012

Symposium on diasporic literatures in the US

Turning Tides
A Symposium on Diasporic Literatures

Saturday, November 6 (1-6pm)
McNally Auditorium, Fordham University, Lincoln Center
140 West 62nd Street, Law School Entrance
(between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues)
directions

Free and open to the public

Poets & Writers is pleased to co-sponsor Turning Tides: A Symposium on Diasporic Literatures at Fordham University.

This creative and scholarly symposium will highlight three different legacies of diaspora in the United States: Haiti, The Philippines and Puerto Rico. Each panel will feature a short scholarly talk and a reading by two writers, followed by a moderated conversation. What do Filipino American writers take for granted, in terms of artistic freedom? In what political and aesthetic ways are Puerto Rican writers employing creative disobedience? Until January 2010, descendants of the Haitian diaspora could call Haiti their home; now, that geography has been rent. What kind of scattering will result? And, how will it be told by writers?

The principle aim of Turning Tides is to involve prominent artists and scholars in an exchange of ideas for the purpose of proactively responding to the growing phenomena of American diaspora as it is in the making and to ground and contextualize this conversation within a critical understanding of a larger global history. 

For detailed program and speakers information, click here.