SEEDS OF CHICANO IDENTITY Scholar Series in May To Follow Sunday Performances of Milagro Theatre's THE SHRUNKEN HEAD OF PANCHO VILLA

Immediately following the Sunday matinee performances of The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa, visiting scholars Jorge Huerta, Ph.D., Phil Esparza and Diane Rodriguez will lead three separate panel discussions based on their personal experiences working with Luis Valdez and El Teatro Campesino, and/or their subsequent work in Latino-identified theatre.

Sunday, May 10 - Phil Esparza, World Theatre Operations Manager and former General Manager of El Teatro Campesino, will lead the discussion on “Producing Theatre for Social Change”, illuminating the mechanics of arts activism and sharing his experiences with the challenges and strategies employed by El Teatro Campesino as it strived to create meaningful work that promotes positive social change. This will address the question: What were the goals of Teatro Campesino and how were they accomplished? This discussion will provide emerging arts activists and companies with examples of how the work is both challenging and rewarding. Joining the panel will be Ramon Ramirez, a founder of PCUN (Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, NW Treeplanters and Farmworkers United) Oregon’s union of farmworkers, nursery, and reforestation workers, and the state’s largest Latino organization based in Woodburn, Oregon.

Sunday, May 17 - Jorge Huerta, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego and founder of Teatro de la Esperanza, will lead the discussion on “The Legacy of El Teatro Campesino”, exploring the history and impact of the company.  This panel will address the questions: Why did ETC strike a chord with its farm worker audiences?  How has its work influenced theatres across the country and internationally? Roberto De Anda, Associate Professor and Director of Portland State University’s Chicano/Latino Studies department will join Prof. Huerta on this panel along with José Padín, Associate Professor and former head of PSU Chicano/Latino Studies.

Sunday, May 24 - Diane Rodriguez, Associate Director, Center Theatre Group, leading actress of El Teatro Campesino for many years, and co-founder of Teatro de la Esperanza, will lead the discussion on “The Art of El Teatro Campesino”, sharing information on the company’s process for creating work that was both highly entertaining, relevant, and contained powerful messages.  This panel will address the questions: How was the audience taken into consideration as a part of the creative process?  Why were certain aesthetic choices made, such as the use of broad comedy, bilingualism, and political themes, and how did they function? Ms. Rodriguez will be joined by Erubiel Valladores, a young theatre artist who has begun his own theatre company in Woodburn, Oregon with PCUN, and Amy Gonzalez, a Latina director now based in Portland, Oregon.

Now in its silver anniversary season, the Miracle Theatre Group has been dedicated to bringing the vibrancy of Latino theatre to the Northwest community and beyond for 25 years. In addition to its national tours, Miracle provides a home for Spanish and Latin American arts and culture at El Centro Milagro, where it enriches the local community with a variety of community outreach projects and educational programs designed to share the diversity of Latino culture. For more information about the Miracle Theatre Group, visit www.milagro.org or call 503-236-7253.

This project was made possible in part by a grant from the Oregon Council for the Humanities (OCH), a statewide nonprofit organization and an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds OCH’s grant program; additional funding provided by the Oregon Cultural Trust and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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