“It is most important that we continue to exercise our right to celebrate and honor our culture our language our history as Latinos in this country and Latinos in this community.”
On January 15th El Puente celebrated the 30th anniversary of its Three Kings Day Show. This year’s show was named “Imagina un Lugar” (Imagine a Place) and paid homage to El Puente’s 35-year legacy of uniting and uplifting the Southside of Williamsburg.
As in many shows before, BombaYo churned up the energy by weaving their songs and rhythms literally throughout the aisles of the audience.
Then Frances Lucerna, the executive director of El Puente, made an inspiring introduction saying, “Let us be clear, in a time that we live in now, when there is so much anxiety, so much uncertainty about what our future will hold, and how and in which way we will continue to be the great country that we are, it is most important that we continue to exercise our right to celebrate and honor our culture our language our history as Latinos in this country and Latinos in this community. This journey is one of being able to open up our souls, open up our hearts in the most powerful way, the most creative way: through music, dance, art — because that’s the universal language.”
The journey on stage began featuring original story, music (including hip-hop), spoken word performances, dynamic choreography, and an enticing set design. The painted backdrop, a pastel cityscape in bold outlines made one want to go inside the picture to see more stories. The performers are students of El Puente’s teaching artists. Teaching Artist Jana Lynne Umipig served as the writer and director of the show, as she has for the past six years. “Our show connects the children of our community to magical worlds and speaks to their power to make change in this world,” stated Umipig.
