For over 15 years, GALA and the Washington Performing Arts Society have partnered to bring Washington audiences the ArteAmericA series, presenting cutting edge Latino and multicultural art forms and artists. Support for this joint initiative is received from the National Endowment for the Arts. Through ArteAmericA, we have commissioned over 20 new works of theater, music, dance and spoken word and presented hundreds of established and emerging artists from around the world such as Tito Puente, Guillermo Gomez Pena, and Gilberto Gil.

This season, GALA is pleased to present a series of staged readings to provide a forum for the development of new work as well as an opportunity to informally present works by established Hispanic writers.

  STAGED READING: Hidden  

  Journey/Jornadas Escondida

  October 10, 2007, 7:30 p.m.

  A staged reading of a work-in-

  progress written by GALA

  Founder/Producing Artistic Director

  Hugo Medrano. With the participation

  of Gabriela Fernandez-Coffey and

  Quique Aviles. Powerful stories of the

  D.C. Salvadoran community, interwoven with musical accompaniment, reflect the realities of the largest immigrant population in the District. Supported in part by the Creative Communities Fund of the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region.

 

REPRESENTA!: Theatre for the Hip-

Hop Generation

November 2 and 3, 2007, 8:00 p.m.

In Spanglish, Spanish and English

REPRESENTA! is written and

performed by Paul Flores and Julio

Cardenas. The piece was eveloped

and directed by Hip-Hop Theatre

pioneer Danny Hoch.  San Francisco-

based Mexican- American poet Paul

Flores and New York-based Cuban

rapper Julio Cardenas deliver a

hilarious and fiercely incisive

commentary on terrorism, Cuba, immigration, U.S. foreign policy, Bay Area lefty culture, New York after 9/11, and pan-Latino identity. GALA's presentation of REPRESENTA! is sponsored in part by the National Performance Network and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities Hip-Hop Initiative.  The production was co-commissioned by GALA Hispanic Theatre , the San Francisco International Arts Festival, La Peña Cultural Center, and the New Jersey Performing

Arts Center.

 

  STAGED READINGS: DÍAZ DE COMEDIA

  Tuesdays, November 27, December 4 &11,

  2007, 7:00 p.m.

  GALA presents some of the most  amusing

  works about marriage by the late Chilean

  playwright Jorge Díaz, a master of Latin American

  comedy.  In Spanish only.  Click here for more

  information.

 

FLAMENCO FESTIVAL 3

An ArteAmericA Program

Heat up your holidays with a sizzling exploration

of the multiple forms of flamenco!

 

  November 30, December 1 & 2, 2007

  GALA continues its fruitful

  collaboration with Fundacíon

  Conservatorio Flameno Casa Paas,

  the renowned cultural center for

  contemporary flamenco in Madrid.

  Click here for more information.

December 7 & 8, 2007

GALA brings you the fiery foot-stomping Edwin Aparacio and Company, an ensemble of flamenco artists from New York, Los Angeles, and Washington. 

Click here for more information.

 

 

  OYELO, OUT LOUD!

  Hip-Hop, Spoken Word and Poetry

  March 7 and 8, 2008, 8:00 p.m.

  Nuyorican poet/writer/actor La Bruja (a.k.a.

  Caridad de la Luz) kicks off this weekend of

  hip-hop, spoken word and poetry.  Her new

  album, Brujalicious, infused hip-hop and

  reggaeton with an irresistible blend of potent

  intelligence, hot sensuality and lyrical skill.

The groove continues with acclaimed D.C.-based actor/poet Quique Aviles, who has been writing and performing his powerful and provocative material for over twenty years. He brings to life new characters and stories punctuated with humor and insight into the realities of our community. Quique is joined by another familiar local voice, Silvana Straw. Champion of the first Poetry Slam in Washington, Silvana Straw is an award-winning performer who has appeared at the Kennedy Center, Smithsonian, Black Cat, and Dance Place, among other venues. In English and Spanish.

This ArteAmericA presentation is sponsored in part by th DC Presenters Initiative of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.