39 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 8, 2022 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Queens Theatre to host Latin Culture and Dance Fiesta
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
CMOHAMED@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Queens Th eatre is inviting everyone in the
community to its fi rst-ever three-day Latin
Culture and Dance Fiesta on Friday, April 8,
through Sunday, April 10.
Th e event features performances by some of
New York City’s most renowned Latin presenters:
Los Pleneros de la 21, Grupo Rebolu, Tango
in America, Maduritas, Macrobioticas y Multiorgasmicas
and a family-friendly performance
of Th e Selfi sh Giant/El Gigante Egoísta in both
English and Spanish.
Queens Th eatre’s Willy Mosquera, who is
producing the Latin Culture and Dance Fiesta,
said this month’s celebration will be fun for
people of all ages.
“Th ere is something for everyone to enjoy,”
Mosquera said. “Comedy, a play, tango music
and dance, Afro-Colombian music, and Puerto
Rican music and dance.”
In 1997, Queens Th eatre organized a Latino
Cultural Festival inviting the Spanish community
to come out and enjoy Flushing Meadows
Corona Park and the theatre, according to
Mosquera.
“We wanted them to know that this facility
is also for them. It lasted 17 years, and at one
point we stopped the festival, but we didn’t stop
booking Latin events,” Mosquera said.
As the arts and entertainment sector had
shift ed to online programming amid the COVID
19 pandemic during the last two years,
Mosquera said they’re excited to have patrons
return to the venue.
Th is year, Mosquera says, they wanted to
curate a mini-festival to be held on the weekend.
Queens Th eatre’s Executive Director Taryn Sacramone
came up with the idea to host a Latin
Culture and Dance Fiesta.
“She said, ‘What do you think about that?’
and I said, ‘It’s an excellent idea,’” Mosquera
said. “Th ere’s so much culture and talent in
New York City, and it’s great to be able to do
this and have all these performers at Queens
Th eatre. Th at’s why we call it the Latin Cultural
and Dance Festival.”
Here’s a lineup of the performances:
Tango in America, Friday,
April 8, 8 p.m. on Queens
Theatre’s main stage
Tango in America features an orchestra,
dancers and singers performing traditional
tango, including a medley of Latin American
iconic songs. Th e show then shift s to present several
North American hits, with songs by George
Gershwin, Michael Jackson (Billie Jean), Lalo
Schilfrin (Mission Impossible), Chick Corea
(Spain) and Gloria Gaynor (I Will Survive).
Grupo Rebolu, Saturday
April 9, 8 p.m. on Queens
Theatre’s main stage
Grupo Rebolú, a New York-based, Afro-Colombian band that makes contemporary Colombian Caribbean coast dance music, will perform at Queens Theatre’s Latin
Culture and Dance Fiesta.
With some of the fi nest Colombian musicians
in the United States, Grupo Rebolu —
with founders Ronald Polo, Morris Cañate and
Johanna Castaneda — join their talents to lead
an ensemble rich of musical traditions of their
ancestors, the afro-descendants of Colombia’s
Caribbean coast. With the strong mesmerizing
beats of modern Caribbean “Hurban” sounds,
this music goes into your system like a dose of
pure contagious energy!
The Selfi sh Giant/El Gigante
Egoísta, Saturday, April 9, 1 p.m.
(English) and 3:30 p.m. (Spanish)
in Queens Theatre’s Studio Theatre.
(Recommended for ages 4 and up)
A classic tale about a giant who builds a
wall around his garden to keep out the town’s
children but in doing so plunges his garden into
an endless winter. Traveling, Depression-era
hucksters transform their wares to tell a muchneeded
story. A celebration of the power of
stories to divide us or bring us closer together.
Tickets are available for $15 each for seating in
all sections. Purchases of four tickets will receive
a $5 discount (use code FAMILY4) and are $55.
Maduritas, Macrobioticas y
Multiorgasmicas, Sunday, April
10, 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. in Queens
Theatre’s Studio Theatre
“Maduritas, Macrobioticas y Multiorgasmicas”
(“Mature, Macrobiotics and Multiorgasmics”)
is a dark comedy, written by Cristian Cortez,
directed by Franco Galecio, and starring Kathy
Tejada, Fior Marte and Melba Miranda. Life is
understood from love and heartbreaks. But when
we pass the barrier of years and wrinkles become
our inseparable companions, everything changes
— except good friends who are together until the
end and beyond! Th is show is in Spanish.
Photo courtesy of Queens Theatre
Los Pleneros de la 21, Sunday,
April 10, 3 p.m. on Queens
Theatre’s main stage.
Based in East Harlem, Los Pleneros de la 21
(LP21) builds cultural bridges through exhilarating
concerts and engaging performance
workshops, with all activities guided by a
mission to foster awareness, appreciation,
performance and development of the Puerto
Rican artistic traditions of African and
Creole descent known as Bomba and Plena.
Founded in 1983 by NEA Heritage Fellow
Juan Gutiérrez in partnership with his mentor,
Marcial Reyes Arvelo, LP21 developed
from the traditional transmission of these
cultural expressions, learning “at the knees”
of elder masters to form the philosophy underpinning
its programs and performances.
Bringing grassroots bomba and plena music
and dance to prominent stages and classrooms
worldwide, now virtually as well as
in person, its programs embed education and
awareness into performances, expanding
access to local cultural arts of the highest
caliber.
Affordable ticket prices range from $15 to
$30 and discounted prices are for senior citizens
and students. To purchase your tickets
and reserve a spot, visit queenstheatre.org/
LCDF.
buzz
“There’s so much
culture and talent in
New York City, and it’s
great to be able to do
this and have all these
performers at Queens
Theatre. That’s why we
call it the Latin Cultural
and Dance Festival.”
— Willy Mosquera
/queenstheatre.org
/WWW.QNS.COM
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