The Culture and Art Series of the Tamejavi Cultural Organizing Fellowship Program continues after five successful gatherings across the Central Valley, next is the Fandango Zapoteco in Madera, California on April 07 at the Madera Court House Park-the public is invited.
Madera and its surrounding communities, particularly the different Mexican indigenous ethnic groups, will have a very unique opportunity to experience in person through a theater presentation the renowned Fandango Zapoteco. This theater format presentation seeks to unveil the customary practices leading up to a traditional Zapoteco wedding (called Fandango). As celebrated in the town of Coatecas Altas in Oaxaca, Mexico. This collective project enables ordinary Zapotecos to share their knowledge and experience with others. The Fandango project is an opportunity for younger generations to learn about their heritage from the elders. The gender gap and increased cultural and civic participation will also be addressed in the performance. The actors of this communal play are young and old day-to-day members of the town of Coatecas Altas, now living in Madera.
This has been a two year project. The first phase of this project was to consult community elders to learn about Fandangos. After many house visits, a committee was established who worked on writing the script and since last summer, the Fandango Working Group started to practice.
Aside from the artistic assistance from Ernesto Torchia (professional theater director from Buenos Aires, Argentina), the uniqueness of this communal project is that is being organized by people with little or no stage experience and everyone in the groups expects to surprise the audience on the day of the event!
The event is open to the public and it will be accessible in English and in Spanish. For more information please contact us at (559) 222-7678. This event is being coordinated by the Zapoteco Working Group and by the Pan Valley Institute of the American Friends Service Committee, with the support of the James Irvine Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.