La Chorina

Tremendous story, Rebecca! I am particularly inspired by the stories I heard of children who've been forced out on their own at an age we would now consider far too young. And yet, these children found their way ~ the resiliance of the human spirit! Would love to have a young performer in the show!

I'd been thinking that our chorine Catrina should be a figure from "the other side" but now I'm wondering if she isn't a young star-struck actress who's in love with the picture shows and dreams of Hollywood...

A local story from the 30's

I have a friend that today told me a story about her grandmother. When her grandmother was young, the family moved from California to Oregon. The family, of Mexican/Spanish descent, were rodeo riders. All the girls in the family were trick riders, and would travel the rodeo circuits with their parents once they reached a certain age. The grandmother, at the time, was determined to be too young to travel with the family to perform in a rodeo in California. She was left behind in Oregon. Disagreeing with this decision, she decided to leave and hitchhiked all the way to California and performed anyway. (She was born around 1910 and was a teenager when this took place.)

I found this interesting, another aspect of life of Latinos in Oregon.

On the subject of Migrants...

I just remembered the book, "Cajas de carton" relatos de la vida peregrina de un nino campesino. It's a series of stories/ memoirs by Francisco Jimenez about his life growing up in the migrant camps in mainly California, I believe. It's a short read, 123 pages. I believe it's set in the late 40's early 50's, but still applicable, I'd think. It might have been written in English and then translated to Spanish. The version I have is in Spanish. It's a moving book.

Singing the Migrants

Yup, Rebecca, I've found the same. It's easier to find information about the folks who migrated west from other parts of the US, such as the Dust Bowl, during the 30s, than it is to find stories about Latinos during that time. Thank heavens Tim located that tremendous article on Impact of the Great Depression on Latino Americans. Many Latinos, in California in particular, where "repatriated" to Mexico (even if they had been born in the US!). I envision a family that travels north to Oregon rather than risk repatriation.

On the bright side, I found a few stunning Woody Guthrie tunes! He'd been commissioned by the WPA to musically chronicle the effects of the GD...

Talking Dust Bowl Blues
Talking Dust Bowl Blues lyrics

Pastures of Plenty
Pastures of Plenty lyrics

Grand Coulee Dam performed by Lonnie Donegan!
Grand Coulee Dam lyrics

And this is a personal favorite, Poor Lazarus
...dead or alive, come up and see me, dead or alive...
Poor Lazarus lyrics

Thoughts on "Dancing Girls"

In response to Olga's post, I became intrigued about the type of Latino performers there were in this era. Needless to say, my initial searches have not revealed much. From a few quick research stabs, I have found that there were several Latino musicians during this time, but mostly on the East Coast, with a few in Los Angeles.

Then I began to think about Vaudeville. Vaudeville itself began to decline during the 1930's due to the increase in films and also the need for theatres to reduce costs. Some vaudevillians were able to recreate their magic on the silver screen. Some continued performing live, as their skills just didn't transfer to film. Some shifted to other types of non-performance work. And some just became unemployed, like countless others.

I then began to look for Latino vaudevillians, and I came across Imogene Coca. She was born in 1908 to performing parents (her father was of Spanish descent) and began dancing and performing at a very early age. An untraditional beauty for her time, she knew she would not be able to have a "standard" leading lady acting career. However, her career began to take off between 1934-1937 when she was recognized for her comedic talents. Prior to this point, she was still performing on the vaudeville circuit.

Here's a physical comedy bit she performed with Sid Caesar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wEj9aSZZZo&feature=related

At any rate, I could completely see a character styled after someone like her. (And I love her physical humor and the fact that it is completely non-verbal - always great for bilingual shows).

My dos centavos.

Back on the Rails

Now that the temperature's hitting 100 degrees or so, what better time to contemplate the coolness of fall, the crisp wind and drying leaves that circle around Dia de Muertos?

Met with artist Analee Fuentes last week, who brought with her a beautiful book of photos by Arthur Rothstein entitled "The Depression Years" (Dover Pub., 1978). Alejandra Gonzales is putting the final touches on our Study Guide as she translates it into Spanish. One startling fact: The Great Depression featured 25% unemployment nationwide. Talk about a call for resilience and ingenuity.

I see one of our biggest challenges with this production is, how to balance the inherent dire circumstances of the era with the traditional irreverance and comedy of Dia de muertos (a good question for Philip Cuomo, who had to balance the WWII-era in the same way). Philip?

My thoughts are, bring on the dancing girls! The glamorous chorines of Busby Berkeley music fame! Rebecca Martinez provided a similar balance with the 'Angel' character in Noche Eterna ~ but she was an otherworldly (del otro lado) personage, surrounded by similar clowns. Will our BB chorine be a figment of our imagination, or a star-struck migrant who's gone a bit west off Broadway?

Employment & Gender

A tidbit from family members who lived through the Depression in Oregon:

Teaching was one of the most common and respectable professions for a woman in those times, but during the Great Depression a law was passed in order to stimulate employment. If a female teacher got married, she had to give up her job. The reasoning was that it would be of benefit for her job to go to someone else, instead of her two-job family. I wonder, what if she married someone who was unemployed?