Arte Pa’ Mi Gente 2022 is a multidisciplinary children’s arts festival produced by Teatro SEA at The Clemente. The title means “Art for my people” written with a Caribbean accent.
The title recalls Hector Lavoe’s anthem “Mi Gente.” “¿Mi Gente? Ustedes.”
Arte Pa’ Mi Gente 2022
The Arte Pa’ Mi Gente 2022 children’s arts festival celebrates the theme “Archipelago of Culture” at The Clemente in the Lower East Side, Friday-Sunday, August 12-24, 2022. Free. 🇨🇺🇵🇷
The festival is a love letter to Caribbean culture. It is produced by Teatro SEA, NYC’s Latino theatre for young audiences. New York is a theatre town, but Teatro SEA is one of our favorite theatre producers. Productions are bilingual, pan-Latin, and excel in every dimension.
Events
There’s a Bomba workshop by Dr. Drum, the director of BombaYo, an NYC Bomba crew. Bomba is Puerto Rico’s African Diaspora song, drum and dance tradition. Bomba dancers play a flirting game with the lead drummer. Cubans do the same in Rumba Columbia. Bomba is a marker of Puerto Rican identity for youth on the island and across the Diaspora. [Editor co-Keith: Your writer is a Bomba drummer in Puerto Rico.] You can learn the Bomba Sicá rhythm which is in New York Salsa. Escucha la llamada de los tambores.
There’s a film screening by Vieques Film and Human Rights Festival. Vieques is the larger of Puerto Rico’s two islands in the Spanish virgin islands of the Lesser Antilles. People from Vieques know something about human rights. Their protests forced the US Navy to stop using the island for bombing practice.
One of the festival’s highlights is “La Gloria,” a Latin cabaret tribute to the legendary Cuban band La Sonora Matancera and its stars Myrta Silva, Daniel Santos and Celia Cruz. Myrta Silva was the Puerto Rican lead singer of La Sonora Matancera. She helped the young Celia Cruz get the job to replace her. The rest is history. Daniel Santos was a great Puerto Rican bolero singer.
There are workshops from The People’s Bus by artist Yazmany Arboleda.
There are outdoor performances of Teatro SEA’s “Cesar Chavez and the Migrants” puppet theatre.
There is a lot more fun for the entire family. ¡WEPA, WEPA, WEPA. Vamos a gozar!” 🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷
Check the full schedule at teatrosea.org