Brava presents
Pachuquísmo
Back by Popular Demand!
March 11 & 12, 2023
Doors 7:00pm | Show 7:30pm
Join Brava! for Women in the Arts for the return of Vanessa Sanchez and La Mezcla's multidisciplinary performance Pachuquísmo, a rhythmic remembrance of las Pachucas and their stylized power of rebellious resistance, live on our main stage! Returning after three sold-out shows!
Pachuquísmo is a multi-disciplinary, rhythmic performance that unveils a forgotten history of Mexican-American female youth and explores the struggles that communities of color continue to face today.
Don’t miss the only chance to see Pachuquísmo this year in the Bay Area! Immediately following the SF performance, Pachuquísmo will make its New York City debut at the Lincoln Center!
Recipient of the Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Production, the work overlays tap dance with Mexican zapateado, features a live band that brings together Jazz with traditional Son Jarocho music from Veracruz, Mexico and explores the Chicanx experience through percussive conversations. With the all-female cast donning full zoot suits, Pachuquísmo pulls the narrative of the Zoot Suit Riots out of the male-centered context and portrays the experiences of las pachucas of the 1940’s through movement, spoken word and video.
Supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts, Pachuquísmo completed an 8-city National tour, including performances at CaraMía Theater in Texas and Jacob’s Pillow in Massachusetts.
Excerpts of Pachuquísmo
TICKETS
$32 orchestra plus fees
$22 mezzanine plus fees
press
“Precise… strong…energetically rhythmic…an incredible show of fitness…defiance plus impeccable technique and attitude.”
“The women of La Mezcla are really culture keepers. Vanessa is bringing these two different dance styles together that share these African diaspora elements, reflecting her Mexican-American identity. It’s beautiful and ingenious.”
Read the full On Stage North Texas Article.
Read the full Mission Local Article.
ABOUT THE artists
Photo by Alexa Treviño.
Vanessa Sanchez is a Chicana-Native dancer, choreographer and educator who focuses on community arts and traditional dance forms to emphasize voices and experiences of Latina, Chicana, and Indigenous womxn and youth. Based in San Francisco, she is a 2019 Dance/USA Artist Fellow and the founding Artistic Director of La Mezcla, a rhythmic ensemble that explores historical narratives and challenges social injustice through tap dance, Mexican zapateado and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. Sanchez’s work is deeply rooted in community engagement, creating rhythmic choreography to tell stories of collective resistance, and producing accessible and engaging arts events for BIPOC communities. She created the Tap dance and Son Jarocho production “Pachuquísmo,” which received a New England Foundation for the Arts NDP grant and the Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Production. Sanchez is currently a Dance Lecturer at UC Santa Cruz and received a Hewlett 50 Arts Commission grant for her upcoming work “Ghostly Labor,” a percussive piece that explores the history of labor in the US-Mexico Borderlands, premiering at Brava Theater in 2023.
Photo by Anthony Thornton.
La Mezcla is a polyrhythmic, multidisciplinary San Francisco-based dance and music ensemble rooted in Chicana, Latina and Indigenous traditions and social justice. Founded in 2015 by Vanessa Sanchez, their work brings together Tap dance, Son Jarocho and Afro-Caribbean rhythms to bring the often unseen histories and experiences of communities of color to stages, streets and fields. La Mezcla has been featured on the KQED Arts series “If Cities Could Dance” and The Lincoln Center’s “Virtual Concerts for Kids.” Their show “Pachuquísmo,” an all female Tap dance and Son Jarocho performance about the Zoot Suit Riots, received the NEFA National Dance Production grant and toured Nationally in 2022. Their new work “Ghostly Labor,” explores the legacy of labor and the joy of collective resistance in the US-Mexico borderlands.
FUNDERS
Pachuquísmo has been supported by National Association for Latino Arts and Cultures, the San Francisco Arts Commission, California Arts Council Artists, Dancer's Group CASH grant, the Akonadi Foundation's Beloved Community Fund, New England Foundation for the Arts, Zellerbach Family Foundation, and the Dance/USA Artist Fellowship.
La Mezcla is supported by the Mellon Foundation and California Arts Council.
Banner photo taken by Beth LaBerge, Courtesy of KQED Arts.