ABOUT THE PROJECT

ATLACUALO reinterprets ancient Mexican mythology and iconography to address pressing ecological issues around water rights and shortages. Drawing from the poetry and didactic power of pre-Hispanic myths, it constructs a compelling discourse on the depletion of our natural resources in a production that combines movement, performance art, new music composition, visual art installation, and video. 

 
“Atlacualo is divided into distinct episodes, with [Violeta] Luna taking the lead in evoking a holistic perspective of nature with slow-paced but tightly controlled images of birthing and growth through sacred practices. Navarrete is a motor-mouthed huckster of “agua mágica” – the product of multinational greed. He also beautifully segues into a transformation from an oil-slicked subhuman into a dying fish who dreams of clean water.”
— Rita Felciano, Bay Guardian, April 2010
 

Created by NAKA Dance Theater in collaboration with Violeta Luna, Lauren Elder, Ricardo Rivera, and Javier Torres Maldonado.

Performed at Dance Mission Theater, SF (2017), CounterPULSE Theater, SF (2010, 2012), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum, SF (2011)

(80 minutes)