Performance Ensemble Members -- Fall 2008
Performers:
Trisha Neimeyer, Daniel Lindsey, Wade MacDonald, Nicole Embree, Brianne Worley, Emelie Castillo, Bernie Jiminez, Bethel Hailemichael, Kyungwon Kang, Michele Clevering, Leejay Heller, Sarkis Sarkisian, Elizabeth Pineda, MJ Silva, Paula Fleischer
Vocal Performer:
CSUN Alum Xochitl Flores
Prop Masters and Set Design:
Kyungwon Kang, Michele Clevering, Paula Fleischer and Derek Dreblow
Sound/DJ:
Dr. Bernardo Attias
Choreography:
Trisha Neimeyer and Jeanine Mingé
Publicity:
Christine Burke and Jeanine Minge
Assistant Director and Stage Manager:
Courtney Gruttemeyer
Director:
Dr. Jeanine Mingé
Text with VIDEO
It is our pleasure to welcome guest vocal performer Esmeralda Xochitl Flores to our stage. Esmeralda Xochitl Flores, a CSUN alum and San Fernando Valley native is no stranger to the stage. Throughout her career she has stared in such productions as Real Women Have Curves, August 29th, and The Wizard of Azltan. Most recently she performed at a benefit event for MEND, a non-profit that provides various services to families in the North-East San Fernando Valley. When she is not enjoying the limelight, she spends her days working as a Community Organizer and youth mentor for The Children’s Council of Los Angeles County. Flores will be singing “La Nina” by Lila Downs.
In “La Niña,” Downs sings of the sorrow and hope in the heart of a poor peasant girl forced to work in an assembly plant, a song which she dedicates to “all women workers” in her liner notes. A video interview with Downs on her website (www.liladowns.com) reveals that some of the inspiration for the tune came from her own experiences as a little girl. Presumably, the image of the impoverished maquiladoras (girl laborers) is used by Downs as a metaphor for her own oppression as an outcast from society during her childhood.
La Nina
by Lila Downs
Desde tempano, la niña reza,
pa’ que su día no sea tan largo
y con la luz de madrugada,
hace limpieza de sus encargos
cierra los ojos pa’ no mirarse,
que en el espejo se va notando
que su trabajo la está acabando
y es que su santo está en descanso
todos los días, todas las horas,
en esa espuma de sus tristezas,
uñas y carne, sudor y fuerzas,
todo su empeño, todos sus sueños,
se van quedando en sus recuerdos,
en la memoria de sus anhelos
Ay! melena negra carita triste, Rosa María
buscando vives tus días y noches una salida
que un domingo libra este infierno tuyo por tu alegría.
Maquiladora sólo un recuerdo será algún día
y la cosecha tu propio fruto será algún día,
será algún día.
Que redimidos sean tus patrones será algún día
y que la humildad se vuelva orgullo será algún día
y que seas igual a los demás será algún día,
será algún día.
••
“The Girl”
by Lila Downs
Since early morning, the young girl prays,
that her day is long not so long
and in the light of dawn,
she begins to clean her duties
close your eyes to not look,
that the mirror is noticing
that her work is killing her
and that her saint is on a break
Every day, every hour,
in the foam of her sorrows,
nails and flesh, sweat and forces,
every effort, all her dreams,
are being left in her memories,
in memory of their yearnings
Ay! dirty black hair, sad face, Rosa Maria
searching day and night for a way out
that a Sunday frees this hell of mine for your joy.
Factory, someday will only be a memory
and the harvest, my own fruit, will be mine one day,
and the disappeared, will there ever be justice,
will be someday.
What relief will our bosses redeem, will be someday
and that humility turns into pride, will be someday
and that I feel equal to the others, will be someday, will be someday.