Current Work...
Bio
"... Y si quieren saber de mi pasado, di que vengo de allá de un mundo raro..."
I am a Mexican performer and teaching artist, raised in the border town of Ciudad Juárez. I started taking singing, dance and acting classes when I was 8, appeared in my first show at age 11 and I never stopped. I graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2009, with a degree in theater arts and English-Spanish translation. I have been a Detroit based artist since 2011 and a company member of the theater company A Host of People. Recently, I was honored to be recognized as a 2020 Detroit Kresge Artist Fellow. I am an interdisciplinary artist who finds joy in making experimental theater, singing and writing lyrics/ spoken work. My artistic work is influenced by the entire Latin American Diaspora and I find profound inspiration in my roots and the women in my familia. I create from there, and hope for trees to grow. My practice as a performer and teaching artist often meet along the route. Through my work I strive to create environments that inspire and nurture human connection and self-worth. This being the path to a strong sense of identity that breeds cultural voice and presence.
Artista y maestra Mexicana con enfoque en artes escénicas. Crecí y me forjé en la frontera de Ciudad Juárez . Empecé clases de canto, danza y actuación a los 8 años, y debuté en mi primer obra de teatro a los 11 años. No he dejado de hacer teatro desde entonces. En el 2009 me gradué de la Universidad de Texas en El Paso con licenciaturas en Teatro y Traducción Inglés-Español. Radíco en el área de Detroit desde el 2011 y soy miembro de la compañía de teatro A Host of People. Recientemente recibi el honor de ser nombrada como una becaria de Kresge Arts Detroit. Soy una artista multidisciplinaria que goza infinitamente de hacer teatro, cantar y escribir tanto canciones como poesía. Mi trabajo es influenciado en gran parte por la diáspora Latinoamericana y encuentro profunda inspiración en mis raíces y las mujeres que forman parte de mi familia. Es desde esa inspiración e influencia que empiezo a crear, siempre con la esperanza de que germinen árboles. Mis prácticas como artista y maestra a menudo se entrelazan. Crear ambientes que nutren e inspirán la conexión humana y el autoestima es la esencia de mi trabajo. Fomentando así, una identidad fuerte que genere voz y presencia cultural.
Teaching Artist
"...de otro modo es inútil, de otro modo es absurdo ensayar en la tierra la alegría y el canto,porque de nada vale si hay un niño en la calle..."
Using the power of the arts to transform the lives of children is my greatest passion. As a bilingual artist, I am able to work with the Southwest Detroit community and help kids find ways to thrive. In 2019 I was fortunate to be one of the winners of the Knight Arts Challenge in Detroit, the support will be used to make my dream project La Carpa Theatre become a reality. You can learn more about La Carpa Theatre in this video.
I would not be able to do this without the many organizations that have opened their doors to my practice. I have worked with Mosaic Youth Theater of Detroit since 2011 as their teaching artist for their bilingual First Stage Teatro program. Living Arts has been my home since I moved to Michigan. I teach in all of their programs, which include Wolf Trap (early learning through the performing arts), OSA (after school program) and ISA (in school program).
As part of Living Arts I became a Wolf Trap teaching artist in 2012 and was STEM trained in 2013. I have worked in different head-starts in the Detroit area since 2011. I began teaching Wolf Trap bilingual
Family Involvement classes in 2015, you can find more about my work with families on the book Living Arts Detroit Wolf Trap: Empowering Early learners, their Teachers, and Families through the Performing Arts and in this video . In 2017, I began giving Wolf Trap Professional Development workshops to teachers, on how to use drama and music to teach Math in the classroom. I started teaching with UMS University Musical Society in 2017. Most recent work with UMS includes a residency with musician Alex Koi and muralist Elton Monroy Duran. We guided High School students in the creation of a performance art piece inspired by the chicano band Las Cafeteras. Former work as a teaching artist includes Matrix Theater Company and Compás.
Past Work...
"...Se va la vida compañera..."
LA MUJER, an ode to women.
Performance created in collaboration with artists Emily Roll and Bridget Michael. The piece is rooted in the works of Mexican singer Amparo Ochoa and composer León Chávez Teixeiro. It explores the way society has shaped the role of women through time and its impact. Through movement, music and text performers travel to places where women constantly rely on community and stoicism for survival.
Iteration of LA MUJER, an ode to women as part of a collaborative performance with Elton Monroy Durán and Leslie Rogers. The collaboration was featured by Barbed magazine, as part of their seventh issue titled Southwest Detroit.
All Videos
All Videos
Karilú Alarcón Forshee y Rams José - El Cielo de los Vivos
Plegarias Latinoamericanas
Duerme Negrito
Current Work...
...Dime quién eres Dios mío...
LATIN AMERICAN PRAYERS is a performance that combines experimental theater and music. The work is bilingual and it aims to promote human connection. The piece is inspired by many topics that unite us as humans. The music used is Latin American and it was written at different moments in history as a result of struggle, sometimes a struggle that comes from fighting for social justice or sometimes from the individual struggle of dealing with life itself. The piece was recently featured at the 7th annual Sidewalk Festival in Detroit and the Detroit Fringe Festival. As part of the Fringe Festival, the piece won a jury's choice award, a segment of the performance can be seen here . Photography by Julianne Lindsey.