2007 – 2008

EL COLEGIO DEL CUERPO
MAY 2008
Following Álvaro Restrepo’s successful residency at the University of Texas, Lyn Wiltshire, Head of the Dance Area in the Department of Theatre and Dance, and Senior Dance major Kara Liotta spent one week at Restrepo’s school, El Colegio del Cuerpo, in Cartagena, Colombia. Both observed and taught classes, working with students of various levels as well as members of the school’s professional touring company. Their visit represents the latest exchange in an ongoing relationship between ArtesAméricas and this inspirational organization in Colombia.

DIDÁ RESIDENCY
MARCH 2008
World-renowned Brazilian percussionists Antonio Alves de Souza (Neguinho do Samba) and Víviam de Jesus Queirós participated in a unique residency at the UT. The two accomplished musicians serve as Creative Director and Executive Director, respectively, of Didá Educational and Cultural Association (Salvador, Brazil), a non-profit organization that offers free educational activities with a foundation in popular forms of art created and maintained by Africans and their descendants. Didá’s primary objective is the education of women and children through the arts.

Integrating music workshops, academic presentations, and meetings with students and faculty, this visit both highlighted and built upon the long and fruitful relationship UT has enjoyed with Didá. Coordinated through LLILAS Outreach, the residency was sponsored by the UT’s Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, ArtesAméricas, The Butler School of Music Tulane University’s Stone Center for Latin American Studies, George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center, Cine Las Americas Media Arts Center, and Copa Bar and Grill; The University’s Departments of Spanish and Portuguese and Radio-Television-Film, as well the Study Abroad Office, offered additional support for the project.

ÁLVARO RESTREPO RESIDENCY
FEBRUARY 2008

Photo by: Gabriel Ossa
Choreographer/Educator Álvaro Restrepo teaching in a local school in Cartagena, Colombia

World-renown Colombian choreographer, author, and human rights advocate Álvaro Restrepo recently completed an extraordinary one-week residency at UT. Restrepo, whose work has been seen in more than 30 countries, co-founded El Colegio del Cuerpo (“The College of the Body”), which New York Times writer Juan Forero described as “a contemporary-dance academy whose cutting-edge choreography and eclectic performances have shaken the tradition-bound city [of Cartagena, Colombia]”.
View a brief documentary on El Colegio del Cuerpo.

The residency was made possible by the generous support of the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS) as part of their Visiting Resource Professor Program. The residency was co-hosted by the Performing Arts Center’s ArtesAméricas program and the Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice at the School of Law. During his six-day residency in Austin, Mr. Restrepo visited and acted as guest-lecturer for four undergraduate classes in various academic departments on campus, as well as a community master class at the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center and a Dance I class at Del Valle Junior High School.
Images from the residency.
A brief interview with Álvaro Restrepo. English Spanish

RAPOPORT CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS & JUSTICE
SPEAKER SERIES
ArtesAméricas has partnered with The Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice at the UT School of Law on numerous occasions, bringing a new and important dimension to their work on human rights in the Americas and exploring creative means of human rights education. The Rapport Center’s mission is to build a multidisciplinary community engaged in the study and practice of human rights that promotes the economic and political enfranchisement of marginalized individuals and groups both locally and globally.
View a video of Álvaro Restrepo’s talk.
Listen to Julio Solorzano’s talk.
Listen to Andy Palacio’s talk.

2006 – 2007

EL AUTOMÓVIL GRIS – YOUTH PERFORMANCES & TEACHER WORKSHOP
JANUARY 2007
Mexican theater company Teatro De Ciertos Habitantes presented two performances of El Automóvil Gris (The Grey Automobile) to 700 middle school students from Del Valle ISD as part of the PAC’s PA2C project. The company also participated in a Teacher Training Workshop for local educators.

LOS CENZONTLES IN-SCHOOL PERFORMANCES
NOVEMBER 2006
Los Cenzontles visited Ojeda Jr. High and Del Valle Jr. High to perform traditional Mexican music and dance, as well as talk with students about their work. Additionally, the group visited the Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center to perform and hosted a Q&A Session.

COMPAÑIA TANIA PÉREZ-SALAS MASTER CLASS
OCTOBER 2006
Mexican contemporary dance company Compañia Tania Pérez-Salas members Kristin Taylor, Katherine Horrigan and Tzitzi Benavides led an intermediate and advanced level dance master class for UT dance students. The class was followed by a discussion of professional contemporary dance in Mexico.

EXPLORING MEXICO:PERFORMING ARTS & CULTURE:
A FULBRIGHT-HAYS PROJECT ABROAD
JUNE 2006
Together with the College of Fine Arts, ArtesAméricas was awarded a Fulbright-Hays Projects Abroad Grant to take 15 K-12 school teachers from Texas, California and Arizona to Mexico for four weeks to learn about the history, culture and arts of Mexico. The group traveled to five cities (Oaxaca, Mexico City, Morelia, Mazatlan, Guadalajara), seeing performances, meeting artists, visiting cultural institutions, and learning from scholars and arts professionals. These teachers utilized these experiences and knowledge to develop curriculum around the performing arts and Mexican culture and history for use in their classrooms, as well as share with educators around the country.
Read more.
View a brief video.

2005 – 2006

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO’S “BY THE HAND OF THE FATHER”
APRIL 2006
Austin-based musician Alejandro Escovedo and company members from “By the Hand of the Father” visited to Pharr-San Juan-Alamo High School in Pharr, TX in the Rio Grande Valley to meet with students and talk about the work, in conjunction with an evening performance and youth performance at the University of Texas at Brownsville campus.

MARIACHI VARGAS DE TECALITLÁN MUSIC WORKSHOPS
MARCH 2006
As part of the University of Texas’s annual campus-wide open house, Explore UT, Mariachi Vargas led a series of free classes open to the public in trumpet, strings, vocals, guitars and other stringed instruments. After the instruction, the students from the four classes came together on the steps of Bass Concert Hall to perform the songs under the direction of members of this legendary mariachi ensemble.

VOICES OF VALOR
MARCH 2006
“Voices of Valor” is a play written by award-winning playwright/journalist James E. Garcia. Garcia was commissioned to write the play by Arizona State University’s Public Events. “Voices of Valor” was co-produced by ASU and ArtesAméricas, in partnership with the University of Texas College of Communication’s WWII Project. Garcia’s script inspired and adapted, in part, from WWII Project oral history interviews. It brings to life the words and experiences of Latinos of the WWII generation through the voices and actions of actors. Scenes portray a spectrum of experiences dealing with identity, immigration, education, patriotism, discrimination, civil rights, and combat. The play was performed at the Gammage Theater, on the ASU campus and at the B. Iden Payne Theater on the UT Campus in March 2006, along with a community symposium held in the McCullough Theater.
View a video.

DELFOS CONTEMPORARY DANCE MASTER CLASS
JANUARY 2006
Members of Delfos Contemporary Dance taught an advanced level master class with University students on campus, as well as giving a special performance for students at McCallum High School. After the performance the dancers talked with students from Theater, Dance and Spanish classes. A similar performance was held at Del Valle Junior High School earlier in the week.

KAREN MANESS SCENIC PAINTING WORKSHOP
SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA
JULY 2005
ArtesAméricas sponsored a series of workshops taught by Karen Maness, Scenic Artist at The Performing Arts Center, at the Costa Rican Center of Science and Culture in San Jose, Costa Rica.

ROBOTIC LIGHTING SEMINARS
GUADALAJARA, MEXICO
JUNE 2005
Professor Amarante Lucero from The University of Texas’s Institute for Digital and Performing Arts and his students from the Department of Theatre and Dance taught a seminar in Guadalajara, Mexico.

2004 – 2005

MARIACHI VARGAS DE TECALITLÁN MUSIC WORKSHOPS
MARCH 2005
Members of Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán led various workshops as part of Explore UT, the UT’s annual open house event. More than 80 adults, students and young people participate in sessions focusing on guitar, violin, vocal, and horns.

PERU NEGRO YOUTH PERFORMANCE & COMMUNITY WORKSHOP
FEBRUARY 2005
Peru Negro, a 26-member dance and musical ensemble from Lima, Peru, presented a free performance to more than 850 Central Texas middle and high school students at Hogg Memorial Auditorium. The company also conducted a free public workshop at the George Washington Carver Museum & Cultural Center in Austin, in partnership with the Peruvian Association of Austin.

DELFOS COMMUNITY DANCE CLASS
JANUARY 2005
Members of Delfos Contemporary Dance worked with members of the Austin dance community as part of a residency at the University.

“ZOOT SUIT” SYMPOSIUM
SEPTEMBER 2004
Playwright Luis Valdez, Director Kinan Valdez, and Alice McGrath, former executive secretary for the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee, participated in a week of events and outreach activities, including a teacher’s workshop, a post-show reception, and an all-day symposium held at Austin Community College’s Riverside Campus.

ROBOTIC LIGHTING SEMINARS
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
JUNE 2004
Professor Amarante Lucero from The University of Texas’s Institute for Digital and Performing Arts and his students from the Department of Theatre and Dance taught a seminar at the Centro Nacional de las Artes (CENART) in Mexico City. Participants included students from CENART as well as other aspiring lighting designers and technicians from across the country.