Judging from the “La Transvestite Mariachi” welcoming visitors to its Web site, La Pocha Nostra is anything but a normal night at the theater.
La Pocha Nostra is a multidisciplinary arts organization specializing in performances about globalization and inter-cultural identity. The group strives to blur the line between art and politics, artist and spectator.
La Pocha Nostra is coming to LSU’s campus Jan. 27 to do an experimental performance workshop about interracial relations to produce an installation piece at the Reilly Theatre.
“An installation piece is a work or performance that has been installed into a space,” said Leigh Clemons, an assistant professor of theatre. “It won’t be like going to see a play at the Reilly Theatre. The theater itself will have been crafted into a different type of artistic environment for visitors to experience.”
The group held auditions among LSU students at the end of the fall semester for workshop participants. Guillermo Gomez-Pena, artistic director for La Pocha Nostra, will lead LSU students in the workshop before the installation piece.
During the two-week workshop, participants will be asked to build fetishized or over-exaggerated personas based on social stereotypes. One example would be the combination of the stereotypical Mexican with the stereotypical transvestite in “La Transvestite Mariachi.” After the two-week workshop, performers will present these personas in a museum-like setting, interacting with the audience.
“It will take a look at how identities are constructed and who constructs them,” Clemons said.
Gomez-Pena has been performing for most of his life. His experience includes performance art, poetry, journalism and radio. He has garnered numerous awards for his work and has become well-known in the realm of performance art.
Guillermo Gomez-Pena was born in 1965 in Mexico City and came to the United States in 1978. Much of his work addresses his thoughts on stereotypes in this period of globalization. His experiences as a Hispanic, Chicano and Latino in America play an important role in his performances.
“The audience should expect a highly thought- provoking experience that attacks all the senses through the use live performance, visual art, music, video, slides, fog, and audience participation,” said Kari Hensley, La Pocha Nostra’s Company Manager. “No two audience members will have the same experience.”
La Pocha Nostra’s “The Museum of Fetishized Identities” will be in the Reilly Theatre Feb. 7 and 8 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the theater box office or through Ticketmaster. Tickets are $9 for students, $16 for faculty and $21 for the public.
To see photos or texts of some of La Pocha Nostra’s or Gomez-Pena’s work visit www.pochanostra.com.