Imperial Silence: Una Ópera Muerta
A Day of the Dead opera from the other side
Friday, November 3 - 8pm
A multimedia folk-opera, Imperial Silence explores the cultural norms of silence and death in a fearless, north of the border expression of Mexican and Chicanx traditions. The performance fuses dark humored animation with contemporary interpretations of Mexican folkloric dance and traditional Mariachi and Son Jarocho music. The work is an intervention into the long history of tactics used to silence alternative and dissident viewpoints in the United States of America: the “Imperial Silence.”
The opera takes place in four acts, each one representing a phase of the life cycle, as told by muertitos, and involves live musical interpretations of songs such as “El Corrido de Pat Tillman,” “Lamento Desaparecido,” “This is the House that Blacks Built,” “La Llorona,” and others.
Director John Jota Leaños
Musicians Dolores Garcia, Cecilia Peña Govea, and Kyla Danysh
Libretto John Jota Leaños and Sean Levon Nash
Animators Luz Cabrales, Tony Coleman, Crystal Gonzalez, John Jota Leaños, Sean Levon Nash, Andrea Vargas and Ivan Wachter
Choreographers Joel Valentín-Martinez and Vanessa Sanchez
Dancers Jesus Cortes and Vanessa Sanchez
Lighting and Technical Director José María Francos