PRESS

The Chicago Tribune - May 12, 1995

‘FAMILIAS' SKILLFULLY PORTRAYS MOVEMENTS OF TIES THAT BIND

By Rohan B Preston and Special to the Tribune

At the very beginning of Pepatian's "Familias," an interdisciplinary work that opened at the Dance Center of Columbia College Thursday night, five whispering dancers steal across a border, their hands tightly clasped to form a rippling unit.

They successfully cross, rise and begin to sway as one whole, breaking into two but rejoining again. At once poignant and resonant, this literalization of what it means to "pull together" exposed both the elasticity of family links as well as the limits when such ties are stretched like rubber bands.

Cuando la “estrella” es nuestra comunidad

Alberto Minero, El Diario La Prensa

El espectáculo tiene un par de momentos inolvidables como los de la fiesta de cumpleaños y el que transcurre en el esperanzador jardín del final. Mientras gozábamos con los bailes de la fiesta de cumpleaños, pensábamos que ese número debería ser de visión obligatoria para todos los coreógrafos que -especialmente en Broadway o en Hollywood - tratan de recrear, de manera totalmente estereotipada, el espíritu latino en el baile.

ASI SOMOS - Jan 16, 1996

Suki John

The magnetic sense of community pulls the audience in, as if each of us had a friend or relative on stage.

The New York Times - Dec 18 1995

Life and Art In the Worlds Of Families

by Jennifer Dunning

Choreographers have been turning increasingly to social and political themes in recent years. But such themes have long been at the heart of much of the work of Pepatian, the company of Merian Soto and Pepon Osorio. On Saturday night, they presented their latest piece, "Familias," at the handsome and comfortable new theater complex at Hostos Community College in the Bronx.