LA BOLIVIANITA World Premiere Announced At Philadelphia Fringe Festival

Elba Hevia y Vaca, Artistic Director and founder of Pasión y Arte (PyA) is pleased to present the world premiere of her one woman performance piece, La Bolivianita, as part of the 2019 Fringe Festival. Performances will take place September 19-22 at the venue @exuberance, 1220 N. Mascher Street, Philadelphia 19122. Tickets are $20.

In her new solo performance piece La Bolivianita, dancer and choreographer Elba Hevia y Vaca explores her lifelong artistic journey with Flamenco. First introduced to Flamenco through her family's pride in their Spanish heritage, La Bolivianita delves into the artist's emotional and changing relationship with her beloved art form. The autobiographical work examines themes of primary importance to Hevia y Vaca, including her experiences as an artist, an immigrant, and as a mother and daughter. As the artist ages and comes to term with her recent discovery made through DNA research that she is primarily descended from the indigenous Andean rather than the Spaniards, La Bolivianita poses many questions, one of which is: How does information about one's genetics change the perception one has of oneself and how they see themselves in the world? Says Hevia y Vaca,"Through my own journey I saw how this art form was my medicine and a healing art form. I saw its potential to build on one's power, courage, and pride. Flamenco can allow one to transform pain through rhythmic catharsis using footwork and body percussion and thus, possibly heal through this process. Flamenco is my language, my identity, my way of life on my nearly 50 year intense journey of study, exploration, and creation. I continue to strive to penetrate the Flamenco dance form at the deepest levels, making use of all that I have learned in order to give voice to myself, to women and their stories, and to persevere in my quest to push the rigid boundaries of traditional Flamenco, encoded over decades and centuries. My current ambitions for my work are rooted in a long and inherited chain of rebellions: first by marginalized cultures in response to social oppression; then by women dancers, quietly, in response to patriarchy; then, and now, by contemporary Flamenco dancers in response to the form's rigid traditionalism."

La Bolivianita has been in development since early 2018 and incorporates spoken word, the de-construction of modern Flamenco choreography, and culminates in an interactive dialogue with the audience. La Bolivianita is directed by world renowned Flamenco innovator, choreographer, and feminist artist Belen Maya (Spain). "La Bolivianita shows courage and honesty. Elba shows herself as she truly is in her dance and in her words. This vulnerability gives the piece a unique voice," says Belen Maya.

La Bolivanita Event Details

September 19-21

7:30pm

September 22

6:30pm

@exuberance, 1220 N. Mascher Street, Philadelphia 19122

Tickets: $20 Standard/$15 Student & 25-and-under

Tickets available here: fringearts.com/event/la-bolivianita/

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