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Performance & Literary Art Programs
Originally started in 1998 as an experimental program to attract and nurture emerging local performing artists, MACLA's performance program has grown from a writing workshop to a multi-faceted, year-round season of poetry, theater, music and film. From hip-hop and spoken word to Latin-American avant-garde cinema, satirical skits, or staged readings of Spanish theater masterpieces, the goal of the program is to create and present new, cutting edge material and innovations across genres and art disciplines. In 1999 a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle reviewing MACLA's 3-day poetry festival stated that this was an event that was "sparking a revival in Latino performance art." In a similar way, a writer for the Metro Weekly in San Jose said that MACLA's programs are "a trendsetter that establishes MACLA and San Jose as front-runners in the future development of Latino literature."
Our performance programs stem from the organization's commitment to explore contemporary issues in Latino culture and civic society from new angles and new perspectives, often through humor and satire.
With the support of the National Performance Network beginning in 2005, MACLA welcomed the following artist-in-residencies; Los Angeles artist, María Elena Fernández and San-Antonio based arts collective, madmedia, Miami based Octavio Campo's experimental dance, Latino American Classical ensemble Quinteto Latino & Jose Hurtado, and the genderqueer theater ensemble from Los Angeles, the Butchlalis de Panochtitlan.
Our literary programs provide a strong foundation in the humanities that allows us to engender a culture of critical thinking around the work we do. MACLA is proud to foster the development of the South Bay Teen Slam League, a youth spoken-word collective of high school students from schools such as Mt. Pleasant High School, Fremont High School, Pioneer High School, Latino College Preparatory Academy, and Downtown College Prep.
