A reflection about Magdalena3: Reinventions in Cd. Juárez
Everything has flown fast here in Cd. Juárez. By now, Carolina Pizarro, is in Santiago, Chile. A month has gone. She came to show us how it is to transform the crap into flowers. I knew it would happen, and it´s very hard to see this reaction in other people who saw in her an actress who lives to share her experience with such rigor and love to the profession. I´m in an awe. In the best way I must say. It was a tough experience.
Magdalena3 Reinventions started with the idea of a workshop of Carolina, and the participation of 5 women and a company whose work I like: Verónica Leiton painter, Iliana Vasileva musician, María Sánchez performer, Arminé Arjona poet, Carolina Pizarro actress and Telón de Arena. Also Selfa Chew a very interesting poet who works with Lupita de la Mora from Telón de Arena.
The feeling of knowing them in a deep and very, very honest way was revealing. I have lived that experience in other Magdalenas because I admire a lot many people who is in the web, but I couldn´t have imagined to hear artists from my own city with that kind of Magdalena´s Filter that makes artists transparent, honest, vulnerable and very interesting.
March 31, 2014. The first day was the aperture circle. We were like 28 people. Where all of us spoke about our artistic necessities. Verónica Leiton has hung her painting in the Louvre, and she was there, sitted and talking with us about her research, her life. The same Perla and Lupita de la Mora from Telón de Arena who has like 20 years doing theatre. There was also a 12 years old actor from Telón, who explained what was for him to be there and to be an actor. It was also my last theatre group, Nora Group and of course Carolina with her beautiful young wisdom.
April 1st. The second day, we celebrated 30 years of a life in painting of Verónica Leiton. It was with an exhibition of 30 paintings, suddenly, the Mariachi arrived. It was a surprise to her from the University. We were like 80 people.
It was the first day of the seminary that Carolina gave. 13 people were registered.
April 2nd. The third day we had a conversation with Selfa Chew who is a poet and Guadalupe de la Mora actress. They spoke about their vision of violence and art. About their motivation which is the hate, they spoke about their experiences with violence and anger. It was shocking. There was a few people.
I think I could have done more publicity for the event. Because there was not the people who we expected in the conferences.
The concert of Iliana Vasileva was moving. She ask me to make her questions of her work, she didn´t want to speak by herself in a conference because she felt unsecure with her Spanish. She played for 40 minutes plus the conference, it was a windy day.
Also was the second day of Carolina´s Seminary. She was kind of sick this day. By this night I had to take her to the hospital. So we decided to postpone the workshop till April 10, 11 and 12.
April 3rd.The fourth day happened something unexpected. María told us April 1st that she couldn´t travel to Juarez, because she had issues to take care of her children and finally she couldn´t come. It was hard. We had lodging for them, but for her, it was impossible to let her job for those days. This day we had just the conversation with Jissel Arrollo who is a theatre director, who has worked with "Escritura vivencial" that she uses to help women to write their experiences with violence in a workshop she gives.
April 4th. The fifth day, was difficult. Very. Carolina had salmonella. She was sick and very weak. She stayed at home in the conference with Nora Group, mi ex group and María cancelled 2 days ago. I spoke about the experience of Magdalena in Cuba, and also Magdalena in Guanajuato 2011 in a year of good experiences with that group I must say. Also, explained where the text of Magdalena 3: Reinventions has come from, what were our motivations of doing this Magdalena. Mayra, actress of Nora, spoke about what was to be in 2011 in Magdalena, about her workshop with Violeta Luna and this thing that is in the meetings of Magdalena where a kind of Filter makes us see and hear truth and many, many primary questions.
Also we saw “Justicia Negada” in Telón de Arena. This play is a reminder of outrage in Juárez. Is tough. There were a lot of people. Telón de Arena is a professional company with a theatre-café very important in the city.
April 5th. Sixth day. There was the Arminé Arjona´s poetry reading. She is one of the most important poets of the city, and she is one of the first that started to put phrases on walls of Juárez like: Regale abrazos no balazos, or Juaritos yo te quiero aunque siga el matadero.
Tierra de Fuego was also presented. I ran the lights for Carolina. She was weak but energized in some way.
April 6th. Seventh and last day. We celebrated in Telón de Arena. We had a meal and talk about our experience in the Magdalena 3: Reinventions and our plans for the future.
The seminar of Carolina was given April from 10 to 12. There was a 5 days, 4 hours workshop.
This is what happened in this seven days Jill. I want to thank you for letting me have this experience, for Magdalena and the soul that has grown because of you and the other Maestras, because all the times I have been involved of Magdalena, my life has gone to some other way, so far.
I felt really vulnerable. All the time. Mostly because of the salmonella of Carolina. It was the toughest issue. I think I needed more time to prepare the production because there were things that I didn´t consider like the weather or some expenses of the encounter. In this city we live with a lot of stress and like in a depression I think, I needed not to repeat it in the encounter, in everything: in the way I asked for a place to make a conference, how I received a favour without feeling the immediate necessity of giving it back, I want to live in a city where we are most of the times honest, and not to send every day to the cosmos a negative energy. I do believe that this change needs to start deeply in me, because I don´t want to be sick of hate anymore.