~ I ' T~" ?? File Photo
Larry Leon Hamlin (from right), Crux Aristixabal and John Sundell at a news confer
ence last August to kick off the Hispanic/Latino Theatre Division.
Bridging the divide
N.C. Black Repertory Company helping to
nurture Hispanic talent
BY COURTNEY GAILLARD
THE CHRONICLE
The N.C. Black Repertory Company
(NCBRC) unveiled its new Hispanic/Latino
Theatre Division last August. The project,
which is partly funded by the Winston
Salem Foundation Echo Grant, is part of
NCBRC's effort to provide cultural pro
grams to the rapidly growing Hispanic com
munity in the Piedmont Triad.
John Sundell, head of the Forsyth Coun
ty Public Library service to Spanish-speak
ing people, is the brainchild behind the proj
ect and thought it would be a wonderful
opportunity for the NCBRC to take it on as
opposed to the library.
"I think it will help stimulate the cultur
al life of the community and in many ways
it will have real direct bearing on what the
library does in terms of providing
resources," said Sundell.
Larry Leon Hamlin announced Fernando
Cruz Aristizabal as co-coordinator of the
Hispanic/Latino project. Hamlin is the
founder and artistic director of the NCBRC.
AristizabaJ brings more than 30 years of
experience in theater and puppetry, having
acted, directed and performed in numerous
theatrical shows over the years as well as
having produced and written for Columbian
radio.
Aristizabal will conduct acting and pup
petry workshops around the community,
coordinate live theatrical productions for
children and families as well as develop Que
Pasa radio programs.
Sundell. who doubled as translator for
Aristizabal, was instrumental in connecting
him with Hamlin at the NCBRC for this new
project. Aristizabal, who hails from Colum
bia, has yet to learn to speak English fluent
ly. After meeting Aristizabal more than a
year ago, Sundell immediately knew Aristi
zabal could bring his theatrical expertise
and experiences to Winston-Salem.
"We in the communities of Latin Ameri
cans well as the Latino people here in the
United States have many wonderful things
to contribute, not just violence arid beer,"
translated Sundell (for Aristizabal), ,whose
comments were received with laughter.
"We're also dreamers and creators, and we
want a better world."
Aristizabal went on to say that the Latin
community is looking forward to "integrat
ing themselves, communicating and
exchanging love" with native North Car
olinians.
Hamlin explained that several Spanish
language plays have been produced in the
past as part of the National Black Theatre
Festival. The new Hispanic/Latino Division
will allow NCBRC to produce such shows
"on a continuous basis" throughout the reg
ular season.
"We're really reaching out and trying to
build a bridge. This has to be a project of
trust. We're trying to create and build from
and partnership within the Spanish-speaking
community as well as the African-American
community and Caucasian community,"
said Hamlin, who mentioned that he was
very thankful to The Winston-Salem Foun
dation for funding a large portion of the
project.
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