Notes From A Native Daughter

From the personal to the universal or from the universal to the personal – I believe that’s the quest of all artists. To nail that very thing that grabs at us in our core. A hit and miss type of thing, but the noblest of efforts. Argentinean filmmaker Gaston Solnicki has an uncanny ability to achieve just that, every single time it seems. He’s known for his non-fiction documentaries Süden (2008) and Papirosen (2011). Gaston's latest film Kékszakállú, his first fiction feature, was an official selection at this year’s Venice, Toronto and New York Film Festivals. He won the FIPRESCI Award (International Federation of Film Critics) a few weeks back at Venice. “Kékszakállú is a singularity: a playful portrait of spiritual lethargy. A portrait of several young women at the threshold of adulthood…”  Partly inspired by Béla Bartók’s sole opera Bluebeard’s Castle, Kékszakállú is a must see.

Ivonne plays a fabulous Alba Gloriana Villanueva, abuela, on The CW hit show, Jane the Virgin. Ella es una gloria puertorriqueña / a Puerto Rican glory, with a career path of many years. I offer a heartfelt introduction about her and to her, for all of you, which, I hope will make up for the fact that I lost the first nine minutes of conversation. Humbling. Ivonne es bella y tremenda and she’s family. She's part of my childhood framework regarding arts, culture and entertainment in Puerto Rico during the 70s and early 80s. Beautiful times. Beautiful person. .

Rosal Colón is a real thoroughbred of the theater. Serious stuff. This kid has credits. Some of those are: Alumna of the Conservatory of Theater Arts, SUNY Purchase; Member of the acclaimed Labyrinth Theater; Freeman of Color (Broadway); The Motherfucker with the Hat (Broadway and regional D.C.); Much Ado About Nothing (The Public Theater); Ninth and Joanie (Labyrinth Theater); Between Riverside and Crazy (2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and read the New York Times review); Season 4 Orange Is The New Black (filming season 5). And carrying on…

Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda, her name sounds like the great Latin American novel, à la Anna Karenina, less the tragic ending. Her name befits her. She’s an alchemist artisan. Dexterous with her hands, Zaida Adriana creates textiles from natural and recycled materials. She does a lot more than that but do check out BALMASEDA.com so you can see her poetry.

Solid, supportive, soulful, singular and a superb professional with one of the most beautiful smiles ever, that’s Tony Chiroldes. He loves to sing Out There from the film The Hunch Back of Notre Dame for his cabaret show. Out There is all about chops and heart something Tony has galore. And, he reminds me that being out there in the world and living, is what it’s all about.

Paola Lázaro is fierce. Here’s a young, talented and emerging wordsmith, in a very crowded landscape, standing as a unique voice. Recent credits: Selected by the Atlantic Theatre Company to be its Tow Playwright-in-Residence as part of the Tow Foundation’s 2016–17 playwright residency program.  She was part of the 2015 Emerging Writers Group at the Public Theater. Received an Arts Entertainment Scholarship Award from the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts for the pilot episode of her TV show, Trópico. Appeared in "To the Bone" at the Cherry Lane Theatre and received a 2015 Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress. In May of this year, Paola participated in the Sundance Institute’s pilot Theatre Lab in MENA, held in Morocco.

Harry Nadal is a creative a mind and consummate professional. His next gig - Arena Stage in D.C. to work on A Raisin in the Sun. Harry does what he does because, “it’s the talent that God gave me and it is what I was brought into this world to do.” In a field that is not Latino dominated, Harry is a mentor and an example for future Latino designers.

Members of the band Balún, Angélica Negrón, José Olivares, Noraliz Ruíz, Raul Reymundi and Lawson White, head of Good Child Music, talk about their upcoming album Prisma Tropical (Tropical Prism). Balún is an electronic, dreamy, pop, daze. All of them are truly accomplished. Prisma Tropical is produced and released by Good Child Music. Balún’s collaboration with Lawson White is a mix of musical prowess and mutual respect.

In 2015, Roberto designed and launched a new graduate program in film production at Johns Hopkins. The Film & Media Master of Arts Program focuses on the areas of business, writing, sound design and production and emphasizes experiential learning. In 2016, he also designed and launched the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film & Media at Johns Hopkins University. The Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund identifies innovative visual media artists in Baltimore and connects them with prestigious artists, veteran executives and successful entrepreneurs to produce powerful projects and bring meaningful stories to life. Currently, Roberto serves as the Director of the Film and Media Masters program and the Director of the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Film & Media at Johns Hopkins. He teaches at the undergraduate and graduate level and is working on his second television pilot.

Leticia Peguero is the Executive Director of the Andrus Family Fund. As a woman of color in the philanthropic sector, Leticia is a rare leader. Her work in social justice requires her to talk race, equality, and gender all day long. Exactly what she wants to be doing. Visit the Andrus Family Fund to learn more: http://www.affund.org/

Guest Desmar Guevara is a music artist, keyboardist, a theater music composer. As musical director and composer of Pregones Theater/Teatro Rodante Puertorriqueño for the past 10 years, Desmar has created over 20 full-length, original musical scores for the theater, among them, “The Red Rose,” “The Harlem Hellfighters on a Latin Beat,” “Neon Baby” and “An Astronaut’s Desire,” and “Hey Yo! Yo Soy!” For additional + visit: www.desmarguevara.com and www.pregonesprtt.org

Noemí Segarra Noemí Segarra is an incredible artist and dancer. I’ve known her to be super skilled since childhood. A few years ago I wrote two pieces about her that appeared on the Huffington Post, Latino Voices’ vertical. I promised her a third piece, and though I’m a few years late, this conversation/interview makes good on that promise. Our conversation was deep... Reflections of our conversation by Noemí Segarra: “Translate the art of action and movement to the spoken and written word, as a self-reflection exercise for documentation, self-learning and knowledge.” “Delve in defining myself (as a person and as part of a collective whole) rather than allowing others to define me.” “The only thing that removes doubt and fear is practice. Making, testing, documenting and trying as many times as necessary.”

José García has a beautiful voice. I can always tell when he’s singing even if I’m not watching. I particularly admire that he’s been part of Camp Winnarainbow for the past 23 years. We met many years ago through our shared tribe of Pregones Theater and worked together on Promise of a Love Song, an original dramatic-musical created by Roadside Theater, Junebug Theater and Pregones Theater. His present passion is a music project in homage to Pedro Dávila Ortíz, a k a Davilita, one of the greatest voices to come out of Puerto Rico, and is a symbol of the Puerto Rican diaspora. José has known and studied Davilita’s life and works for years and with his band, The Rubi Band, Davilita’s work is refreshed and played on and with, the sounds of the times. Starting September 23 The Rubi Band will play at Don Pedro in Williamsburg, for 8-weeks on Fridays from 7pm -9pm.

In my estimation, Marlène has one of the coolest jobs in the entire national and perhaps even global landscape, of arts and culture. Really. She’s a powerhouse of incredible talent as actor, artist, creative worker, cultural advocate, producer, writer, mentor, and linguist. She earned a BA in Literature from Harvard; a MA in Comparative Literature with PhD coursework from Stanford; and an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Marlène is also known as Fulana, for the project Fulana, a Latina video + Performance Collective. Visit their site, they’re amazing. Visit and learn about the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics. Hemisphericinstitute.org. It’s also amazing. We're friends for over 30-years. During our conversation we talk life and dedicating a career to artistic expression and social justice.

The first episode is a 5-minute piece of just me talking and explaining what NFAND is all about.