An Evening with Patricia Ariza

October 28, 2014

7:00 p.m.

Americas Society

680 Park Avenue

New York

Patricia Ariza. Courtesy of Teatro La Candelaria.

Overview

Online registration for tonight’s program is closed. Members may arrive prior to the event and pick up their tickets, and non-members can pay at the door. Email jnegroni@as-coa.org for questions.

In this special event, Patricia Ariza—producer, director, actress, playwright and poet, as well as co-founder of the Colombian theater ensemble Teatro La Candelaria—will be interviewed about her work by the iconic Miriam Colón, acclaimed actress and director of the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater. The interview, accompanied by visuals, will explore Ariza’s artistic and activist work in Colombia with marginalized sectors such as women, indigenous people, immigrants, and prisoners as well as touching on topics including collective creation, political theater, feminism, and current Colombian realities. Following the conversation, Ariza will read her poems. Joyce Maio, Co-Chair of the League of Professional Theatre Women’s International Committee, will introduce the event. With the additional participation of actresses Gy Mirano, who will interpret the conversation, and two-time Tony Award nominee Josie de Guzman, who will read the translations of Ariza’s poems. On October 27 at the CUNY Graduate Center, Patricia Ariza will be honored by the League of Professional Theatre Women as the 2014 recipient of its Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award. Our October 28 event is presented with the League of Professional Theatre Women.

Watch a video about Ariza:

We thank the following additional institutions for helping publicize this event: the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, CUNY; Columbia University; the Consulate General of Argentina in New York; the Consulate General of Colombia in New York; the Hispanic New York Project; Hunter College, CUNY; InterAmericas®; The International Literary Quarterly; McNally Jackson Books; New York University; The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church; The 92Y Unterberg Poetry Center, University of Houston, and Words Without Borders. This program will be held in Spanish with interpretation. Event Information: Jose Negroni | <a href="mailto:jnegroni@as-coa.org">jnegroni@as-coa.org</a> | 1-212-277-8353 <hr /> Patricia Ariza was born to a peasant family in 1946 and subsequently moved to Bogotá when her parents were forced into exile. Inspired by her belief in the transformational power of theater, in 1966 she co-founded, with Santiago García and others, the Teatro La Candelaria. Since then her work has been linked with the political and social currents of her time. For the past 24 years, she has focused on women artists and the women’s movement, producing monumental works that bring together professional artists and victims—particularly women—of the long-existing armed conflicts in Colombia. The Corporación Colombiana de Teatro, a not-for-profit organization she manages, creates performances with widows and children from the most violent regions of the country: abused women who have left their homes, young people living on the streets, and others displaced by war and social upheaval. The company also organizes the biannual Festival Alternativo de Teatro and the internationally acclaimed Festival de Mujeres en Escena. Ariza has stated that “the important thing is not me, but what I do with the women's movement and social movement in Colombia. I am confident that the theater serves to achieve peace.” Míriam Colón is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico" title="Puerto Rico">Puerto Rican</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actress" title="Actress">actress</a> and the founder/director of the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City" title="New York City">New York City</a>. Her long acting career to date began with her acceptance by Elia Kazan into the renowned Actors’ Studio in 1953 (she was the first Puerto Rican member). She has performed in various venues over the years—in the soap opera The Guiding Light, on TV shows such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Hitchcock_Presents" title="Alfred Hitchcock Presents">Alfred Hitchcock Presents</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunsmoke" title="Gunsmoke">Gunsmoke</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonanza" title="Bonanza">Bonanza</a>, and in the films <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-Eyed_Jacks" title="One-Eyed Jacks">One-eyed Jacks</a>, Life of Sin (alongside <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Ferrer" title="José Ferrer">José Ferrer</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Juli%C3%A1" title="Raúl Juliá">Raúl Juliá</a>), Scarface (as the mother of Tony Montana, played by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Pacino" title="Al Pacino">Al Pacino</a>), Gloria (with Sharon Stone), Lone Star, and Bless Me, Ultima, (based on Rudolfo Anaya’s novel). Colón founded the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater in 1967; the Theater’s mission is to produce shows by playwrights of Latino descent for the general public; its first production was The Oxcart, René Marqués’s classic drama of Puerto Rican migration. This is Miriam Colón’s second appearance in an Americas Society Literature program; in March 2000, she participated with Maria Irene Fornes and others in a conversation co-presented with The Public Theater. Joyce Maio is a multi-lingual consultant who builds cross-cultural and international collaborations, developing, strategizing and managing projects in the performing arts and promotes contemporary expressions focusing on cultural exchanges. As a former editor and translator, she works with writers and translators. She is a core Member of Theatre Without Borders and has been the Co-Chair of the International Committee of the League of Professional Theatre Women for the last 3 years. Gy Mirano is anactress, voice artist, and arts advocate originally from South America. Her film and television credits include: Law & Order, Double Deception, Against the Law, Crime Story, Miami Vice, 3 Américas, Les Petites Canailles, Rights on the Line, La Banda del Golden Rocket, and Los Benvenuto. Her stage work includes Off-Broadway plays and collaborations with cultural institutions for staged readings, moderating film presentations, and producing events that feature leading artists and authors. Josie de Guzman is an American actress of Puerto Rican descent best known for her work in the theatre. In 1980 she was handpicked by Leonard Bernstein to portray Maria in the 1980 revival of West Side Story, for which she received her first Tony Award nomination. She returned to Broadway in 1992 to portray Sarah Brown in Jerry Zak's critically acclaimed revival of Frank Loesser's Guys and Dolls with Nathan Lane, Peter Gallagher and Faith Prince. For her performance she earned a second Tony Award nomination. The recording of the production was filmed for broadcast on PBS's Great Performances. The League of Professional Theatre Women is a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) organization. It presents numerous events each year as part of its mission to promote visibility and increase opportunities for women in the field. <a href="http://www.theatrewomen.org" target="_blank">The League</a>, which recently celebrated its thirtieth anniversary, boasts a membership of nearly 500 women theatre professionals in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors, including 103 international affiliate members representing 34 countries. League members are actors, administrators, agents, arrangers, casting directors, choreographers, company managers, composers, critics, designers, directors, dramaturgs, dramatists, educators, general managers, historians, journalists, librettists, lyricists, press agents, playwrights, producers, stage managers, and theatre technicians. The Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award was established by the League of Professional Theatre Women in 2011 to acknowledge the exceptional work of theatre women around the world. Given every three years, this is the only award in American theatre of its kind seekingto make a difference in the life and career of an international woman theatre artist. In 2011, playwright and director <a href="http://theatrewomen.org/programs/awards/the-gildercoigney-international-theatre-award/odile-gakire-katese/" target="_blank">Odile Gakire Katese</a> from Rwanda was given the Gilder/Coigney at the French Consulate in New York City, and on October 27, 2014, the renowned Patricia Ariza from Colombia will be so honored at the City University of New York, Graduate Center for the Humanities. Patricia Ariza is one of 21 women theatre artists from 19 different countries who were nominated on the basis of their work. The Award includes a cash prize of $1,000 and travel to New York City for the recipient to accept the Award and partake in a week long series of special events showcasing her work and providing artistic and professional networking opportunities. Awardees are nominated based on the following criteria: artistic excellence in the field of theatre; work that has a visible impact in the home country and abroad; the ability to inspire and educate across cultures; clear support of women’s work and issues.

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An Evening with Patricia Ariza

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Overview