La Lucha Arts, in association with New York Butoh Institute, will present Raquel Almazan in EL ODIO DE UN PAÍS / The Hate of A Country, a site-specific Butoh performance and works-in-process reading, on February 27 and 28 at 7PM at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, 304 W 47th St, New York, NY 10036. Tickets are free and can be reserved by emailing laluchaarts@gmail.com.

 

Experience the transformative power of Butoh as Raquel Almazan performs a site-specific ritual installation at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater.

 

Functioning as a ceremonial threshold into El Odio de un País, the Butoh performance begins on the 4th floor and guides audiences into the emotional and mythic landscape of the play. The staged reading follows the ritual.

 

EL ODIO DE UN PAIS/ The Hate of a Country (part of the Latin is American play cycle) by Raquel Almazan explores the conditions of women through the dramatization of violence contrasted with the actions of healing and solidarity within female communities. Rape culture becomes personal Costa Rican mythology: A missing arm in the sugar cane fields, a mother and daughter climb the mango tree of dangerous memories in the jungle, imprisoned men swear their innocence to the Crimen de Colima. An autobiographical and biographical series of scenes that explore the mainstream history of Costa Rica from the perspective of family lineage. This play challenges the male and colonial gaze by revealing the destructive impact of oppression on the individual, positioned as a metonym for Costa Rica itself.

 

Produced by Raquel Almazan’s La Lucha Arts, funded by NYSCA Grant and Artist Space with support from Pregones/PRTT, and its ASAP/Artist Space At Pregones initiative.

Written by Raquel Almazan

Directed by Gineiris Syphertt

Original Sound & Music Sinuhe Padilla

Butoh Vangeline & Raquel Almazan

Set Design Hao Bai

Graphic & Video Design Eva Pedriglieri

Production Management Aislinn Curry

Stage Management Celina Revollar

Produced by La Lucha Arts

Ensemble (Alphabetical Order)

Raquel Almazan

Jen Anaya

Danny Borba

Andres Chaves

Gerardo Gudiño

Gladys Perez

Reynaldo Piniella

Yadira de la Riva

Reza Salazar

 

Raquel Almazan is the Executive Artistic Director of La Lucha Arts, producing interdisciplinary theatre and media projects dedicated to amplifying historically excluded narratives. Her original works include the LATIN IS AMERICAplay cycle and lecture-performance, a collection of bilingual works honoring Latin American countries.

 

Select play credits include La Paloma Prisoner (Chelsea Factory premiere; Arthur J. Harris Social Justice Prize; Arch and Bruce Brown LGBTQ Prize), CAFÉ (Kennedy Center Latinidad Award), La Negra (BRIC Arts; Lincoln Center), When I Came Home (Pregones-PRTT), and Does that Feel Good to You, My Lark? (New Georges). She has developed work with Signature Theatre, The Public Theater, La MaMa ETC, INTAR, Labyrinth Theater Company, The Lark, The Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, and The Playwrights’ Center.

 

Her film credits include the feature mockumentary White Alligator (international festival screenings; Best Actress Award, International Bled Film Festival) and the screenplay Death of the Doll (NALIP Writer’s Lab).Through La Lucha Arts, she has presented work nationally and internationally, including collaborations with the United Nations, Aspen Institute, International Women’s Playwrights Conference, Hemispheric Institute, and The National Arts Centre of Canada. Major supporters include: The Doris Duke Foundation, NYSCA, The Howard Gilman Foundation, National Association of Latino Arts & Culture, The MAP Fund, and NYC Mayor’s Women Fund. Community partnerships include: Close Rikers Campaign, Life Jacket Theatre, Brooklyn DA’s Re-entry Task Force, and The United Nations.

 

Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (Pregones/PRTT) is a celebrated, bilingual performing arts organization based in New York City. Formed by the 2014 merger of Pregones Theater (founded 1979) and the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (founded 1967), the company champions Puerto Rican and Latinx cultural legacies. They operate bilingual arts facilities in The Bronx and Manhattan, creating original musicals, plays, and multidisciplinary works that engage diverse communities.

 

Vangeline Theater/New York Butoh Institute

Founded in 2002, Vangeline Theater is uniquely ushering Butoh—the Japanese avant-garde dance form—into the 21st century through performance, education, research, and international exchange. As home to the New York Butoh Institute, the company preserves Butoh’s lineage while recontextualizing it within contemporary social and cultural realities.

 

Our socially conscious performances connect Butoh and activism, addressing gender inequality, identity, and broader issues of social justice. Through sustained artistic production and curatorial leadership, Vangeline Theater positions Butoh as a living platform for dialogue and structural change. The New York Butoh Institute Festival elevates the visibility of women in Butoh, while the Queer Butoh Festival amplifies LGBTQI artists within a historically male-dominated lineage. Through these initiatives, the company actively reshapes representation within the field.

 

With touring and collaborations across the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia, Vangeline Theater strengthens cross-cultural exchange and expands the global presence of U.S.-based Butoh. The company was the first U.S. Butoh ensemble to receive National Endowment for the Arts recognition for a choreographed work and has contributed to pioneering research on the neurological states associated with Butoh practice. www.vangeline.com

 

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and the New York Department of Cultural Affairs, and the City Council.

 

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