Pachuquismo, mixing Son Jarocho and Tap Dance with soulful Mexican musical rhythms, Bruja reinvents and regains the Latina-Xicana Power.
Bruja is a theater performance showcasing and empowering Xicanas and Latina women of the Bay Area through rhythm, music, and dance. An exploration of the history of the Xicana experience through non-stereotypical artistic expression with a cultural and historical context spanning from the 1940’s (early Xicano history) through today.
Vanessa Sanchez is a Chicana dancer, educator and choreographer focusing on community arts and multi-cultural dance. Based in San Francisco, Sanchez has over 20 years of dance training in both folkloric and contemporary dance styles and has shown her work on stages in Portugal, Mexico and throughout the United States. With a passion for showing her dance with her community, Sánchez is currently the Dance Lead for Loco Bloco, Youth Program Director for Dance Mission Theater and and an artist in residence at Ruth Assawa’s School of the Arts. She is a recipient of the Dancer’s Group CA$H grant and National Association for Latino Arts and Cultures Fund for the Arts Grant.
La Mezcla, founded and directed by Vanessa Sanchez, is a music and dance group whose work focuses on cross cultural rhythmic collaborations that are rooted in folkloric tradition. La Mezcla uses live music, percussion, tap and Mexican zapateado to explore cultural identity and social issues. Past presentations have included CubaCaribe, D.I.R.T, Live Arts in Resistance.
www.VanessaSanchez.net https://www.facebook.com/LaMezclaSF/
SUPPORTED IN PART BY the Akonadi Foundation’s Beloved Community Fund Grant, the Hewlett Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Building Demand for the Arts initiative, and Dancers' Group's CA$H Grant.
Bruja
September 2, 2017
Created by Vanessa Sanchez/La Mezcla, featuring bien firme
La Mezcla: Alisa Guardiola, Daphne Wong, Dolores "Lolis" Garcia, Emmeline Gonzalez- Beban, Monica Fimbrez, Vanessa Sanchez
Video by Vanessa Sanchez with music from Glenn Miller and Ella Fitzgerald.
Presented by EastSide Arts Alliance, NAKA Dance Theater, and La Mezcla