Choreographies of community: Familias and its impact in the South Bronx Jane de Lacy Gabriels A Thesis In the Department Of Humanities Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Humanities) Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada January 2015 © Jane D. Gabriels CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Jane Gabriels Entitled: Choreographies of community: Familias and its impact in the South Bronx and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final examining committee: Dr. P.K. Langshaw, Chair Dr. Thomas F. DeFrantz, External Examiner Dr. Chantal Maille, External to Program Dr. Bina Freiwald, Examiner Dr. Mark Sussman, Examiner Dr. Erin Manning, Thesis Supervisor Approved by _______________________________________________ Chair of Department or Graduate Program Director ________ _________________________________ Dean of Faculty Abstract Choreographies of community: Familias and its impact in the South Bronx Jane D. Gabriels, Ph.D. Concordia University, 2015 This thesis documents the creation, performance, and reception of Familias, a performance project created in 1994-95 by visual artist Pepón Osorio and choreographer Merián Soto, both in and out of its generative South Bronx context. This strategic close reading explores and presents Familias as an exemplar and richly instructive instance of socially engaged, community-based art making. By exploring Familias through multiple points of access – how it dances, speaks, listens and is understood / misunderstood -- this thesis reveals other narratives and paradigms for thinking about the work and its participants, and by extension, further engages with the creative process and production possibilities in the South Bronx. Reviewing Familias further with a curatorial perspective reveals opportunities that could strengthen other current art and community projects. In other words, by thinking about how Familias activates, generates, and replenishes itself in its creative process, this thesis also helps reconfigure how we can think about other possibilities in the borough. Chapter breakdown: “Bronx Renaissance” examines structural underpinnings of long-term economic depression in the borough and offers multivalent arguments for change. “Familias and the South Bronx” offers further historical background that situates Familias locally, and provides insights into the artistic visions and curatorial work of its lead artists. iii “Pepatián and the South Bronx” offers insights into my own practice, and how my experiences and creative grappling with the making of Familias, together with my sustained participation and leadership of alternative art making circuits in the South Bronx, led to the creation of a performance piece: How I Became a Boogie-Down Rican. “Familias” provides four distinct perspectives into the work with interludes to further underscore the impact of performing arts and organizations in the borough. This writing approach with performance and curatorial work as research-site offers material far beyond existing reviews, articles and video documentation. “How I Became a Boogie-Down Rican” explores the performance work of an experientially informed, next-level socially engaged, community-based practice from my experiences in the borough. An engagement with Familias shows how the artists’ work and their way of working offer a local legacy of impact that continues to inspire. Acknowledgements Dedicated to Tonito Arroyo and Niles Ford, and their friends and families. And to my family: to my Mom who supports me every step of the way, patiently and impatiently as is her life-loving nature, to my Dad, my Uncle Jim and all my family “upstairs,” and to my brothers who as one famously said, “dance shmance, I don’t get it. Pass the ketchup kiddo.” To my cousins and our family based in Montreal, and to my great-grandfather and great-aunts on my father’s side buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York. And to my Mom’s Uncle Charley who was in Puerto Rico during Teddy Roosevelt’s time – all we know is that he complained about sleeping on the beaches, so we’re hoping that he spent a lot of his time there playing “reveille” on a loop. To Mikhal Dekel at City College and all the profs and fellow students at City, especially Elaine Equi – where it all started with a poetry workshop. To Jan Cohen-Cruz who met me on a Saturday at 9am in a coffee shop on 1st Avenue, and to Deborah Paradez, her husband Frank Guridy, and Daniel Alexander Jones who sat me down at their kitchen table in Austin TX and told me to go for it. A big thank you to Merián Soto. And to the members of my committee at Concordia University: Erin Manning (Advisor – thank you Erin!) Bina Freiwald (hooray Bina), Mark Sussman (hooray Mark). Friends to thank for inspired conversations and support: Bill Aguado and Kathi Pavlick, James Adlesic, Arthur Aviles, Fabien Maltais-Bayda (Fabien!!!), Leenda Bonilla, Maya Charney, Caridad De La Luz, Marisol Diaz, Wally Edgecombe, Maggie Gonzalez, Naeema Jamilah Torres, Michael Knobbe, Alvan Colon-Lespier, Rebecca Lloyd-Jones (thanks for my ongoing 1001 Grand Concourse creative residency!), Arnaldo J. Lopez (u da best!), Suzanne Miller, iv Sorouja Moll (thanks!), Myrna Nieves (gracias!), Pepón Osorio (yay!), Stella Padnos - Shea (thank you Stella), Carlo Quispe (thanks for the gig!), Charles Rice-Gonzalez, Raquel Rivera, Jorge Rojas, Myriam Suchet (!!!), Guillaume Vallée (thank you!), Kathy Westwater (who first introduced me to Pepatián). And thanks Ori Flomin, Arielle Gabriel-Chouinard, Leigh Hansen, Leslie Plumb, Abigail Seabaly, Karen Shen, Jean Vitrano and Todd Williams for hanging in there. How I Became a Boogie-Down Rican received helpful feedback from: Arthur Aviles, Leenda Bonilla, Heloise Darq, Caridad De La Luz and Cynthia Paniagua, Jessie Flores, Leslie Plumb, Pedro Osorio, Jim Self, RoseAnn Spradlin, Ashley Kelly Tata, Larissa Velez-Jackson, Alyson Wishnousky and Nikol Mikus, among others. Also a shout out to my colleagues at the ICPP/Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance, and to Dena Davida and our work with the International Community of Performing Arts Curators/CICA-ICAC in Montreal. v Table of Contents Introduction I. Statement of Methodology II. Context: Bronx Renaissance III. Curated Project: Familias and the South Bronx IV. Curatorial Practices: Pepatián and the South Bronx V. Familias: How does Familias dance? How does Familias speak? How does Familias listen? How is Familias Understood/Misunderstood? VI. How I became a Boogie-Down Rican VII. Endnotes VIII. Works Cited IX. Appendices 1. Artist biographies: Familias lead and collaborating artists 2. Program: Familias (1995) 3. Context: South Bronx-based art and non-profit organizations 4. Choreographies and Training: Merián Soto 5. Context: Arthur Aviles history with Pepatián 6. DVD: informational sheet vi Gabriels 1 Introduction Familias was a breakthrough for art and community projects in the South Bronx. This thesis gives the performance project a platform to connect more strongly with the history of the borough. This thesis also honors the artists’ process and what they were able to create in the mid- 1990s. This history is needed more than ever as recently there have been several organizations that have moved to the South Bronx in 2011-12 to activate art and community projects in alternative indoor and outdoor sites. These include: “No Longer Empty” known for turning vacant sites into temporary art exhibitions with two projects in the South Bronx (“This Side of Paradise“ at the previously under-used site Andrew Freedman Home and “Home is Where The Bronx Is “ at Longwood Art Gallery, both in 2012); Dancing in the Streets (2011) which produces large-scale public performances that highlight the architecture and histories of the Bronx; Laundromat Project (2012-13) which uses arts in alternate neighborhood sites to strengthen existing community networks. These recent projects are in addition to arts and community programming already happening at local venues in annual one-day events, like Pregones Theater annual Summer Block party (2005-present), and The Point Fish Hunts Point Fish Parade & Summer Festival (2003-present), among others. As a groundbreaking work, Familias offers these recent initiatives, whether they realize it or not, foundational support for their current work in the borough. Thinking with Familias and thinking with the non-profit organization Pepatián offers support that can further empower other local art and community initiatives. The success of Merián Soto and Pepón Osorio's Familias, its influences and impact, is part of what makes their current work more possible in the South Bronx. Similar to the way Teatro Puerto Rico in the 1904s and 50s supported the impulses to create Familias, Familias is also the long-held secret that continues to whisper its impact. This thesis reveals more of its work and the artists’ way of working. Within this through line, there is also the cultivation of curatorship. Osorio and Soto were the artists creating this work, and their direction of the full project was also nearly like the role occupied by curators in the performing arts. Performing arts curation is a new field with a rapidly growing