While on tour in Texas and Latin America last year, discovering the creative ways that other performing arts groups sustain themselves, Cara Mia Theatre鈥檚 David Lozano realized his company鈥檚 annual gathering of Latino artists could be larger and more useful.
As a result, the fifth edition of Cara Mia鈥檚 has not only expanded to include performances by more than a dozen theater, music, dance and comedy troupes 鈥� up from just three in 2022 and 2023 鈥� it also includes for the first time a on sustaining the arts through community development. The festival opens Thursday and runs through Oct. 13.
鈥淭he conversation in every city,鈥� says Lozano, Cara Mia鈥檚 executive artistic director, 鈥渨as how are we going to sustain our work, our operations, our companies.鈥�
At a festival of 86 theater groups in Bogot谩, Colombia, Lozano met members of a small farm-town troupe who were thriving by balancing their experimental plays with populist music, dance and cultural fare.
鈥淭hey develop these plays over a long period of time, and the work is exquisitely poetic,鈥� Lozano says. 鈥淏ut when you see their programming, it鈥檚 very traditional and popular. They pack the house.鈥�
He also learned the role of food. At the Bogot谩 festival and another in the Colombian city of Ch铆a, the theaters ran moneymaking kitchens on site that fed both performers and members of the public. In Ch铆a, construction workers from a nearby project would show up to eat lunch during the festival.
In addition to generating revenue, a large, multi-faceted festival fosters conversations and experiences that go beyond just seeing and performing in shows, Lozano says. To that end, he hopes the combination of a festival and a symposium will create the kind of synergy he saw when touring Cara Mia productions to San Antonio, Mexico City and Colombia in 2023.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like Grand Central Station. People from all over the world are crossing paths. We were seeing all of these different ways of working, how they use space, how they use food to bring people together. You鈥檙e having a meal, you鈥檙e talking. You鈥檙e not sitting in your hotel and then it鈥檚 time for the show.鈥�
Being held Oct. 3-5, the Latinidades Arts Symposium opens and closes at the Latino Cultural Center, where Cara Mia is a resident company. It starts with keynote addresses by and about how art nourishes communities and social movements. The speakers will offer strategies for overcoming roadblocks and thriving.
The second day, at The Dallas Morning News building downtown, begins with Olga Garay-English, a director of the , discussing her organization鈥檚 . There will be breakout sessions on working with local government agencies, social media storytelling, collaborating, voting, fundraising and audience building.
On the last day, participants will review what they鈥檝e learned.
鈥淲hen you look at the reality of supporting not just your arts organization, but your arts practice, your arts career, there鈥檚 a moment of sobriety when you realize you鈥檙e not going to build your livelihood around selling tickets,鈥� Lozano says. 鈥淪o the question then is, 鈥楬ow do you do it?鈥� 鈥�
In an effort to closely tie the symposium to the festival, there will be late-night critiques of the evening performances and additional performances incorporated into the daytime sessions.
Opening the festival is Ghostly Labor by San Francisco鈥檚 La Mezcla, a Chicana group of actors, musicians and dancers who took the 2022 edition of Latinidades by storm with , which traced female experiences during the 1940s zoot suit era. Its latest piece explores the history of labor in communities along the U.S.-Mexican border.
is one of 13 shows in the festival, almost half of them free. Six have dance as a primary element. Many are in Spanish, some with English subtitles. With music and movement central to so many of the works, Lozano says, verbal language becomes less important.
The other paid performances, which run two or three times each, include Teatro Petra鈥檚 comic play about women鈥檚 rights and the absurdity of societal norms, (Bogot谩); ASYC/El Teatro de Movimiento鈥檚 dance piece about reconstructing growing up through memory, (Mexico City); 鈥檚 mashup of standup, parodies and short plays about Puerto Rican culture, Las Jevas (San Juan); Escultores del Aire鈥檚 dance-theater about the heartache and stages of grief after a breakup, (Barcelona); the 鈥� dramatic work about the aftermath of war set to punk music, (Miami and San Juan); and , a dance and music work-in-progress about the title goddess by Cara Mia, fellow Dallas groups the Flame Foundation and New Orleans Original BuckShop, and Mulato Teatro (Ticum谩n, Mexico).
In addition, there will be free performances by ASYC (); ; a multi-artist poetry reading titled ; by La Asociaci贸n Cultural Colombiana del Norte de Texas; the Dallas-based Cuban salsa band ; and , an Afro-Puerto Rican music, dance and cultural group.
Most of these shows will take place on the Latino Cultural Center鈥檚 outdoor plaza following paid performances in the main auditorium and black box theater.
鈥淭he space itself shows that we can do this,鈥� Lozano says. 鈥淭his is actually part of our strategic plan to contribute to [Latino Cultural Center]. Because we are residents of the building, we have the facilities to do it now. And as we developed more resources and knowledge from touring and performing at festivals, we know how to execute it. Three, four, five years ago, we didn鈥檛 have the ability to produce efficiently at such a scale.鈥�
At the same time, he emphasizes that it has taken a village to build Latinidades, a lesson he hopes festival attendees leave with. As an example, he cites Meeks and Margie Reese, the former director of the city of Dallas鈥� Office of Cultural Affairs (now the ), as key contributors to shaping the symposium.
鈥淚鈥檓 not leading the symposium; I鈥檓 not leading anything,鈥� Lozano says. 鈥淚 may sit on a panel about collaborations, but I鈥檓 just one voice of many.
Details
Sept. 26-Oct. 13 at the Latino Cultural Center, 2600 Live Oak St., and The Dallas Morning News, 1954 Commerce St. Individual paid performances, $16-$25. Festival passes, $80-$125. Symposium, $275. Scholarships available. .
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