Tucson: Borderlands Theater presents COYOLXAUHQUI REMEMBERS

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From: wetborderdog@hotmail.com
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 4:27 PM
Subject: [Tucson Actors] Borderlands Theater presents COYOLXAUHQUI REMEMBERS

BORDERLANDS THEATER
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Eva Tessler

2/6/06 eva@latinadanceproject.com

BORDERLANDS THEATER TO PRESENT THE DANCE/DRAMA COYOLXAUHQUI REMEMBERS, MARCH
17 & 18, 2006 AT PIMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE CENTER FOR THE ARTS PROSCENIUM
THEATRE, 2202 W. ANKLAM ROAD.

“…strongly physical theater by gifted professional with imagination and
wit…stunning projected video by Garcia Davis…”
-Jennifer Noyer, Albuquerque Journal

“Coyolxauhqui ReMembers”, the new work by the Latina Dance Project (LDP),
reinterprets the Aztec myth of the Moon Goddess Coyolxauhqui through a full
evening dance-theater piece that blends dance (contemporary, indigenous
based, and aerial), music, text, and video. “Coyolxauhqui” comes to Tucson
after a very successful World Premiere at the National Hispanic Cultural
Center in Albuquerque (NM), January 20 & 21, 2006. The work will continue
touring nationally and internationally: subsequent presentations include
Greensboro (NC) and the Dance Festival of Almada in Portugal.

This myth recounts the story of Coyolxauhqui, who, fearing something evil
was developing within her pregnant mother’s womb, attempted to kill her
mother, the Earth Goddess. The fetus, Huitzilopochtli, sprang forth from
the womb as a grown warrior, dismembering his sister. To appease his
grieving mother, the new War God threw Coyolxauhqui’s remains into the sky,
where she became the phases of the moon. This interpretation comes from a
patriarchal lens, portraying Coyolxauhqui as a traitor who deserved her
fate. The Latina Dance Project (LDP) is reinterpreting this myth from a
Latina/feminist viewpoint in order to recover Coyolxauhqui’s voice. It is a
myth about oppression and violence against women, but it is also a story
about empowerment through action.

In “Coyolxauhqui ReMembers,” audiences will see four stories: Coyolxauhqui
as a young woman whose dreams haunt her; a Brazilian professional woman who
is conflicted over her own self-empowerment; an immigrant who re-assembles
herself through plastic surgery and fashion; a young Mexican maquiladora
(factory) worker who meets her fate in Juarez, where more than 300 women
have been murdered over the last ten years.

The Latina Dance Project (LDP) is a group of four nationally recognized
Latina dance artists—Licia Perea (CA), Eluza Santos (NC), Juanita Suarez
(NY), and Eva Tessler (AZ)—that explores the unique, dynamic, and passionate
voices of the hybrid cultures of Brazil, Mexico, and the United States
through concert performance, scholarship, and research. It was founded in
2002 as the rising voice of a new aesthetic in contemporary dance-theater,
having toured nationally since its inception. The LDP artists have shared
their own solo pieces with audiences through successful performances under
the concert title “Embodying Borders”, which has been seen in Tucson in
2004. The group has also conducted residencies with master classes, lecture
demonstrations, and research panels. It is important for LDP to focus on
the contemporary expression of the underrepresented Latina experience, and
it tries to reach out to the Latino/Hispanic community, particularly to the
emerging performing artist within that community, so that she/he is awakened
to the rich sources for artistic creation found in their own cultural roots.

Furthermore, through the solo performances of “Embodying Borders” and
other residency activities, LDP shares its work with those interested in
learning more about Latina culture and challenges stereotypical notions of
what this culture is about.

Coyolxauhqui ReMembers is directed by José García Davis. Choreography and
texts by LDP: Licia Perea, Eluza Santos, Juanita Suárez and Eva Tessler.
Additional texts courtesy of Víctor Hugo Rascón Banda. Original score by
William Campbell. Video by José García Davis. Costumes by Anne Closs-Farley.

Sets and properties by Alicia and Jason Adams. Lighting design Wouter
Feldbusch.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE AND TICKET INFORMATION

MARCH 17: 10 am (student matinee open to the public) & 7:30 pm MARCH 18:
7:30 pm Ticket prices: $18.75- $ 5 with various discounts

Pima Community College Center for the Arts, Proscenium Theater
2202 Anklam Road
RESERVATIONS: (520) 882-7406
Supported in part by the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

***

Eva Tessler
Artistic Associate
Borderlands Theater
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