Working
with a diverse group of teens ages twelve to
sixteen from the Albuquerque community, performance
artist, writer and director Jose Torres Tama
conducted daily interactive workshops from 2-5PM
as part of a three week-residency to introduce
the young participants to performance art practices.
Through an intensive workshop process, the teens
were guided in the creation of an original ensemble
performance piece based on their personal experiences
and their own ideas about the search for the
"American Dream."
This
multidisciplinary project introduced the teens
to the literary arts through creative writing
exercises as well as workshops on conceptual
movement, voice development, the theater arts
and ritual. The three week residency culminated
in an original ensemble performance called Young
Voices on the Edge / Buscando el Sueno Americano,
a bilingual performance in Spanish and English.
YOUNG
VOICES ON THE EDGE/BUSCANDO EL SUENO AMERICANO
Written and Performed by
Leonel Perez Flores, Noel Garcia, Mathew Garcia,
Guillermo Gutierrez,
Daniel Alexander Martinez, Luis Emmanuel Martinez,
Dominic Martinez and Peggilee Romero
Directed by Jose Torres Tama
(First
Movement: American Dream Collective
Music begins to play from Jose’s CD Called
“American Mantra & Other Rituals.”
TRACK #4 called “Dreams on Fire” plays.
All Performers enter in the dark and take their
places on stage. They position themselves and
the first performer to speak lights his/her
face with a flashlight and delivers their lines.
As soon as the line is delivered, they turn
the flashlight off. The other performers follow
with respectively with flashlight and text.
The visual effect is that of lights flickering
on and off as lines are delivered with the performers’
faces floating in the darkness of the theater--representing
a installation of stars in the American night.)
DOMINIC:
The American Dream is more things than normal
people can handle.
NOEL:
People act like the American Dream is oxygen
for them to breathe.
GUILLERMO:
El sueno Americano para algunas pesonas es un
mundo blanco y limpio.
LUIS:
The American Dream for some people is a world
that is white and clean.
PEGGILEE:
I don’t know anything about the American
Dream.
LEONEL:
I think that every Hispanic or Latino in this
country has an American Dream.
DANIEL:
Some people find money the best thing ever and
they become CRAZY for it.
MATHEW:
I WANT MONEY! (EVERYONE STOMPS THEIR RIGHT
FOOT) I WANT FAME! (STOMP) I WANT A BIG
HOUSE! (STOMP)
(From
off stage Jose speaks!)
JOSE: …SUCCESS, (STOMP) MONEY
(STOMP) and BIG HOUSES (STOMP). Is
this the American Dream? More than anything
we need equality.
ALL:
Everyone should be equal!
(The
sequence begins again as performers turn on
flashlights to deliver their lines, but this
time, each performer keeps the flashlight on
after delivering their lines.)
DOMINIC:
Big houses and lots of money are not going to
fall right on your lap.
NOEL:
I believe that if you don’t have money,
you can still be a beautiful and unique person
inside.
GUILLERMO:
El futuro Americano aveses es frustrado por
muerte, porque la gente ariesgan todo viniendo
a vivir a qui.
LUIS:
The American Dream is sometimes frustrated by
death because some people risk everything to
come and live here.
PEGGILEE:
My brother, my sister and I were orphans searching
for a mother in a home all alone—in the
dark and scared to death.
LEONEL:
Ese viento que nos trajo hacia los estados unidos
aveces viene de la direcion opuesta y parece
que nos quire regresar.
DANIEL:
This wind that brought us to the United States
sometimes blows from the opposite direction
and feels like it wants to throw us back.
JOSE:
Everyone needs to be more open and willing to
learn about other cultures and traditions.
MATHEW:
I WANT MONEY! (EVERYONE STOMPS) I WANT
FAME! (STOPMP) I WANT A BIG HOUSE!
(STOMP)
DOMINIC:
Money to me is evil, but how do we buy clothes
and the things we need to survive. The key word
is money!
NOEL:
I can have a magical life without money.
GUILLERM
O:
Cuando llegue aqui me di cuenta que no
hera una gran cosa. Es un pais normal.
Muchas personas piensan que los estados
unidos es lo mejor.
LUIS:
When I arrived here, I realized that it was
not such a great thing. It’s a normal country
like any other, but many people think that the
USA is the best.
PEGGILEE:
….in the dark and scared to death, with
no food,
ALL:
NO FOOD!
PEGGILEE:
No water!
ALL:
NO WATER!
PEGGILEE:
No bed!
ALL:
NO BED!
PEGGILEE:
Is this the American Dream?
LEONEL:
Esta es la pesadilla llamada el sueno norte
americano!
DANIEL:
This is the nightmare called the American Dream!
JOSE:
…Unlimited wealth! Instant gratification!
Is this a sign of our spiritual bankruptcy?
Some have millions. Some people don’t have
anything.
ALL:
What about the American Dream for them!
GUILLERMO,
LUIS, LEONEL, DANIEL:
Y QUE DEL SUENO AMERICANO PARA ELLOS!!!
(PAUSE.
EVERYONE FREEZES. All flashlights are
on as the audience gets to see everyone’s
face floating in the darkness and lit
by the flashlights. Each performer counts
to THREE one-thousand silently and then
turns off the flashlight for a dramatic
affect. Music begins: EMINEM CD TRACK
#12.
All performers not in the next movement exit
the stage.)
(Second
Movement: American Dream #2
Noel, Luis, Mathew, Leonel, Daniel and Dominic
remain on stage and take their places for the
next movement. Mathew and Leonel position themselves
to add conceptual movements to this piece as
the rest of the performers deliver their lines.)
NOEL:
The American Dream” is money and success.
People act like it’s oxygen for them to
breathe--like they would die without…
LEONEL:
La television me roba mi alma.
LUIS:
En el mundo miles the millones de la humanidad
tienen suenos y esperanza de tener el sueno
americano—hasta por un segundo oh un paprpadea
de serrar y habrir los ojos.
DANIEL:
In this world, thousands of millions of people
have dreams and hopes of having “the American
Dream”—even if it is just for a second
or for the time it takes to blink an eye.
DOMINIC:
First of all, the American Dream is only materials
things. When I think about what it means, cars,
big homes, nothing is there but items that can
get repossessed by the government or by being
in debt.
NOEL:…like
your life is a paper tossed in the trash
if you don’t have money. I believe
that if you don’t have money, you
can still be a beautiful and unique person
inside—that nobody maybe bothers
to see if you don’t have green money.
LEONEL;
La television roba mi alma.
LUIS:
Hay consequencias de este sueno que se nombra
el sueno americano. Uno tendra el sueno americanno
de dinero y fama, pero quizas no tendra nunca
felicidad y amor.
DANIEL:
There are consequences to this dream called
“The American Dream” of money and
fame. Perhaps, you may never have love and happiness.
DOMINIC:
How many of you people have been in debt. The
American Dream is more things than a person
can handle.
NOEL:
When people say that the American Dream is the
only way to live, I feel like blowing up like
a volcano. Inside I just burn up like fire in
coming out of a dragon’s mouth.
LEONEL:
La television me roba mi mente.
LUIS:
Puedes tener dinero, un castillo, y un carro
pero la felicidad y el amor—que? Yo se
que esta pesadilla no me va traer la felicidad
que busco. Problemas, peleas y tortura me daria
el sueno americano.
DANIEL:
You can have money, a castle in the sky, a big
car, but happiness and love—what? In know
that this nightmare called the American Dream
may not bring me the happiness I want. Problems,
fights and torture may come from this.
DOMINIC:
Big houses and lots of money are not going to
fall right on your lap. You have to work for
it. Not everything, specially money, has a purpose.
Money to me is evil, but how do we buy clothes
and the things we need to survive. THE KEY WORD
IS ALWAYS MONEY!
NOEL:
It’s not right for people to think that
the American Dream is the only way to live.
They act like it’s what wakes them up in
the morning or what allows them to live another
day.
LEONEL:
LA TELEVISION ROBA MI MENTE!!!
LUIS:
Aunque me gusta vivir bien, yo no daria mi asmitades,
felicidad, o amor por el sueno de la esta tierra
que se supone que es la tierra de la libertad.
Para mi este sueno americano es aveces negro
como una mala noche de hodio.
DANIEL:
Even though I may want to live well, I
would not give up my friends, happiness
and love for this “American Dream”
in this supposed land of liberty. For
me, this “American Dream” is
sometimes black like a bad night of hate.
DOMINIC:
Basically, the American Dream is what most people
think “FREEDOM” is. But what freedom?…the
ability to go into a store and buy anything
you want!!! To me the American Dream is a loving
family or someone who cares for you.
NOEL:
Sure, I want the American Dream, but I don’t
think it’s like the beat of my heart. If
I don’t have it, I am not going to collapse
like an old building waiting to fall.
LEONEL:
LA TELEVISION ROBA MIS SUENOS!
LUIS:
Y son miles de millones que suenan y tienen
esperanza por este sueno. Pero dies de milles
de millones se ganaran el sueno americano. La
verdad es que perdieron porque la pesadilla
del sueno americano les quito la felicidad.
DANIEL:
And there are millions of thousands who hope
for this dream. Many people risk everything,
but only ten out of millions may actually WIN.
The truth is they lost because the nightmare
of the American Dream stole their happiness.
DOMINIC:
Material things are one thing, but having family
is more to anybody—at least I hope. Money
and friends are only sticky, but family is glued
on.
LEONEL:
LA TELEVISION ROBA MIS SUENOS!!!
LUIS
& DANIEL: LA TELIVISION ROBA MIS SUENOS.
DOMINIC:
TELEVISION ROBS MY DREAMS!!!
(Dominic
says his last lines dramatically and everyone
freezes, then they all reach for the sky as
if reaching for this “American Dream.”
Everyone freezes. Music begins to play from
the EMINEM CD TRACK #12 AGAIN. The lights go
to black. Everyone exits and we have only the
performers for the next movement on stage.)
(Third
Movement: I don’t know the American Dream.
Noel, Mathew and Leonel stay on stage
as Peggilee delivers her monologue. Noel
and Mathew are at opposite ends of the
stage. Noel begins making poses of a strong
young super women to symbolically represent
the inner strength of Peggilee, who endured
being orphaned as a child.) 
(Leonel
remains on his knees at center stage and makes
the form of a heart with his hand. He is frozen
like a statue and looks straight out into the
audience. Meanwhile, Mathew spreads out an American
flag and opens it up with his arms as if he
is going to fly. He freezes. He moves again
and raps the flag around his body and freezes
once more. He continues this ritual throughout
the entire piece as Peggilee delivers her monologue.
She moves around the other performers who are
still in their places performing their conceptual
movements.)
PEGGILEE:
I don’t anything about the “American
Dream.” But I know my brother, my sister
and I were orphans searching for a mother in
a home all alone—in the dark and scared
to death. No food!
NOEL:
No food!
PEGGILEE:
No water!
MATHEW:
No water!
PEGGILEE:
No bed!
LEONEL:
No bed!
My
older sister, who was seven years old, would
hide us in a closet—close the door and
say, “Stay in there, and I’ll take
the chance on my life to go search for food.”
She leaves outside to go look for any kind of
change on the ground. After searching for hours,
she goes to a store to buy as much food as she
can. The cheap stuff was Spaghettios, so she
would buy as much as she could—head back
home and feed us. If there was not enough, she
would go without, so we could have what there
was. After we ate, we were to lie down and go
to sleep.
(Peggilee
drops to her knees and positions herself as
if to pray with her hands folded as she delivers
her last lines.)
My
sister would wait until we were asleep, then
she would lie down. After being an orphan for
so long, cops came and found us. To this day,
I am thankful for my sister and cops.
(She
freezes in place—kneeling and with her
hands folded. Noel, Mathew and Leonel each say
a line.)
NOEL:
BE BRAVE! BE STRONG!
MATHEW:
INNER STRENGTH WILL GET YOU THROUGH!
(Pounding
on his chest twice)
LEONEL: AY QUE SER FUERTE PARA SOBREVIR!
(They
all freeze and the lights go to black.
MUSIC PLAYS from the CD “Our Souls
Have Grown Deep like Rivers.” TRACK
#22 plays the Gil Scottt Heron Classic
“The revolution Will Nor be Televised.”
Everyone who needs to exit does and the
performers for the next movement stay
and take their places.)
