Playright Diaz wins ATC’s 2008 Latino Award – Latino Perspectives Magazine – January 2009 – Phoenix, Arizona

Playright Diaz wins ATC’s 2008 Latino Award – Latino Perspectives Magazine – January 2009 – Phoenix, Arizona: “Arizona Theatre Company has selected a Puerto Rican playwright with a “hip-hop flair” as the winner of its 2008 National Latino Playwriting Award.

Kristoffer Diaz’s winning entry was The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, a work with a main character called The Mace, a Puerto Rican pro wrestler from the Bronx. The play takes a “comic look at pro wrestling, geopolitics and raisin bread.”

Arizona Theatre’s Company’s National Latino Playwriting Award annually recognizes an outstanding work by a Latino playwright. The winner receives $1,000. Diaz earned an MFA from New York University’s Department of Dramatic Writing.”

Feliz Navidad: Puerto Rican tradition says Christmas isn’t over yet

Growing up in Puerto Rico, I have fond memories of the holidays. Christmas, was just the beginning and we would receive one gift. The real holiday came on January 6, El Dia de los Reyes (Three Kings Day).  I remember the day before and going in the fields with the other children in the neighborhood to gather grass. We would put the grass in a shoebox and leave it out for the camels. 

After waking up and receiving our presents our family would get in the car and visit relatives who live in the mountains for the real celebration.  Lots of relatives, lots of children and the food, arroz con gandules, pasteles, and lechon, all made for an experience I still long for today. Unfortunately, times have changed and that tradition is being forgotten. 

Reading the article below brought back all these fond memories. 

Feliz Navidad: Puerto Rican tradition says Christmas isn’t over yet

A doctorate from the school of life – Los Angeles Times

An inspiring story that shows that you are never too old to make a difference.

Rueben Martinez is known for his many callings: Barber. Longtime bookstore owner. MacArthur award winner. Speaker at high schools, colleges and universities across the country. Holder of more honorary degrees than he can count.

And now Martinez, 68, is a college professor. A presidential fellow, to be exact.

Starting next month, Martinez will be responsible for Chapman University’s efforts to recruit first-generation students, especially Latinos, into science and math programs. 

For the complete story follow the link below. 

A doctorate from the school of life – Los Angeles Times

Eartha Kitt, a Seductive Talent, Dies at 81 – NYTimes.com

Sad to hear about Eartha Kitt dying but she lead a very interesting life. She was most known to audiences as Catwoman in the Batman series from the 1960′s. 

Eartha Kitt, a Seductive Talent, Dies at 81 – NYTimes.com

Ron Rivera, Potter Devoted to Clean Water, Dies at 60 – Obituary (Obit) – NYTimes.com

As the year draws to a close, it is a time to remember those who passed. I always look forward to reading the New York Times year end issue “The Lives They Lived” to read about fascinating people that died throughout the year. Often I come across people who I had not heard of and their contributions. 

This one in particular drew my attention because he was a Bronx born Puerto Rican who devoted his life to helping others. He was a potter that created “Potters for Peace” and help build 30 factories in the poorest parts of the world. His main cause was bringing clean water to stop disease. It is ironic that he died at 60 due to malaria while finishing his 30th factory, this one in Nigeria. 

Read the obituary below to learn more about this great human. The second link is to the article in this week’s NYT Magazine.

Ron Rivera, Potter Devoted to Clean Water, Dies at 60 – Obituary (Obit) – NYTimes.com

Ron Rivera, Solution in a Pot

Latinoteca – A Portal for Learning About Latino History and Culture

Latinoteca.com

I just came across this very informative and comprehensive website for Latino culture and history in the United States. The site is run by the University of Houston and its publishing firm Arte Public Press. They break down the site into different components, information for teachers and students, authors and artists and for scholars and researchers.

You can find free content as well as content that can be licensed for publication. They provide articles, chapters from their publications, music and art. 

It is a valuable resource for anyone wanting to know more about Latino culture and history or for anyone needing to do research for papers or publications. 

Lemon’s Where I Am From Poem

This Tony Award winning poet will be performing his one man show “County of Kings: The Beautiful Struggle” at The Public Theater as part of the Under the Radar Festival. Lemon won a Tony Award for his participation in Russell Simmon’s Def Poetry Jam . He can also be seen in HBO’s version of the show.

PERFORMANCE DATES & TIME:

Wednesday, January 7 @7PM

Thursday, January 8 @3PM

Saturday, January 10 @9:30PM

Sunday, January 11 @3PM

Monday, January 12 @7PM

Tuesday, January 13 @7PM

Wednesday, January 14 @2PM

Friday, January 16 @7PM

Saturday, January 17 @3PM

Sunday, January 18 @7PM

Tickets $15

Ticket information can be found at The Public Theater Web Site

Support Latino Theater!

The Lost Taino Tribe

For most of my life, I have been taught that Tainos were extinct. In the past few years, there has been a movement to disprove this theory. This documentary is a work in progress to look at the facts and the myths surrounding the Taino Indian legacy. The filmmaker, Alex Zacarias has created a website and social network where people can share their stories or knowledge of the Tainos. The website is www.losttainotribe.com or you can click on the badge below.

Visit LOST TAINO TRIBE

In The Heights . . . Dreams Come True

It’s videos like this that warm the heart. A ten year old fan of the Broadway show “In the Heights” got more than he imagined when he wrote Lin-Manuel Miranda, the star and writer of the show asking to meet him backstage. Lin-Manuel orchestrated for the boy to perform the finale of the show in an after show performance. The boy had been posting videos on You Tube singing songs from the show. The look on Lin-Manuel as he watches the boy get his dream is priceless.

You can head an interview with the boy and his mother as well as a video of Lin-Manuel speaking about the experience and how it came about at Broadway World.

Cumba Media Presents Podcast Episode 1 – A.B. Lugo

A.B. Lugo is an actor, playwright, poet and director who lives in New York City. I had a chance to sit down with him and discuss his career, his inspirations and his body of work. With three plays being produced at the same time, he is a busy man on the verge of a breakout. The first play is “Manchild Machismo” a one-man show he wrote and performs, the second play Geneva is being presented in both Spanish and English as part of the Asi Somos Festival at Teatro LaTea at the Clemente Velez Soto Community Center in the Lower East Side. The third play “Emboscada (Branches)” is being performed this month at Teatro Coribantes in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.

Listen to interview here – Cumba Media Presents Podcast Episode 1 – A.B. Lugo