Reflections of performing with Comfort/Disturb at Highways Performance Space

There are few places in the world that give me goosebumps when I enter their space. Highways Performance Space is one of them. The moment you walk in, you are greeted by Executive Director, Leo Garcia or Artistic Director, Patrick Kennelly. The space also welcomes you with paintings, relics (of which I am assuming) once belonged to a performance artist who graced the stage or the gallery. A spray painted cement floor of the names of those who fought and lost their lives to the AIDS epidemic. Tall curtains, the smell of old wood, a white couch, some modern looking wooden black chairs, and a broomstick holding open the large metal gate, and a white grand piano. Wonderful elements that make Highways Performance Space a special home for many artists from now and the past.

"I want you to think of this place like your home," said Leo Garcia - the Executive Director of Highways Performance Space and the Artistic Director of Latinx 4x4. Boy, did it. Soon after arriving for our tech rehearsals, we found ourselves crawling, stretching, playing, laughing on the couches, and mingling together in this incredible evening of art-making.

All the works were equally important and spoke to the voice of Chicanx/Latinx and Queer experience. Time bending, flashback rendering, wounds being revisited and transporting viewers from past, present, and future. The particular piece I co-wrote with Maia Villa was about us coming back from the future to find out we have landed right smack down in the middle of 2017. Recalling tragedies from Trump, to an unspoken Nuclear incident with North Korea. Knock on wood!

Comfort/Disturb was curated by Corky Dominguez, and I was a performer and co-director for this particular piece. The Journey: Surviving Tales of the Disturbed had spoken word poetry by Jasmin Iraheta, movement and dance from Julieta Garza and Beatriz Eugenia Vargas, sketch from me and Maia, original music by J.D. Mata and poetry, ASL, and projection artwork by Suzanne Linares. It was a monumental night. This piece, though already performed, is rich and we may not be done with it. Be on the look out for potential future performances. I am so proud to be part of this performance art collective. Find out more here.