Radio Aluna Teatro

"... being able to showcase such a diverse group of artists, and diverse ways to create - there is no one way to create, there is not one way to make theatre, there is not one way to interact with audiences. The beauty of the podcast was to talk to these artists and discover new ways that I can create as an artist and that our audiences can enjoy [theatre]."  - Lu Linares "to take a moment and turn to our community and be like, 'hey I need help,' is also a way to be tender to yourself" - Mónica Garrido  That’s a wrap on Season 8 of Radio Aluna Theatre! In this mini-episode, Mónica and Lu, the co-producers of the podcast, reflect on the conversations they had this season and what is on their wishlist for the future.   Thank you so much for joining us! All Radio Aluna Theatre episodes are in Spanglish, English, or Spanish. New episodes are released on Wednesdays. Follow and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and wherever else you get your podcasts. Radio Aluna Teatro is produced by Aluna

“I love creating. I love telling stories and supporting others to tell their own stories. This is what I’m supposed to be doing right now. I love every part of it, the challenges and the joy that is to create with others and to share the work with community” - Ale Higuera “At first, I was like “it’s naïve to base your work on joy and tenderness” and then I realized it’s something that we need, especially in a world where you’re working and you don’t have time to rest.” - Fer Sandoval Pezoa Meet ana and Ale Higuera and Fer Sandoval Pezoa! Ale Higuera is a multidisciplinary, visual storyteller working in video, animation, projection and illustration. ana maria higuera is a self-taught digital photographer and video maker. This talented sibling duo was in charge of the videography and archival documentation during the 2022 Rutas Festival.  Fer Sandoval Pezoa is a Latin Queer interdisciplinary artist who bases their work on radical tenderness, community healing and JOY as an act of resistance. They aim to create

“I hope that sharing these transamerican - or even transborder - stories has planted that seed in continuing these conversations about oneness” - Maria Paula Carreño “The political aspect of theatre can be… not just in the content of the piece but also in the form that it takes. So like questions around challenging traditional forms of theatre, creating new forms of theatre can expand not only how we create art but also how we think of the world, how we can create social change” - María Escolán. Meet Maria Paula Carreño and María Escolán. Maria Paula is a Queer Colombian-Canadian multidisciplinary artist, and she was in charge of Outreach and Marketing for this year’s Rutas Festival. María Escolán is a queer theatre artist from El Salvador living on the unceded traditional Coast Salish Territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. María worked on two different pieces in the festival, she was the Translator/ Narrator of Pequeños Territorios en Reconstrucción and she was also the Assistant

There are times where… I just want this moment for the Armenians… for them to feel like they are seen and for ... anglophones to just for a moment feel displaced. - Lara Arabian when you are uprooted from your culture… how do we construct this notion of ancestry? I think that doesn't necessarily have to do with blood ties.  Especially as cultural workers, artists - we are always looking for someone in the past that will inspire… who is able to navigate this world where the ground is always moving…. - Carla Melo Meet Lara Arabian and Carla Melo, the writer/performer and director/co- creator of “Siranoush'' a multimedia, multilingual one-woman show that was part of this year’s Rutas Festival. Lara Arabian is a trilingual Dora nominated Toronto-based performer by way of Beirut, Lebanon, upstate NY, and Paris, France. She is also a passionate arts educator and is on the faculty of Sheridan College in both the Musical Theatre and the Performing Arts Preparation programs. Carla Melo (Ph.D., UCLA) is a researcher,

I won’t take no for an answer, in the most you know positive and you know like dedicated way, but I think that, that is very important. I feel like that has given me that hunger and like that desire of figuring it out has led me to where I am today. If I had been discouraged by the rejection of Caminos in 2019 I wouldn’t be here. I am very proud and very happy and I always say if Santiago did it, you can do it too. - Santiago Guzmán Meet Santiago Guzmán, a writer, performer, director and producer for theatre and film originally from Metepec, Mexico, now based in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. He is the  Artistic Director of TODOS Productions and his work is very brown, very queer, and very real.  Santiago is the creator and performer of “Altar” that was part of this year’s Rutas Festival. Altar tells the story of Eugenio a queer young immigrant living in St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador. Less than a year has passed since his move from Mexico, but in that time, he experienced deep love and deepe

Sin esperanza pero con mucho amor y mucha poesía. Osea, nos gustan mucho las derivas poéticas, nos gusta mucho resignificar las historias de las personas y nos gustan mucho las historias incómodas. Entonces, lo que venimos a hacer es incomodar de una manera poética la mirada de la gente.- Zuadd Atala Conoce a Zuadd Atala quien forma parte de Teatro Línea de Sombra. Desde 1996 Zuadd ha trabajado con diversos coreógrafos y directores de escena internacionales y nacionales. Su entrenamiento y búsqueda se fundamentan en las prácticas corporales, la instalación habitada y la escena documental. Zuadd es la Coreógrafa y performer de Danzantes del Alba, y también fue parte del concepto y la creación de Pequeños Territorios en Reconstrucción. Ambas producciones formaron parte del Festival Rutas 2022.  Pequeños Territorios en Reconstrucción es la historia de un lugar, de sus habitantes, al mismo tiempo que una reflexión de lo que significa vivir bajo una violencia crónica. Pequeños Territorios en Reconstrucción es un t

Since I started in the world of puppetry, my artistic career and my life changed completely. And I felt as if I finally found the art form that is generous enough and that englobes all the other art forms, because puppetry is the meeting of the art of the scene, art of the stage, and the visual arts and music. So for me it is like the most complete and generous art form that ever existed. - Nina Vogel  Meet award-winning Brazilian multidisciplinary artist, puppeteer, singer, actress, and director Nina Vogel. Her approach to puppetry and art has a strong spiritual influence inherited from both her indigenous Guarani and Tikuna ancestry. Her work has been performed all over the world and she is the creator and performer of  Peter and the Wolf part of 2022 RUTAS Festival. Peter and the Wolf, the classic story and music by Sergei Prokofiev, bursts to life with glorious puppets crafted in ateliers in Brazil. Created by master craftsmen and artist Nina Vogel, from the very musical instruments featured in the sympho

I think I feel a responsibility to complicate the conversation and again bring ... what’s actually happening on the ground. You know, if you don’t work in the oil and gas industry it’s easy to look at it and be like ‘yeah… what are we doing over there, that’s terrible, we should stop that.’ But if you are someone who is working in it, it’s not that simple. We’re not gonna get anywhere if those two components of the world aren’t talking to each other.                  - Claren Grosz In this episode, we chat with Claren Grosz. She is a queer Toronto based theatre and visual artist. Her theatre practice focuses on physical, visually compelling work and holistic, non-hierarchical theatre making processes. Also, she is the artistic director of Pencil Kit Productions. Claren is the creator and performer of “I Love The Smell of Gasoline”, opening  at 2022 RUTAS Festival. In “I Love The Smell of Gasoline”, Claren attempts to reconcile her Alberta oil-industry roots with the current environmental emergency. The projec

I had a teacher - he said that we all are percussionists because our biggest instrument - and the most important - the heart, is always beating  - Misset Parata In this episode, we chat with Misset Parata, an Actor and Percussionist, born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela where she was immersed into Afro- Venezuelan dance and Music Traditions. She is also one of the protagonists of Cacao | A Venezuelan Lament, a new live performance work having its opening at the Rutas Festival. Cacao | A Venezuelan Lament is a new live performance works about belonging, land and the preservation of traditions. Drawing on twelve years of community-based fieldwork, this polylingual and multidisciplinary dance and theatre production offers timely insight into the complex lived realities of Venezuela’s cacao farmers. Creator, Director and Choreographer Victoria Mata roots her vocabulary and aesthetics in the tensions between remembering and forgetting, and in a dynamic dialogue between Afro-Venezuelan genres and contemporary expr

 I really want truths on stage, these are the truths. These women as you see the piece you are gonna hear the voices of these women.  And the Actors at the top acknowledge they are the ones saying the stories of these particular women; they are not pretending that they are these women. The actor becomes a vehicle that is being used for these voices to be heard - Beatriz Pizano (It was) a very emotional journey to cut down their stories and just scale them down to the genesis of their particular story that we wanted to highlight… it was a challenging, and joyful, and emotional playwriting experience extremely different from fiction. -  Anna Chatterton   We have to be united as humans, humanity, to be able to bring the change. Because we can’t do it separately. If this hand with 5 fingers can do something, otherwise is not going to happen we can’t do anything and I think this is the most important conversation for me, that we realize first of all we are not alone, and second that our unity can bring changes oth

He is vocal and He is loud and he is engaging and as I said before he is an amazing human being. He is an artist, he is a poet, he is so many things. He is really from that generation of Artists who work with so many different disciplines.    - Beatriz Pizano All I’m doing is pointing out the obvious – and that’s avant-garde in a country that dares not to look at itself and its own atrocities in the mirror  – José Torres-Tama This week we are doing a repost of José Torres Tama episode from Season 3 as he makes his way to Toronto for the Rutas Festival! And to help us introduce this Repost Episode we invited Aluna Theatre’s Artistic Director Beatriz Pizano as she shares with us her excitement about this artist. Don’t miss Aliens, Immigrants & Other Evildoers at the Rutas Festival.   Original text from episode: In this episode we dive into the responsibility of the artist, laptop activism, solidarity between Latinx, Undocumented, and Black people, and the urgency to continue creating and sharing new work du

“Santiago is an artist that I have seen growing so fast ... and he is building a community in a place where you know it's difficult ... but he is fully committed”     - Beatriz Pizano  “I really want this... I am finding my way in the community and trying to understand what is it that I want to do with what I have, and where else I could go as an individual, but also trying to support other artists to grow”      - Santiago Guzmán This week we are doing a repost of Santiago Guzmán episode from Season 3 as he makes his way to Toronto for the Rutas Festival! And to help us introduce this Repost Episode we invited the Aluna Theatre’s Artistic Director  Beatriz Pizano as she shares with us her excitement of having Santiago show Altar in the line up.  Original text from episode: This week Monica and Camila chat with Santiago Guzmán, theatre and filmmaker born in Mexico City and now based in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Santiago shares stories from his journey moving from Mexico to the Maritimes, studying and working i

An all new season of Radio Aluna Theater starts next week! This season we are celebrating the 5th edition of the RUTAS FESTIVAL. And you our dear listeners will have an all-access pass to conversations with the Artists as they make their way across the Americas to Toronto.  This season joining Monica Garrido as co-producer is Lucia Linares. And our new co-host this season will be different artists and community members that have been part of the Aluna Universe throughout the years!  Starting next week, join us every Wednesday for season 8 of RADIO ALUNA THEATRE!!  Learn more about the  RUTAS FESTIVAL. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¡La próxima semana comienza una nueva temporada de Radio Aluna Teatro! Esta temporada celebramos la 5ª edición del festival RUTAS. Y tú que nos escuchas, tendrás un pase de acceso completo a las conversaciones con los artistas mientras viajan a través de las Américas hacia Toronto. Esta temporada Lucía Linares se une junto con Mónica Garrido como co-productore. ¡Y quien compartirá la con

[This show] is an extension of the Venezuela that I have in my heart and in my mind...  I don’t think I would be able to put on this show if I hadn’t received the blessing of my elders and my masters in Venezuela.      - Victoria Mata In this episode, we chat with dance artist, choreographer, movement coach, activist and part of the Aluna Family, Victoria Mata! Victoria Mata is a Toronto-based Canadian-Venezuelan artist who combines an evolving feminism with her passion for expressive arts therapy. Mata’s choreography and her personal dance expression generate a dialogue between performance and embodied cultural memory.  The world premiere production of Victoria Mata’s Cacao | A Venezuelan Lament will be presented in September 2022 with Aluna Theatre and the RUTAS 2022 International Festival, in partnership with TO Live. Cacao | A Venezuelan Lament is a new live dance theatre outdoor performance work taking us on an intimate journey into the radiance and resilience of Venezuela’s cacao farming communities. We

I personally think that cross-cultural solidarity between communities of colour is absolutely essential to build the kinds of worlds that we want, in any of the areas that we're struggling at the moment.  - Suvendrini Lena In this episode we chat with our dear friend, mother, human, playwright, and neurologist Suvendrini Lena!  Suvendrini works as a neurologist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the Women’s College Hospital. She has been an artist-in-residence at several artistic and medical organizations, including the Theatre Centre and the University of Toronto. She is also the writer of Rubble, a theatre project inspired by the poetry of Palestinian writers Lena Khalaf Tuffaha and Mahmoud Darwish and currently in development at Aluna Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille.  We chat with Suvendrini about how her role as doctor influences her as a playwright and vice versa, and about what solidarity looks like in her work.    Show Notes:  Poems that inspired Rubble: Running Orders by Lena Khalaf

“The bigger you love, the bigger the pain, the bigger the suffering. Part of me worries that Lorca didn’t know love without pain, without suffering. I’d want to know, ’how have you known love?” - Paulie McDermid In this episode we chat dear friend to Aluna and self-confessed ‘total Lorca nerd’, Paulie McDermid! In celebration of the opening of Aluna Theatre and Modern Times’ co-production of The House of Bernarda Alba, Paulie gives us an inside look at the life and work of Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director Federico Garcia Lorca.  Paulie McDermid has been a member of Aluna's board of directors since 2014. You may know them as their drag alter ego, Philomena Flynn-Flawn - school teacher by day, cabaret artiste by night! Paulie is also the author of Love, desire, and identity in the theatre of Federico García Lorca. We chat with Paulie about everything Lorca - about his private and public life, about his inspirations and major works, and the impact he’s left on drama lovers everywhere.   All Radio A

“Does a person need one exclusive identity? Why are we passionately attached to our birth place, ethnicities, religious or national identities? These questions have always been with me.” - Soheil Parsa.    Welcome to Season 7 of Radio Aluna Theatre! We kick off the season with a wonderful, nerdy conversation with director, actor, writer, dramaturg, and dear friend to the company, Soheil Parsa.    Soheil Parsa is the co-founder and former artistic director of Modern Times Stage Company, with a career that spans thirty two years and 2 continents. His work has been recognized with numerous awards celebrating his unique contributions to Canadian theatre, including the Barbara Hamilton Memorial Award, the Canadian Association for Theatre Research Honorary Member Award, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He is also the director of Aluna Theatre and Modern Times’ upcoming production of The House of Bernarda Alba.     In this episode, we chat with Soheil about some of the questions that have fueled his

I think we have a responsibility as drag performers to actually step up and be there for the community . - Selena Vyle   Welcome back to Caminantes! In this series you’re invited behind the curtain of the 2021 CAMINOS festival and into the creative minds of this year’s ‘Caminantes’, those who are making the path as they go. The next series of episodes will feature artists who have been part of past CAMINOS festivals, and their insights on new work development.    This week features Latinx Arab Cabaret Queen Selena Vyle! We talk about rolling with the punches of the pandemic and the role of community and authenticity in her work.    Theme music is ‘Dejaron Huellas’ by Beny Esguerra and New Tradition Music. Listen to the full track here!     All Radio Aluna Theatre episodes are in Spanglish, English, or Spanish. New episodes are released on Wednesdays. Follow and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and wherever else you get your podcasts. Radio Aluna Teatro is produced by Aluna T

 Everything is constantly in process, so why try to pretty it up?    - Jiv Parsram    Welcome back to Caminantes! In this series you’re invited behind the curtain of the 2021 CAMINOS festival and into the creative minds of this year’s ‘Caminantes’, those who are making the path as they go. The next series of episodes will feature artists who have been part of past CAMINOS festivals, and their insights on new work development.  This week features multi-disciplinary artist of Indo-Caribbean descent, Jiv Parasram! We talk about some of his favourite tools for supporting new work, ‘being precious’ with theatre, and the journey of his play Take d Milk Nah? to published script and podcast.  Learn more about Jiv’s play, Take d Milk Nah?. And listen to the PlayME audio play version here!    Theme music is ‘Dejaron Huellas’ by Beny Esguerra and New Tradition Music. Listen to the full track here!     All Radio Aluna Theatre episodes are in Spanglish, English, or Spanish. New episodes are released on Wednesdays.

Especially in North America, there’s division and boundaries. As an artist I feel we are hoping to connect with each other to reflect that to society, and for people to understand and acknowledge each other wherever we are, gender, colour, whatever.   - Ahmed Moneka    Welcome back to Caminantes! In this series you’re invited behind the curtain of the 2021 CAMINOS festival and into the creative minds of this year’s ‘Caminantes’, those who are making the path as they go. The next series of episodes will feature artists who have been part of past CAMINOS festivals, and their insights on new work development!  This week features theatre artist and musician Ahmed Moneka. We talk about the power of listening, how music and theatre inspire him, and he shares insights on what makes a powerful ensemble collaboration.  Theme music is ‘Dejaron Huellas’ by Beny Esguerra and New Tradition Music. Listen to the full track here!     All Radio Aluna Theatre episodes are in Spanglish, English, or Spanish. New episodes a