Latin American and Iberian Studies

April 16, 2005

Yuyachkani & The Political Nature of Latin American Theatre

Since 1971, Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani has worked at the forefront of political performance, theatrical experimentation, and indigenous performance cultures. “Yuyachkani” is a Quechua word that means, “I am thinking, I am remembering”; under this name, the theatre group has devoted itself to the collective exploration of embodied social memory, particularly in relation to questions of ethnicity, violence, and memory in Peru. Known for its creative embrace of both indigenous performance forms as well as cosmopolitan theatrical forms, Yuyachkani is among the most important companies of Latin America’s so called “New Popular Theatre,” with a strong commitment to community issues, mobilization, and advocacy. The group actively participated in the activism that led to the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Peru, and continues to participate in advocacy around the Commission findings and recommendations; for this work, Yuyachkani received Peru’s National Human Rights Award in 2000.

Program:

9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Registration
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. The Political Nature of Latin American Theatre, Jill Lane, Yale University
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lunch
2:00 - 4:30 p.m. Workshop: Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani
8:00 p.m. Antígona, (Spanish with English sub-titles)
Perfomance, Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani

Location: New Theatre, Yale University
1156 Chapel, New Haven, CT 06520

Participants have free admission to the performance as a part of the workshop.

Location: The Yale Cabaret Building, 217 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06520
Yale University - “The Studio” Room 101.
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (lunch will be provided) & 8:00 p.m. Night Performance.
Continuing Education Units (CEUs) will be awarded for 6 hours/ .6 CEUS
Fee: $30; (free for New Haven Public Schools in accordance to a PIER & school district partnership agreement.)

For more information & registration please contact:
PIER-CLAIS Outreach Director
Carolina Belalcázar
at carolina.belalcazar@yale.edu
203-432-5605 or 230-432-3422

Sponsored by the Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies, the Yale Center for International and Area Studies, the U.S. Department of Education through a Title VI National Resource Grant & the Yale Repertory Theatre, the Theatre Studies program, Yale College, the Root Boy Slim Fund, the Department of American Studies, Yale College, the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights, the Latin American Student Organization (LASO), the Department of Women’s Studies, Yale University.

Visit Yuyachkani’s website: http://hemi.nyu.edu/cuaderno/yuyachkani/index.html

Visit the Kennedy Center website–they produced Adios Ayacucho as part of a festival in 2003.
http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=GRUPOYUYAC