Beginning next week, a San Juan Bautista-based theater group
called El Teatro Campesino will be facilitating a weeklong,
after-school workshop that culminates to a live performance. The
program is being funded partially by the city of Gilroy in
partnership with St. Joseph’s Family Center.
Beginning next week, a San Juan Bautista-based theater group called El Teatro Campesino will be facilitating a weeklong, after-school workshop that culminates to a live performance. The program is being funded partially by the city of Gilroy in partnership with St. Joseph’s Family Center.
Parents interested in enrolling their children in the workshop, which is open to youth ages 11 to 14, need to call Stephanie Woehrmann at (831) 261-4838 for eligibility requirements.
The program will take place every day from 3 to 5:30 p.m., Sept. 12-16 at the Gilroy Center for the Arts on 7341 Monterey St., ending in a live performance titled “!Adventuras con Verduras!” scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17.
According to Woehrmann, the workshop will focus on teaching the Luis Valdez method of using the body as a “vibrant being.” The method focuses on the basic abilities of the body, which is all the student actor needs to create live theater, Woehrmann explains. This form of training enables the actor to create theatrical performances anywhere with little to no props or scenery, whether onstage, outside in a park or on the back of a flatbed truck.
“Valdez’ theory is that community is the creator of theater and that theater is the creator of community,” said Woehrmann in a press release.
¡Aventuras con Verduras! is an El Teatro Campesino production, created to inform audiences about a public health initiative that is led by the California Department of Public Health and administered by the Public Health Institute. The purpose of the play is to empower low-income Latino adults and their families to consume the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables and enjoy physical activity every day, according to the press release. This is an original theatrical work, specifically created by El Teatro Campesino for the local residents of Gilroy and San Benito and Monterey Counties.
On Sept. 17, events will kick off at 1 p.m. with a DJ, mariachi music and an Aztec dance performance by Christopher High School students. The “!Adventuras con Verduras!” performance will take place at 2 p.m.
Founded in 1965, El Teatro Campesino created “actos,” or short skits, on flatbed trucks and in union halls that dramatized the plight and cause of Latino farm workers, according to the theater’s website. For more information about El Teatro Campesino visit www.elteatrocampesino.com
For more information, call (408) 842-6999 and ask for Stephanie Woehrmann, or visit www.gilroyartsaliance.com.
