INDIGENOUS YOUTH IDENTITIES IN-PROCESS: LEARNING THROUGH INDIGENOUS ARTS
This paper engages trends in racial and ethnic self-identification amongst indigenous youth in relationship to an examination of the impact of an indigenous arts-based, week-long summer program. This paper articulates the objectives, challenges, and successes of the camp. Surveys conducted with youth participants and caregivers point to the program’s potential to have a positive impact on the youths’ identity development. The authors employ theory around culturally responsive and social justice pedagogies in conversation with data collected from different constituencies in the program. The paper ultimately seeks to invite other indigenous arts practitioners to consider structures and methods of fostering similarly inspired programs elsewhere for a national impact.
BOOK REVIEW: THEATRE FOR YOUTH THIRD SPACE
“Etheridge Woodson does not shy away from asserting opinions, values, or assumptions within this text, and she invites the reader to do the same. This approach is central to my own practice as a feminist teaching artist and scholar, and I appreciated being welcomed into a community of understanding as a reader.”
TOWARD INCLUSIVITY
The Latina|o Theatre Commons emerged from a national gathering of theatre artists, makers, and scholars who collectively decided that Latina/o/x-identified people would be the spine for our own stories and experiences in the American theatre. Since that first convening in 2013, the Latina|o Theatre Commons (LTC) has grown to include Latina/o/x artists and allies from across the US, working diligently to continually imagine and reimagine what a commons can and should look like. As a commons, we have shaped our values together, and these values serve as a collection of tenets that we constantly measure our collective actions against.
CULTURAL MICROAGGRESSIONS IN THEATRE REVIEWS
“It is curious that Ropes…possesses no Latino flavor or content.”—Michael Sommers’ New York Times review of Ropes by Barbara Colio at Two River Theater
It’s unfortunate—very unfortunate—that in 2016 cultural microaggressions such as this can be found in theatre reviews.
OSCARS SO WHITE
For the second year in a row, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences chose to nominate only white actors and actresses for Academy Awards, despite a long list of eligible performances by People of Color. The recurring disappointment ignited a resurgence in the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, used during the previous year’s Oscars. So, what does this have to do with theatre?
CURTAIN CALL
January 1st, 2016 will mark eighteen months since the official launch of Café Onda, the online journal of the Latina/o Theatre Commons (LTC). While the LTC has traveled across the country advocating for Latina/o theatre through convenings such as Encuentro 2014: A National Latina/o Theatre Festival, the Carnaval of New Latina/o Work 2015, and the Dallas Regional Convening, Café Onda has kept its finger on the pulse of the New American Theatre via this online stage. We wish to thank you, our online community, contributors, and allies who have helped situate us as the go-to source for Latina/o theatre. Thank you for participating in the dialogue around Latinidad in the 21st century. Let’s continue to build alliances, strengthen our conversations, increase our visibility, and update the narrative of the American Theatre. For now, we leave 2015 by offering you some of our favorite Café Onda moments from this year.—The Café Onda editorial board.
TEATRO CON TENACIDAD
This is the second of seven posts in a series about the state of Latina/o theatre in Texas. In this series, each of the contributing writers presents insight into the happenings, developments, and future of Latina/o theatre and performance in their respective regions.
CAFECITO
Cafecito (Coffee and chat) are interviews with comadres and compadres meant to shine a light on what small or large companies; independent artists or ensembles are doing around the country. Café Onda is an evolving publication. Sit back, take a sip, and enjoy our monthly Cafecito. This series focuses on the playwrights from the Latina/o Theatre Commons Carnaval of New Latina/o Work.
SPOTLIGHT ON THE REGIONAL ALLIANCES
This is the second post in a series of profiles of Latina/o regional alliances from around the country. Responses for this interview were provided by Emily Aguilar on behalf of TIA.