About this Issue

Introduction to the first issue of New Voices - Nuevas Voces.

Representing Ourselves: Latina Identity in Performance
     by Eugenia Albina and Veronica Savory

Being Latina, but not fitting into "typical" notions of Latinidad, Eugenia and Veronica wished to explore their identities through a combination of performance, dance, song, slide presentation and costume. They workshopped their performance piece and wrote their original scripts in a collaborative process, and which they describe in the following excerpts from their final papers.

Through the Eyes of Latinidad
     by Brian Delgado

Brian wished to explore the medium of still photography. Along with collaborators Raúl Serrano (photographer), Angela Vasquez (model), and Pradine Saint–Fort (poet), Brian designed a large format book of photographs, with several poems contributed by Pradine.

Latinidad with Russian Eyes
     by Oksana Frolova and Elena Odinokaya

Oksana and Elena were two Master's degree (M.A.L.S.) students from Russia who were enrolled in LATS 41. They brought a very unique perspective to our class, one which they chose to explore in their video-based final project, "Latinidad with Russian Eyes." They interviewed a wide variety of people and included the Guillermo Gómez Peñ a performance piece, "Orozco Mexotica," which ocurred on May 23 & 24, 2002 on the Dartmouth campus in the Baker Library reserve room.

Latina Boom Crossover Seminar
     by Lara Santiago Renta and Vanessa Durant

Lara is an experienced poet and performer, and Vanessa is a naturally talented speaker and actor. Both are good friends and make a natural comedy team. Their decision to create an original comedic performance piece, inspired by a skit from John Leguizamo's videotaped television special, Mambo Mouth, was the perfect final project for them to share with their audience. They wrote an original script, used a PowerPoint slide presentation and music, and drew upon many of their personal experiences as Latinas. In their hilarious live performance, they also acted in role, as the actress, Jennifer Lopez, and the Colombian pop singer, Shakira. Lara and Vanessa very effectively satirized the cult of personality, as well as the cultural expectations and stereotypes, surrounding these famous "crossover" Latinas.

Orozco Mexotica
     by Pradine Saint-Fort

Pradine was a first-year student at Dartmouth when she decided to take on the challenge of performing with Guillermo Gomez Peña and his professional collaborators in "Orozco Mexotica." Under the guidance and encouragement of Guillermo Gomez Peña, Juan Ybarra and Michelle Ceballos, Pradine and a group of Dartmouth students workshopped and developed their characters, and Pradine's natural talents as a spoken-word performer and dancer served her well in her final performances.

Ballet Folklorico de Dartmouth
     by Angela Vasquez

Angela was involved with two projects for LATS 41. She co-founded and dances in a traditional Mexican dance company at Dartmouth called "Ballet Folklorico de Dartmouth" and Angela wanted to create a web presence for the dance company. She also modelled with her friend, Brian Delagado, who conceived of and organized a photography project, entitled "Through the Eyes of Latinidad."

Wire-less Identity: Latina/o Representation in Cyberspace
     by Tina Velez

Tina has long been involved in New Media, from its emergence and during its development. Her keen interest in this newest form of media and the Internet provided fertile ground for her to conduct an investigation on the representations of Latinas/os in cyberspace. In a fascinating and insightful PowerPoint presentation and performative reading,Tina explored the many complex signifiers that are used by people to present their images, ideas and agendas through the World Wide Web.