Art opening benefits at-risk children in Guatemala, Vietnam and India 
By Françoise Lemieux, March 23, 2007

Benefit art opening Tues, Mar 27, 6pm Studio 46 Zacateros 46

Lisa Simms taught Hoa how to draw birds. He taught her how to draw bombs. The 16 year-old Vietnamese boy’s face, arms, and chest were scarred when a bomb exploded—one that his neighbor was trying to disarm to sell for scrap metal. Mukta, a 13 year-old girl growing up in rural India, where women are routinely denied education, healthcare, and autonomy, now wants to be a doctor when she grows up—thanks, in part, to Mary Quagliata. 

Mukta and Hoa are just two of the many children these women have helped through their volunteer work. With your generosity, there will be many more. On March 27, Local artists Simms, Quagliata, and Bill Meng are offering up their art at a benefit opening to fund further projects with children in Guatemala, India, and Vietnam.

Volunteering around the corner and across the world

After years spent volunteering with local children, longtime San Miguel resident Lisa Simms traveled to Quang Tri Province, one of the poorest and most heavily bombed areas of Vietnam, in 2004 and 2005.

She went as a volunteer with a land mine awareness program sponsored by PeaceTrees Vietnam, an NGO (non-governmental organization) based in Seattle, Washington.

The program involved theater, dance, writing, art and food for more than 350 children. Many of Simms’ students there had been orphaned, handicapped, maimed, deafened and/or blinded by UXO (“unexploded ordnance”— explosive weapons and land mines that did not explode when deployed, yet can still detonate, decades later), and by the other, lesser-known legacy of war: poverty and malnutrition.

According to PeaceTrees, Vietnam has been clearing UXOs for more than 30 years, yet one maims or kills a person nearly every week. The Vietnamese are still surrounded by UXO, which threatens not only lives, but livelihoods, as much of their arable land is unusable due to this “deadly debris.”

Simms raised funds for travel and art materials through private sponsorship, selling her art and “general groveling.” On her first trip, she taught mask-making. The next year, she made giant tree spirit puppets, with the help of more than 70 volunteers in San Miguel and Seattle. The puppets were finished by the children in Vietnam and now reside in the Danaan Parry Landmine Education Center.

Simms is now working on a grant proposal for a pilot program to educate children in war-torn areas about UXO, as well as to give them a way to express themselves. “I want to help give the kids a voice for their grief though art,” she explains. “It’s easier for them to speak through a puppet or a painting or a mask, in the form of play, than to verbalize the brutality of what they’ve been through.” She envisions the program evolving into other parts of Vietnam and eventually into Cambodia, Africa and beyond. “Every year we’ll take it further out,” she says. “And we’ll have children teaching children. I want to facilitate that.” She returns soon to Vietnam to continue work on the project.

But first, she travels to Santiago de Atitlán, Guatemala, which was devastated by mudslides in 2005—leaving hundreds missing and dead, and thousands homeless. Simms will hold papier maché workshops for Atitlán’s women and children, to teach them to make art, and maybe even make a living, with inexpensive, readily available materials.


Making amends

Vietnam vet Bill Meng is a retired dock worker and trucker living in San Miguel. In 1966 and 1967, he served with US military forces in Quang Tri Province. Meng’s introduction to art came three years ago, in one of Simms’ papier maché workshops. Inspired, he has since worked enthusiastically in papier maché, painting, and collage.

The fact that Simms volunteers in the very area of Vietnam in which Meng served means a lot to him, because of all he experienced there. “I am very happy to help Lisa to fund her projects, so that she can continue her work with the long-suffering Vietnamese people,” Meng states. He is donating all proceeds from the sale of his work at the benefit to fund Simms’ Vietnam project.

Awakening at-risk children through art in Thailand and India

Painter Mary Quagliata just returned from two months in Mae Sai, Northern Thailand, where she volunteered with Hope for Life, an NGO whose focus is to combat human trafficking, child abuse and provide a home, food, medical care, and educational and vocational training to at-risk and abused children.

Casualties of different kinds of wars, Quagliata’s students—homeless children and teens—were victims of the region’s drug industry and sex trade. According to Hope for Life, Burmese and Thai children are often forced by extreme poverty to earn money as beggars, drug couriers, or prostitutes. Others are sold as laborers or into brothels, essentially becoming slaves.

Her favorite project there was helping a group of girls create a picture book, for which the children rewrote and illustrated a traditional tale. Quagliata provided materials, guidance, and encouragement, and then found a company in Bangkok to print it. “Now the girls have something attractive that they can feel good about,” she says. “And, the organization has a visual fund-raising tool.”

An art teacher in San Francisco for many years, Quagliata loves her work. “I like to see the surprised looks on the kids’ faces when they make something unique and beautiful,” she says. Although she enjoyed teaching first-world kids, she has a special connection with the children she works with in less-developed countries. “They teach me a great deal about how happiness survives in often desperately poor, constricted, and abusive situations.”

Last year, Quagliata traveled to Rajasthan, India, to volunteer with an NGO called The Veerni Project. “Veerni” means “strong woman” or “heroine” in Hindi, and the organization works to empower women in rural India, providing a range of vital services, including education. There, Veerni worked with girls like Mukta. Girls who are lucky their fathers let them go to class.

According to Veerni, nearly 40 percent of Indian girls go without education and 59 percent of women are illiterate. Girls are four times more likely than boys to suffer from malnutrition and it’s 40 times less likely they’ll be taken to a hospital. As for career options, marriage is just about it, in rural India.

Despite the legal marriage age of 18, the Indian government estimates that 75 percent of the four million yearly weddings involve underage brides. An Indian girl married by age 15 will have 4 children by her early twenties—if she survives childbirth, that is. India has one of the world’s worst maternal mortality records, as only 42 percent of births have a medical provider in attendance. The Veerni Project is working to change all this, and Quagliata is off to volunteer with them again this winter.

If you can’t go to Thailand, India, or Vietnam and volunteer, then just go down to Zacateros 46 on March 27. Help these artists help the children, even if all you can offer is moral support. Show them you believe in what they’re doing. 

Donations and proceeds from the sale of Simms’ jewelry and puppets, Quagliata’s paintings, and Meng’s collages will go to fund their future volunteer projects.

For more information, please contact Lisa Simms at lisasimms_sma@yahoo.co.uk  or Mary Quagliata at Lacasadona@yahoo.com. 

For more information about the organizations mentioned, or to volunteer, go to www.peacetreesvietnam.org, www.hopeforlife.de/HfL-english  and www.veerni.org. 

Françoise Lemieux is a writer and photographer living in San Miguel de Allende.

“Lisa, come draw with me,” Hoa says. His face, arms, and chest are disfigured from a UXO explosion.

Hoa draws one of the Tree Spirit puppets that we just finished building, with its hand held out, saying “No More Bombs!” in Vietnamese. He then asks me to teach him to draw birds. We go outside to look at birds, talk about their form, and draw them together. 

Then Hoa starts drawing bombs dropping from an eerie yellow sky, putting big red X’s on top of them.

When I try to draw bombs, I realize I don’t know how. Hoa takes me by the hand to the very next room, where the UXOs (unexploded ordnance) are on display. We talk about their form, sit down, and draw them together.

Every good teacher knows that children can teach us at least as much as we can teach them.

—Lisa Simms

San Miguel’s other national treasure
By Bob Haas

El Charco benefit “Cactus and Champagne” Sun, Mar 25, noon-4pm El Charco conservatory patio US$75

If you walk or drive up Homobono street from the covered market, perhaps a 20 minute strenuous walk uphill (take a taxi up and walk down), you arrive at the extraordinary natural monument called the Jardín Botanico El Charco del Ingenio. ( http://www.laneta.apc.org/charco/index- english.htm. Known as El Charco to its friends, this botanical park delights us with breathtaking views of the city, spectacular high-walled canyons, lakes with nesting waterfowl, and miles of walking paths. San Miguel’s other national treasure boasts 140 species of birds and 580 species of flora in a nature reserve of 250 acres. A walk along the paths of El Charco offers a pastoral respite from the hustle and bustle of El Centro’s shops and restaurants.

El Charco was inaugurated in 1991 during the total eclipse of the sun, and its design combines elements of nature and ancient indigenous culture in a unique way. Begun in 1989 as an effort to set aside, for posterity, a piece of San Miguel’s natural beauty, El Charco has turned into a major tourist attraction. Nearly 14,000 visitors from all over the globe enjoyed its tranquil beauty in 2006. Run as a nonprofit Civil Association, the reserve is owned and operated strictly with nonpublic funds. In 2006, the operating expenses were 2.2 million pesos, these monies engendered by entrance fees, memberships, plant sales and donations.

Of that 2.2 million pesos, 1.3 million goes to salaries for the thirteen employees of El Charco. We comply with the federal law in paying IMSS, Infonavit, and Afore (Hospitalization, Housing and Pension funds) for each employee. El Charco is proud of thus improving the standard of living for thirteen San Miguel families. The hard-working Charco staff enables us to guarantee a safe and secure environment for our vital collection of flora and fauna, as well as for the visitors to the park.

Each year during the first week in July, El Charco hosts the Fiesta de la Santa Cruz. This is an annual sacred gathering of the indigenous San Miguel families from 20 different communities held in the Parque Landeta. The sponsor cost for this important event approaches 50,000 pesos. These rites have taken place in San Miguel for centuries and it was decided in the early stages of El Charco to include these original San Miguel communities in our cultural activities. Since that time they have become important allies of El Charco and its efforts to retain essential elements of nature and culture for their children and grandchildren.

In 1992, El Charco made a lend-lease agreement with the city of San Miguel to acquire the adjoining 33 hectares (83 acres) for the purpose of developing a public park. El Charco, as a private reserve, charges an entrance fee of 30 pesos, but Parque Landeta has free public access to all. The concept of providing a much-needed green space for the people of San Miguel was noble. Nevertheless, the reality of improvements, security, maintenance, and developing the area into a public park became a very expensive mission over time, costing us more than 140,000 pesos in 2006 alone. With greatly escalating costs over the years it has become an increasing burden to continue funding this public park. Our resources are limited. Yet the pleasure of seeing hundreds of local families use the park for recreation, especially on weekends, is the deeply satisfying reward of our effort. With the rapid expansion and development of San Miguel, this park is destined to become our future Central or Chapultepec Park.

El Charco provides a daily staff of two to four employees in Landeta Park and more during fiestas and holidays. We also regularly send our work crews for maintenance and improvements to the park. Security is a big issue for Landeta Park, as is fire control, especially now, during the dry season. Fire control for the two parks has developed over the years to include strategically placed water storage tanks and specially designed backpack water pumps to carry water to the scene of a fire. Staff and neighbors frequently risk life and limb to control brush fires from destroying important trees and structures in the two parks.

For many years we had our temporary office on Calle Jesús in El Centro. This year, we were very pleased to inaugurate our new administrative office and library near the reception area inside the main entrance to El Charco. The new office was constructed of adobe block in a simple and natural style suitable to the garden at a cost of about 400,000 pesos. Having the office on site facilitates the day to day logistical management of such a large organization. With the new office came a much needed phone line and electricity, something we had done without over the years. Total administration costs for 2006 amounted to more than 100,000 pesos.

El Charco continues to improve and expand its gardens. This year we spent just over 40,000 pesos planting a new agave garden just above the conservatory. With its decorative gravel and pathways the garden is a lovely addition to the east end of the park in the area between the nursery and the conservatory.

Membership to the park is 500 pesos for the year and entitles you and two family members to visit the park daily without charge from sunup to sundown. You also receive substantial discounts on special events.

In an effort to offset some of our expenses we have begun an annual fundraising effort. This year on Sunday, March 25, we host the second annual Cactus and Champagne affair. This is a Sunday Brunch held on the patio of the conservatory in a gorgeous natural setting overlooking the lake and islands. It runs from 12–4pm. Food by Patsy’s Place includes lox and bagels and drinks include champagne, Mimosas, and Bloody Marys. Barbara Porter’s Boutique presents a fashion show and Bobby Kaplan will be playing his very popular style of jazz. There will be a beautiful watercolor of El Charco by the talented local artist Keith Miller offered for a silent auction. Tickets for this extraordinary event are also on sale this week and next in the Jardín, Border Crossings, La Conexion, and Allende Properties. It promises to be a lively combination of community support and festivity and the graceful pleasure of the unique natural treasure of El Charco.

Please make an effort to support your local parks and gardens, as they are essential for the health and well-being of the planet and all of its inhabitants. 

Simply San Miguel organics
By Ben–Zion Ptashnik


Organic food festival

Presented by Bioagrimex

Fri, Mar 30–Sun, Apr 1, 10am-6pm

La Carpa

Calzada de la Aurora S/N

Bioagrimex, a new organization recently formed to assist organic growers, is holding its first farmers’ market and growers gathering at La Carpa. The event is open to the public for the purpose of direct sales and initial contacts between growers and consumers.

The objectives of Bioagrimex, a cooperative formed by organic producers in the Bajío/ San Miguel region, are to assist organic farmers through marketing programs, and to help growers to follow the ethical standards of the organic movement.

Bioagrimex coordinator Carmina Navarrete stated that their vision has evolved beyond basic marketing and organic growing techniques. She stated in an invitation to growers who will participate in the farmer’s market that “we consider our work much more than a trend or the simple absence of pesticides. It is a lifestyle that provides ecological, social, economic and cultural sustainability to our country.”

The new cooperative has also resolved, as part of its core mission, to improve the quality of life of consumers, with the understanding that most consumers are concerned about the health of future generations. Therefore bioagrimex, “seeks to facilitate the production of food products that are free of fertilizers, pesticides, artificial colorings, hormones, and antibiotics.”

In the invitation to join “Bajío’s First Organic Meeting”, farmers were asked to come to learn from other farmers and to meet with “experts in the field.” Navarrete encouraged farmers to, “invite your friends, clients and relatives to this great event where they will have the opportunity to taste and buy a great variety of organic hand-made products; fruits, vegetables, cheese, meat, ecological products, etc.”

Navarrete also commented that within the last 20 years the agricultural industry in Mexico has increased its operations significantly, and that, consequently, the use of synthetic products and fertilizers have caused the soil to lose its nutrients, polluted Mexico’s water supplies, and destroyed wildlife. Genetically modified food has proliferated as well, putting our health and local indigenous seed stock in danger. The unbalance in nature due to large-scale agricultural production has forced thousands of small farmers to the cities and has reduced food safety.

Why organic agriculture

Organic agriculture represents a sustainable cycle that starts and ends in the soil. The flow of this wheel goes from the seed to the food, then to the compost and back to the soil. Organic agriculture is based on practices that keep the fertility of the soil, while helping to keep the balance in nature through biodiversity and the recycling of energy and its nutrients.

With regards to the animals, they are fed naturally, without the intervention of hormones and/or antibiotics.

Organic products are processed, packed, transported and stored to keep the maximum nutritional value, without the use of artificial preservatives, colorings, additives, irradiation or synthetic pesticides.

The production and consumption of organic food has increased considerably all around the world. In the year 2000, Mexico had 85,675 certified acres; in 2002 this number increased officially to 215,843 acres and, it is believed to be actually around 400,000 acres.

Several international movements have been created to provide knowledge regarding the benefits of organic products. Some examples of these movements are OCA (Organic Consumers Association), Slow Food International and Greenpeace. 

Why do people buy organic products?

In general, people consider the following reasons when buying organic products:


The purchasing and consumption of these products have health related benefits, work towards nature preservation and give a heightened, more natural taste and freshness.

In Mexico, 18 percent of interviewed people reported they consider the nutritional information when buying food for their children. Mexico showed the highest rate of acceptance to products that provide specific benefits to health.

Organic farming in Mexico

Eighty-five percent of our organic produce is exported, five percent is sold as organic and the remaining ten percent is sold as conventional produce. Mexico has the highest number of organic farms worldwide.

Some facts about organic agriculture

Organic products often have much more flavor and nutrients compared to conventional products. They are generally produced by small farmers (in Mexico, an organic farm’s average size is two acres). Prices are higher due to the fact that the farmer faces bigger risks when not using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Organic products are usually certified by international agencies.

For further information, please contact Carmina Navarrete at 045-442-258-0230 or email carmina@navarrete.com. 

Last Mujeres luncheon for season

Mujeres en Cambio lunch Thurs, Mar 29, 2pm Hospicio 16 120 pesos 154-6552

Mujeres en Cambio presents the last delicious buffet lunch for the winter season at Hacienda de las Flores. Mujeres en Cambio a long-standing organization that helps young Mexican rural women gain an education and foster self-sufficiency, self-esteem and self-respect.

More than 120 promising students from the ranchos around San Miguel receive the scholarships—US$275 for high school and approximately US$1,000 for college, technical school or university. Continued receipt of a scholarship depends upon maintaining good grades. 

These young women face many challenges. For example, more than 50 percent of our current students share a two-room house with seven or more family members. Only 16 percent of the households have indoor plumbing. Most of the students have to commute by bus or pickup truck to attend upper levels of school. Some travel as long as one-and-a half hours each way.

Guest chef Jose Antonio will cook an exotic pineapple and ginger chicken dish. Delicious accompaniments and mouthwatering desserts are prepared by core members of our group.

Enjoy the beautiful surroundings, share a delicious meal, meet interesting people and learn more about our programs to assist rural women. Men and women both welcome!

Lunch is limited to 50 people and is by pre-sold ticket only. Tickets are on sale now at Casa de Papel, Mesones 57A (the China Palace building); RE/MAX Colonial, Portal Guadalupe 12 (diagonally opposite the Parroquia); and Solutions Mail Service (Recreo 11). 

For more information visit our web site, www.mujeresencambio.com,  or call Roger on 154-6552 (note that no reservations can be taken). We welcome new members—come join us!

Help Build a Park in Santa Cecilia
By Holly Yasui

Benefit tour and luncheon Wed, Mar 28, noon Casa Girasoles 200-peso suggested donation 150-0025

They got the land for a park donated to the community of Santa Cecilia, and they cleared it. They got trees from the Ecology Department, and planted them. But in the dusty neighborhoods around San Luis Rey, on the north end of San Miguel, where about 90 percent of the residents originally come from rural communities, many people have livestock to supplement their family’s meals. And so not only street dogs, but also other animals, wander through the park and damage the tender shoots of the newly planted trees.

“What we need most right now is to put up wire fencing to protect the trees,” says Magdalena Perez, social worker at Casa Girasoles, a community center that serves five low-income neighborhoods around and including San Luis Rey: Santa Cecilia, Francisco Villa, Insurgentes and Montes de Loreto. Perez continued, “We want not only to provide green areas in these communities that have none, but also to instill ecological consciousness. And we want to provide recreational spaces for children, so our next priority is playground equipment.”

As deluxe housing developments crop up all around San Miguel, rents and prices for basic needs soar far beyond the reach of people earning the minimum wage of 48 pesos per day. Just as globalization and policies like NAFTA have forced many campesinos off their land and into urban areas, real estate speculation and the influx of foreign capital in traditional cities like San Miguel force low-income inhabitants out of the desirable central areas into outlying districts. Thus the growth of communities like Santa Cecilia has outstripped the availability of public services. Ironically, most of the adults who live in these impoverished areas are employed in San Miguel as domestic help or in construction, or they migrate to the US to work.

Casa Girasoles is a unique project that exemplifies what can be done with very minimal resources backed up by local support and commitment. A state program for “Marginalized Urban Zones” (ZUMAR) funds only two small salaries, to coordinate self-help services and educational activities. Through the unremitting efforts of the staff and local volunteers, Casa Girasoles has initiated, and provides a community space for a number of programs: a small health-care clinic, bakery, sewing workshop, beauty salon, and a number of classes for adults and children.

For adults there are aerobics and dance classes, and for children, English, theatre, art and martial arts.

Although these types of classes are available in San Miguel, many residents of the areas around Casa Girasoles cannot afford the 8-peso bus fare to and from town (that’s equivalent to an hour of work for many residents), much less the enrollment fees. All the classes at Casa Girasoles community center are free for local residents, with a nominal fee charged for materials, and the teachers donate their expertise and time. 

The health clinic provides free medical consultations and low-cost therapeutic massages and natural medicines prepared by local women, three of whom have recently completed a 2-year course given by a national network of traditional healers. In the bakery, a group of women make whole-wheat bread, both for local residents and to sell in the streets of San Miguel, thus promoting better nutrition for their families as well as providing some income. Negotiations are under way with the Mujeres Productoras group, to sell fresh bread at the Ya Tsedi Behña store in San Miguel. The sewing and beauty workshops provide services primarily to local women.

In order to fund the purchase of materials for the park, the community of Santa Cecilia, with the support of Casa Girasoles, Mujeres Productoras and the Center for Global Justice, are sponsoring a benefit tour and luncheon on March 28. Participants first visit the park, and then proceed to the Casa Girasoles community center to visit and meet with the people who work in the clinic, bakery and classrooms. Translation is provided. A lunch of homemade Mexican food, prepared by women of Santa Cecilia, will also give visitors an opportunity to discuss the park and other projects and to exchange experiences and ideas. 

Tickets can be reserved at the Mujeres Productoras store at the Center for Global Justice office, 150-0025 (phone Monday–Friday from 9am–1pm), Calzada de la Luz 42. Space is limited to 20 participants, but your donation is welcome if you cannot attend, and we hope to plan future tours and lunches. For more information, please write to hyasui@globaljusticecenter.org. 

Garden Club’s 2008 contest theme is “San Miguel’s Secret Places”

The Garden Club of San Miguel de Allende announces its annual calendar photo contest, beginning this year on April 1 and ending May 15. Photographers are encouraged to zoom in on the less frequented, magical places in San Miguel and capture them with either a standard or digital camera. Garden Club calendars, available in several venues, are frequently purchased by residents and visitors alike for gifts and remembrances. While the project adapts a new look from year to year, its purpose is always to raise funds for beautification and education projects within the community. 

Unlike previous years, submissions for the 2008 publication may be edited technically to enhance a photographer’s artistic vision of the scene. Photos chosen to accompany each of the calendar pages could result from just a click of the camera, or hours on the computer pushing images to new heights. 

Guidelines are as follows: The contest is open to everyone whether resident or visitor, professional or amateur, with a maximum of five submissions per person and a minimum of 300 DPI. Only horizontal formats will be accepted. Negatives unaccompanied by prints are not eligible. Photos will be returned if the entry includes name, address and telephone number. All entries must include a title for the submission and the photographer’s name for credit in the calendar.

Entries will be accepted until May 15 at Garden Club SMA, Box 32A, Border Crossings on Calle Relox. From the US, entries should be mailed to Leigh Gersnoviez, BC-209B, 9902 Crystal Ct., Suite 107, Laredo TX, 78045-6379. Entries can also be submitted electronically to GardenClubSMA@yahoo.com.

Defying gravity
By Lesley “Littlefield” Freeman

Circus performance By GravityWorks Fri, Mar 30, 8pm Teatro Ángela Peralta Mesones & Hernández Macías 150/100/50 pesos

The extraordinary GravityWorks, the premier San Miguel-based circus troupe, performs magnificent aerial feats on Friday, March 30.

I had my first opportunity to work with GravityWorks in 2005, at “Barnival,” one of the first major shows that ever took place at La Carpa (the circus tent on Calzada de la Aurora). There were about 500 people crunched into that tent, drawn by the exciting program: first, the award-winning documentary film that many folks in San Miguel know, The Real Dirt on Farmer John, followed by Lesley Littlefield’s (that’s me) CD release extravaganza.

I had invited GravityWorks to perform aerial acts to some of my songs, and of course, to enter the stage as fancy billowing insects, setting up the grand moment when Farmer John and I would buzz in as bumblebees. 

GravityWorks is based in Colonia Santa Julia (not the Carpa, although some of the performers have taught there). As plans for “Barnival” unfolded, I regularly phoned Nisha, the troupe’s founder, to check in. Did they have everything they needed? Did they want some posters to hang? Yes, we would have lights, and tickets were indeed selling.

A little GravityWorks history: after a life of training as a dancer and a gymnast, Nisha brought her skills together with her love of the circus and founded the aerial dance troupe, GravityWorks, in 1996 in Toronto. She trained not only herself, but all the troupe members, eventually making GravityWorks a professional performing circus troupe.

Then in 2001, Nisha and her husband, Dan, moved DaNisha Sculpture (their business of fanciful ceramic Cirque du Soleil stylings: www.DaNishaSculpture.com ) and their family to San Miguel.

There, after leaving “GravityWorks North” in the capable hands of her sister and fellow troupe member, she founded “GravityWorks South” and trained a whole new troupe of performers.

Back to “Barnival”: after the show, Nisha and I continued to gab all the time on the phone. One day, she invited me to train with her and the troupe. “Me?” I was doubtful. It was an appreciable time commitment (3 to 4 hours, four days a week), and I had never really danced or done much in the way of acrobatics.

In Nisha’s fun, inclusive way, she engaged my imagination and I showed up to practice. After one tiny flip upside down, I was hooked. Not only was it a place to build strength and coordination, but I found it to be a lighthearted and friendly social hub, a place where the troupe members of all ages (from ages 20 to 55) shared stories, opinions, moves, and just plain old silliness while they honed their routines, celebrated their feats, faced their fears, and supported one another as women and performers (we do have one male member). Often, I would hear girly shrieks of “Ohhh pretty!” to a girl dangling in utter athletic elegance (in a positively painful yet effortless-looking stranglehold) from a swath of silky fabric.

I continued to attend practice, and for the past four months I’ve been steadily preparing with the troupe for our upcoming show, “Donumi.” (The title relates to the Greek word for ‘gift.’ You’ll see why, as the “Donumi” story unfolds.) I am amazed how, with steady training and a fantastic coach, I have been able to play with gracefulness and danciness in ways I never have.

Please come and join us at Teatro Ángela Peralta. Tickets are available at the theater box office and from the performers themselves. One night only!

Or come to the Jardín on Sunday, March 25, from 2–4pm. We’ll be selling tickets in person, thoroughly incognito. You’ll never know who we are except for this hint: look for the purple, silver, and red people skitting about with wild hair and fancy faces.