Dear
Friends,
I have now
arrived at an age when many of the elders in my life have gone; my mother and
father in-law, Benjamín Osorio and María Luisa Encarnación, most of my aunts
and uncles, and my teachers Barbara Lea and Elaine Summers. And then there’s
the loss of good friends and collaborators such as Lourdes Torres Camacho and
Niles Ford. Last year, I lost my mom, Andy Soto.
The time has come to dance for the dead again.
I created Todos Mis Muertos in 1989, for a Day of
the Dead altar by María Hinojosa at BACA Downtown in Brooklyn. First dedicated
to my grandmother Mamita, María Eulogia Pagán, the dance came to me as a gift
from the other side. It came with a kind of certainty that I didn’t question. There
was the pale yellow soul light, a series of objects to wear, carry, manipulate,
and balance, and a series of actions to perform. I would be unseeing, like
Mamita. After my dad, Henry Soto, passed, I was compelled to restage the work
and presented it in venues including Judson Memorial Church and El Museo del
Barrio in NYC, and the ICA in London, UK, in 1998.
The
experience of creating and performing Todos Mis Muertos,
connected me to the beyond. It filled my heart.
Todos Mis Muertos is a performance altar offering
to the dead as well as the living. The
dancer, blindfolded, becomes a constantly transforming altar. Todos Mis Muertos is about the intersection
of light and gravity; the extraordinary demands of the balancing of various
objects and weights (gravity)—and the loss of sight—open a channel of energy
(light) beyond everyday reality.
Along with
the La Calaca Flaca (Skinny Skeleton) Day of the Dead Committee and Fleisher
Art Memorial I am happy to help bring together the community of South
Philadelphia in celebration of this centuries old tradition honoring the dead. Journalist Leticia Nixon, artist Valeska
Garay, and I are creating an elaborate traditional altar piece dedicated
to the disappeared women of Juarez, in
Fleisher’s sanctuary . Audiences are welcome to contribute their own
offerings to the altar. The celebration will also feature
performances by traditional Aztec dance group Cenzontle
Cuicatl, mariachi Pedro Villaseñor, and traditional food.
Hope to see you there! —Merián Soto
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