FEBRUARY 2017 OUR 2016-17 SEASON A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING • TREASURE ISLAND • A MOVEABLE FEAST • WELCOME TO BRAGGSVILLE Encore Cover MVF.indd 1 12/9/2016 1:28:48 PM January/February 2017 Volume 13, No. 4 Paul Heppner Publisher WINTER 2017 Sara Keats, Jonathan Shipley Encore Stages Editors Susan Peterson Design & Production Director Contents Ana Alvira, Robin Kessler, Dialogue Shaun Swick, Stevie VanBronkhorst Encore Stages in conversation with a CONFIDENT Production Artists and Graphic Design Mike Hathaway few Seattle Latinx arts organizations Sales Director CURIOUS 5 Vanessa Villalobos with Brieanna Bright, Joey Chapman, La Sala COURAGEOUS Ann Manning, Rob Scott Seattle Area Account Executives 9 Fernando Luna with Latino Marilyn Kallins, Terri Reed Theatre Projects San Francisco/Bay Area Account Executives Jonathan Shipley 13 Ana Maria Compoy and An independent school for Ad Services Coordinator Tina Polzin with 1-Off students Pre-Kindergarten Carol Yip Productions through Fifth Grade Sales Coordinator Sara Keats, Jonathan Shipley Intermission Brain Transmission Online Editors 15 Test yourself with our trivia quiz Encore Stages is an Encore Arts Program that features stories about 3611 East Denny Way, Seattle, WA 98122 Leah Baltus Editor-in-Chief our local arts community side-by-side with information about performances. Paul Heppner Publisher Encore Arts Programs are publications of Encore Media Group. We also publish Dan Paulus Art Director City Arts, the monthly arts & culture magazine, and specialty publications, Gemma Wilson, Jonathan Zwickel Senior Editors including the Offical Seattle Pride Guide Amanda Manitach and the SIFF Guide and Catalog. Learn Visual Arts Editor more at encoremediagroup.com Barry Johnson Associate Digital Editor Encore Stages features the following organizations: Paul Heppner President Mike Hathaway Vice President Genay Genereux Accounting & Office Manager Sara Keats Marketing Manager Ryan Devlin Business Development Manager Corporate Office 425 North 85th Street Seattle, WA 98103 p 206.443.0445 f 206.443.1246 [email protected] 800.308.2898 x105 www.encoremediagroup.com Encore Arts Programs is published monthly by Encore Media Group to serve musical and theatrical events in the Puget Sound and San Francisco Bay Areas. All rights reserved. ©2016 Encore Media Group. Reproduction without written permission is prohibited. 2 ENCORE STAGES PUBLICATION: ENCORE DIMENSIONS: 8.375” W X 10.875” H SINGLE #2(BACK COVER) 12/2 Delivery NOTES: BELLEVUE SQUARE Untitled-1 2 12/20/16 5:42 PM EAP full-page template.indd 1 12/21/16 11:20 AM My wealth. My priorities. My partner. You’ve spent your life accumulating wealth. And, no doubt, that wealth now takes many forms, sits in many places, and is managed by many advisors. Unfortunately, that kind of fragmentation creates gaps that can hold your wealth back from its full potential. The Private Bank can help. The Private Bank uses a proprietary approach called the LIFE Wealth Cycle SM to ­ind those gaps—and help you achieve what is important to you. To learn more, contact: Carolyn Stewart Vice President, Private Wealth Advisor 2065874788 [email protected] or visit unionbank.com/theprivatebank Wills, trusts, foundations, and wealth planning strategies have legal, tax, accounting, and other implications. Clients should consult a legal or tax advisor. ©2016 MUFG Union Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. Union Bank is a registered trademark and brand name of MUFG Union Bank, N.A. EAP full-page template.indd 1 9/6/16 11:17 AM Dialogue Encore Stages in conversation My wealth. My priorities. My partner. Performer at La Cocina, photo courtesy of La Sala. La Sala was formed to coalesce and mobilize the diasporic Latinx arts What does La Sala do? You’ve spent your life accumulating wealth. And, no doubt, that wealth community of the region by highlighting the mosaic of Latino heritage. We work to build capacity for Latino now takes many forms, sits in many places, and is managed by many advisors. artists and have the long-term vision of Unfortunately, that kind of fragmentation creates gaps that can hold your making space for Latinx artists. Over wealth back from its full potential. The Private Bank can help. ten years, La Sala has evolved into a significant cultural incubator and SM We recently sat down with Vanessa Villalobos, a board The Private Bank uses a proprietary approach called the LIFE Wealth Cycle community resource that produces an to ­ind those gaps—and help you achieve what is important to you. member of La Sala, to discuss why the arts are important average of three to five art presentations, to the Latinx community, how the Presidential election trainings, social mixers, arts education To learn more, contact: may change Latinx arts and how you can help the and civic engagement ventures annually. Carolyn Stewart From small salons, that bring focused Vice President, Private Wealth Advisor organization. information to groups of 10 to 20 artists, 2065874788 to multi-dimensional productions that [email protected] encompass multiple workshops and or visit unionbank.com/theprivatebank events. Why is an organization like La Sala important? In King County, few organizations are dedicated to serving the needs of our growing Latino population and fewer still utilize art as an advancement tool to bring people together to appreciate, envision, and co-create the future. Wills, trusts, foundations, and wealth planning strategies have legal, tax, accounting, and other implications. Clients should consult a legal or tax advisor. After ten years, our organization can ©2016 MUFG Union Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. Union Bank is a registered trademark and brand name of MUFG Union Bank, N.A. see the fruit of our labor. Artists at encoreartsseattle.com 5 EAP full-page template.indd 1 9/6/16 11:17 AM various stages of development have jumped into curatorial roles, ensembles, ventured into self-production, created pop-up venues, and are now applying and receiving public funds to produce annual seasons. It is essential that the public know we exist, but also for them to see the powerful extent of our reach. What are your favorite memories in regards to La Sala? Over the summer, our La Cocina exhibit used the notion of cooking as a creative metaphor for the development of new artistic work. In our kitchen, we commissioned cooks, or “cocineros,” to create one week of programming focused around their designated discipline, whether it be theatre, dance, literary, performance art or visual art. Artist at La Cocina, photo courtsey of La Sala. Do you have an example or two? of milk on the bear’s body gave the Why are the arts important, and Xavier Lopez Jr.’s teddy bear spectator a shocking moment of “What particularly to Latinx community? performance was something very just happened?” Art is part of our community culture, unique, abstract at times, masterful Another moment was during Peruvian period. It is how we dress, how we in timing dark humor with a touch of artist Monica Rojas’ collaborative dance work, how we throw a party, the way we childish play … there is a climaxing theatre piece entitled Me Gritaron celebrate our dead, our political voice moment when an oversized, life-sized Negra/They Screamed Black At Me. The … it is an extension of our physical body bear gives in to his desire to consume, title comes from the notorious Afro- and spiritual being. Today more than and hoard his favorite cereal mix, and Peruvian female poet Victoria Santa anything, art will be a point of relief, there is a non-stop pouring of cereal Cruz. During the audience interaction release, a vehicle in which to engage over his nose, neck, chest and body … section of the work Venezuelen modern others in with political discourse … art then come the milk cartons to top of the dancer, Milvia Pacheco, brilliantly is what balances and fulfills that part of cereal that has visually just consumed recounted an audience member’s us that gets suppressed throughout the the teddy bear, the slow, splashing pour reflection on the topic of cultural day professionally, where maintaining appropriation and racist speech, using the status-quo is sometimes more a improvisational dance techniques to question about survival. contrast and compare the sentiments Talking about the Latinx political voice, expressed by the woman in the do you think the election changed (or audience. The air was thick, the small will change) the local Latinx artistic room was packed, only the sounds of community? In what ways? Oaxacan Mexican waving fans could be heard, while you couldn’t help The election has put everything but notice that for this woman, the personal at stake for Latino artists. As a artist’s physical poetry was hitting multicultural Brown community, we live something deep within her, perhaps with the tensions across the spectrum even with a healing element with this of hate-based Trump-ism. As artists, our acknowledgement work, that the lives and art express the pain, ecstasy, significance of the dance now weighed passion, vulgarity, anger and love we heavier with symbolism. feel. Knowing our people will be divided due to aggressive deportation tactics, This sort of “space,” is what La Sala bigotry and anti-gay cultural influence, masterfully creates, even when there is aside from the economic abuse Trump’s Vanessa Villalobos, La Sala Board Member no space, or no official home for La Sala. administration threatens, hits us at 6 ENCORE STAGES the core of who we are, what we carry —our ancestral legacy—and how we create. Artists are our culture keepers, our unity cheerleaders, our greatest agitators, that help us digest and process the American experience of not belonging, and we know we will be pitted against our neighbors because of lifestyle and social-economic-gender- power identities.