Welcome to the FAMILIAS website, a site for research.
In the GardenPhoto: Tom BrazilDancers in forground- from left to right: Merceditas MañagoNiles FordPatricia DávilaNoemí Segarra"Familias was an artistic and curatorial breakthrough for art and community projects in the South Bronx. As part of local artistic-activist-curation legacies, Familias and inclusionary concepts like “inreach” help spark possibilities of growth by working with existing narratives and materials to create new limits, and valuable possibilities for other visions of utopias."
— Jane Gabriels, Ph.D. from Curating Live Arts: Critical Perspectives, Essays, and Conversations on Theory and Practice
James and the Angels
Photo: Tom Brazil.
Patricia Davila
Merceditas Mañago
Kathy Westwater
James Adlesic
FAMILIAS --created by Pepatián’s artistic directors Merián Soto and Pepón Osorio-- is a remarkable production of epic scale. It is a theatrical monument to the familial experience in the South Bronx. Dance, film, slide projection, music and oral histories are masterfully blended to create an exciting presentation of image and performance. The Chicago Tribune described FAMILIAS as “poignant and resonant.... gripping theatre....a thoroughly original and enjoyable drama of American life.”
Begun in 1994, this multi-disciplinary work was developed in collaboration with composer Carl Royce, filmmaker Irene Sosa, a company of five performers– James Adlesic, Patricia Dávila, Niles Ford, Merceditas Mañago, Kathy Westwater, eight local families and art partners in residence at Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture in the Bronx. As with previous Pepatián productions, artistic process is paramount: the work itself is inseparable from the process. Groundbreaking in their approach, Soto and Osorio in collaboration with their company, have redefined the notion of community involvement.
FAMILIAS is the result of two years of creative workshops, meetings and field trips. Each artist was assigned to a specific family, establishing an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect. Involved in every aspect of the creation and production, family participants actively contributed to this richly layered work which recounts the untold stories of urban Latino families through their own eyes. The artists have literally merged art with life. FAMILIAS has received recognition as a precedent-setting model for creative endeavors involving communities, stimulating contemporary theatre and dance on local, national and international levels.
Video
In the garden
In countering stereotypical portrayals of Latinos in inner cities, the final scene of Familias is a community gathering in a utopic garden. In a twist on the traditional “grand finale”, professional dancers partner with community participants in a simple dance of partnering, of giving and receiving weight, walking and running that expands to a large circle dance. Children play. The wings of the theater are adorned with huge portraits of participating families.