Portland's Only Latino Arts and Cultural Festival Returns with Milagro's LA LUNA NUEVA 2014, Now thru 9/28

The sixth edition of La Luna Nueva Milagro's 31st season's inaugural event and Portland's only Latino arts and culture festival, shines at Milagro from September 12th to 28th. Since its creation in 2008, La Luna Nueva festival has opened the doors to local and international Latino artists of multiple disciplines to present and promote the wide and diverse spectrum of vibrant, multinational and pan-ethnic Latino art and cultural expressions like no other festival in the Pacific Northwest!

During the two weeks of events, audiences from around the Northwest will unite under the encompassing umbrella of Latinidad! This year the festival features three unique performances that exemplify the cross-cultural reach of the arts and go beyond race, nationality and language. Complementary events like free staged readings, a movie night and visual arts exhibitions will take place every night from September 12th to the 28th.

LA LUNA NUEVA 2014 FULL EVENT CALENDAR

• MUSIC & DANCE: ANDEAN DREAMS • Music, dance and legends from the Andes
Presented in Spanish, English and Quechua
7:30 p.m. Friday Sep. 12, Saturday Sep. 13 and Sunday Sep. 14
Tickets: Adults $20 advance, $23 door
Seniors, students, veterans $17 advance, $20 door
World premiere by Chayag and Luciana Proaño
A beautiful representation of the Andean world from pre-Columbian times to the colonial era, full of music and dance inspired by the Quechua literature of the ancient Inca Empire, oral tradition and folkloric representations. Poetry by the Peruvian poet and composer Omar Aramayo mixed with the sounds of popular music compositions from the Andean world will transport audiences to the land of Tahuantinsuyo, the largest empire in pre-Hispanic America.
Choreography & costumes by Dancer Luciana Proaño
Musical direction by Alex Llumiquinga and musical performances by Chayag

• THEATRE: Sueños de Fútbol • Bilingual
By Ajai Terrazas-Tripathi
1:00 pm. • Sunday, Sep. 14, 2014 • $10 advance; $12 door
A bilingual presentation by Milagro Touring & Education
Family friendly show
In this brisk bilingual escapade filled with endearing characters and Mayan legends, Candelaria ("Candi") dreams of trying out for the Fútbol team. She wants to play soccer, but lacks confidence, so she plays videogames instead. Suddenly, a giant runaway Hamburguesa pops out of the TV and into her living room! Following the Hamburguesa through the flat-screen and into her videogame, Candi embarks on a great adventure in La Tierra de los Sueños.

• THEATRE: El Niño Diego • Bilingual
By Dañel Malán
3:00 pm. • Sunday, Sep. 14, 2014 • $10 advance; $12 door
A bilingual presentation by Milagro Touring & Education
Family friendly show
It's 1913 as young Diego navigates the balance between his responsibilities for his education, and his desire to create art. Dreams and reality collide when the Aztec Goddess, Coatlicue, bequeaths Diego with a magic paintbrush. Diego learns very quickly that with great power, comes great responsibility as El Director and La Profesora try to use Diego's gifts and eagerness to help his community, for their own selfish gain. Filled with humor while asking important questions about la vida, audiences will love the accessibility to Diego Rivera.

Double feature! See both Sueños de Fútbol & El Niño Diego for only $17 advance; $20 door

• STAGED READING - BLIND DATE by Mario Diament • English
7 p.m. • Monday, Sep. 15, 2014 • FREE
Directed by: Michael Griggs
A chance encounter between a man and a woman... another one between a sighted and a sightless man...yet another between two women... life changing events happen every day...we just don't see. These are but a few of the themes and images that flow through the compelling and taut drama Blind Date by the Argentine playwright Mario Diament.
Visit Milagro's blog for the latest news about the play, author and cast: www.miracleinsider.blogspot.com.

• STAGED READING - NO CHILD by Nilaja Sun
7 p.m. • Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2014 • FREE
Director: Eric Lyness
An exuberant, thoroughly funny piece about life in a New York City public school written by Nilaja Sun. Inspired by Sun's years as a teaching artist at high schools in the Bronx, this tour de force is an insightful and often hilarious look into New York City's public education system.

• STAGED READING IN SPANISH - CITA A CIEGAS by Mario Diament • Spanish
7 p.m. • Wednesday, Sep. 17, 2014 • FREE
Director: Michelle Escobar
The original Spanish version of Mario Diament's play. A ronde of universal roads not taken and what-might-have-beens. The destinies of three women and two men mysteriously come together in this popular play that has been performed around the world to enthusiastic critical and audience acclaim.
Visit Milagro's blog for the latest news about the play, author and cast: www.miracleinsider.blogspot.com.

• MOVIE NIGHT: Celebrating Cantinflas • Bilingual
7 p.m. • Thursday, Sep. 18, 2014 • FREE • Spanish with subtitles in English
See the beloved and prolific Mexican comedian/producer/writer/singer from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema! Celebrate his talent while enjoy a free screening of one of his classic movies!

• HIP HOP THEATRE: DREAMSCAPE • English
Created by Rickerby Hinds
7:30 p.m. • Friday Sep. 19, 2014
7:30 p.m. • Saturday Sep. 20, 2014
Tickets: Adults $20 advance, $23 door
Senior, students, veterans $17 advance, $20 door
Portland premiere
Through Beatboxin', spoken word, and dance, this hip-hop theatre performance depicts the inner life of a young woman who dreams though the impact of the twelve bullets that kill her. A powerfully clear-eyed look at the relationships between race, the body, and violence as she reminisces about her life, describing the pleasures of softball, dancing, kissing, and hair styling with sweetness, humor, and insight of a nineteen-year-old. Honduran native Rickerby Hinds, one of the most influential individuals to come into the theater world in a generation, is the creator of the first ever full-length play to use the founding elements of hip hop as the primary language of the stage, introducing the genre of hip hop theater to the world.
Sponsored by WESTAF & the National Endowment for the Arts

• THEATRE: WORDS THAT BURN • English
By Cindy Williams Gutierrez, presented by the writers group Los Porteños
8 pm • Thursday Sep. 25 Pre-show artist talk at 7 pm
8 pm • Friday Sep. 26 Post-performance panel at 9:15 pm
8 pm • Saturday Sep. 27 Pre-show performance and artist talk at 7pm
2 pm • Sunday, Sep. 28 Post-performance talk at 3:15 pm
Tickets: Adults $20 advance; $23 door
Senior, students, veterans $17
Through a blend of poetry and monologue in their own words, this dramatization of how three historical figures-conscientious objector William Stafford, Japanese-American internee Lawson Inada, and East L.A. Marine Guy Gabaldón galvanized language to discover liberation during WWII. In concert with Oregon poet laureate William Stafford's Centennial celebrations, the theatrical reading is complemented by the pre-and-post-show discussions and art exhibitions.

-- Thursday, 9/25/14, Pre-performance artist talk, 7 pm:
In Remembrance of War: Stories and Photos of Latino Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Curator Jim Lommasson on "Exit Wounds" an exhibit of returning veterans' photographs.
Sponsor: Oregon Humanities.
Post-performance reception, 9:15 pm: Catering by Mayahuel. Sponsor: Latino Network.

-- Friday, 9/26/14, 2014, Post-performance panel, 9:15 pm: In Their Sons' and Daughters' Words: A Conversation Across Generations. Kit Stafford, Miles Inada, and Guy Gabaldón, Jr.
Sponsor: Lewis & Clark College.

-- Saturday, 9/27/14, Pre-performance happening, 7 pm: In the Aftermath: Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Installation Artist: Yukiyo Kawano. Butoh dancer: Meshi Chávez.

-- Sunday, 9/28/14, 2014, Post-performance talk-back, 3:15 pm: In the Wings of Words That Burn: An Artist Talk-back. Director Gemma Whelan; cast, crew, creator Cindy Williams Gutiérrez; co-conceiver Frank Delgado; co-producer Joaquín López.

The festival runs Sep. 12 - 28, 2014. Events hours vary depending on the show. It all takes place at the Milagro Theatre, 525 SE Stark Street, Portland, Oregon 97214. ADMISSION: $17 - $23; discounts for students, seniors, and advance purchases. Tickets can be purchased from www.milagro.org or 503-236-7253.

About Los Porteños: Los Porteños is committed to making Latino and Latin American literature an integral part of the Portland community and Oregon's literary legacy. We are dedicated to raising our voices and to raising awareness of our diverse languages, canons, stories and cultures. Since 2006, we have presented annual literary readings for Day of the Dead at Milagro Theatre. In 2011, we began hosting a William Stafford Birthday Reading featuring original, multilingual poetry and prose written in response to Stafford poems. In 2014, we will produce our debut theatrical work, Words That Burn.

For more than 30 years, Milagro has been dedicated to bringing the vibrancy of Latino theatre to the Northwest community. In addition to its national tours, Milagro provides a home for Spanish and Latin American arts and culture at El Centro Milagro, where it enriches the local community with a variety of community outreach projects and educational programs designed to share the diversity of Latino culture.

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