El Teatro celebrates the common threads in cultural differences

Click to Enlarge BRET HARTMAN / bhartman@greeleytribune.com El Teatro Company performers, from left, Henry Soto, Kennia Ramirez and William Campos participate in a toast for Diana Mota, far right, at her quinceanera. Browse Our Galleries

Chris Casey, (Bio) ccasey@greeleytrib.com
May 7, 2008

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Blanca and Yessenia Soto sometimes still feel the stares as they walk into stores. It hasn't been unusual, simply by virtue of their brown skin, for the teenage sisters to be followed down the aisles.

Butting up against racial stereotypes, economic hardship and occasional hostility is part of life for many whose skin color advertises an ethnic heritage. For children, especially, the experiences are penetrating and painful.

El Teatro, a Northridge High School theater company, has put those stories in the spotlight.

The group of 16 Northridge students -- helped by their teachers -- have distilled their experiences into a powerful and thought-provoking play that has gained local and national notice. El Teatro, directed by teacher-sponsors Jill Tjardes-Garcia and Jessica Cooney, has performed for student and adult groups around Greeley and is being considered for an appearance at the Democratic National Convention in August in Denver.

El Teatro staged its show -- three vignettes that celebrate culture, family and diversity, while exposing the ugliness of intolerance -- for about 100 students at Northridge last week. The students are all bilingual (two learned Spanish to be in the group) and the show is performed in both Spanish and English.

During the first vignette, a stage full of performers share moments from their lives. Many experiences are tinged with struggle.

"People follow you into stores," sophomore Yessenia Soto says from stage. "Because you're Mexican, they think we all steal."

Another performer says, "You can tell if a person respects you, no matter what language they speak."

The play itself has been an outlet for the Latino performers, who rehearse during lunch since most ride the bus at the end of the school day.

"Most of these kids have no theater experience," Cooney said. "Here at Northridge, we're lucky to have such a diverse population. But when you look at our extra-curriculars, that diverse population is underrepresented."

The show has already been popular around Greeley-Evans District 6 as El Teatro has taken the stage for elementary students and principals. Last fall, the company performed for the Colorado Association of Bilingual Educators, and they've planned a date at the National Convention of Bilingual Educators.

Performances for peer groups are especially well-received because younger kids identify with the tales shared on stage. The second vignette tells the story of a teenage Latina who's been raised in the United States and sees no need to celebrate her Quinceañera, a rite of passage for 15-year-old Latina girls.

Iraid Diez, a sophomore member of El Teatro, can relate to the story since she was reluctant to have her own Quinceañera. She took classes and learned the significance of the celebration, which ended up being "beautiful."

"The point is (for Latinas) to be proud of their culture, be proud of where you came from, and that, in the end, you're a family," Diez said.

A couple of the performers described their first year in school in Greeley as the hardest time in their lives. Still, they advocate the importance of learning English.

Kennia Ramirez, a sophomore, said she cried throughout third grade because she couldn't keep up with English reading lessons. "Without English, you're lost," she said. "Without it you can't get jobs."

Blanca Soto, a junior, was 4 months old when her parents came from Mexico, and Yessenia was born here. They said fellow students who arrive as non-English speakers sometimes feel ashamed. It adds to their struggle of adjusting to life, and getting decent grades, in a new country.

"I think the message we're sending (in the play) is to accept people who are different, and it's OK to be around them," Blanca said.

The main thrust of the vignettes, punctuated by the final piece, where a couple holds their newborn child, is that everyone is part of the human family.

Celia Esparza, a freshman, was born in Fort Morgan and said her family now enjoys "a good life" in Greeley. For the past 10 years, both her parents have worked at JBS Swift & Co.

She said she doesn't want Anglo people to think that her family doesn't contribute to society, because they do.

"My parents came here to work -- not goof around and say, 'Oh I'm all cool now that I'm in America,' " Celia said.

It's those kinds of insights that give the El Teatro's work passion, humanity and poignancy. The teens' stories were pulled together and written by Tjardes-Garcia, who has a hit on her hands in her first go at playwriting.

Tjardes-Garcia is quick to give credit to her students for opening up about their lives. She feels El Teatro's vignettes work together as a whole in illuminating the idea that people are more alike than they are different.

"A lot of these are their own experiences from their lives when they first came to the States, and what they still go through," she said.

Chris Casey is a reporter at The Tribune. He covers immigration, diversity and higher education. His column runs on Wednesdays. To reach him, e-mail ccasey@greeleytribune.com or call (970) 392-5623.

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