DC’s Inaugural Latinx Movement Festival by Malik K. Thompson
Friends, I’m so excited to welcome Malik K. Thompson to this space. We met back before the pandemic through Loyalty Bookstores (I have photo proof!) and love his/their work for a while. Today, we welcome him with a piece about the DC Latinx movement festival that happened earlier in August.
Malik Thompson (he/they) is a Black queer person from Washington, DC. His work has been published in the Cincinnati Review, Denver Quarterly, Four Way Review, and elsewhere. He has received fellowships and residencies from organizations including Cave Canem, Lambda Literary, the Anderson Center, and Sundress Publications. He can be found on IG via the handle @latesummerstar
Enjoy the piece!
DC’s Inaugural Latinx Movement Festival
by Malik K. Thompson
While Latine/x cultural organizations and artists maintain a foothold within DC’s arts and culture scene, our Latinx population, which is a mere 11.83% (as of the 2022 census) within the city proper, creates limitations for the production of Latinx art and opportunities for that art to be experienced. Recognizing this deficit within the world of performance/dance, local movement artist Gabriel Mata organized DC’s inaugural Latinx Movement Festival.
The Latinx Movement Festival consisted of a long weekend of panels, workshops, and performances taking place from August 1st to August 4th. The festival culminated in two performances on August 3rd and 4th. Mata, who is Mexican American, had been envisioning this program for years prior to its execution. “Conceptually, I have wanted to create this festival since I participated for the second time in San Francisco’s Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers back in 2019. I had been in DC for two years then.”
The performances were held at Dance Place in Brookland as a part of their Co-Presentation Series. Consisting of six performances, an intermission, and an incredibly insightful talk back, I was mesmerized by each performer’s range and technical skill. I also found the range of Latinx identities — across race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, etc — to be powerful and a needed intervention in response to flat understandings of Latinx identity.
When asked about the selection process for the artists featured at the festival, Mata said that he and his fellow panelists, GW professor of Spanish literature Manuel Cuellar and multidisciplinary storyteller Adrian Gaston Garcia “…were conscious of the open and dynamic-ness of the term ‘Latinx.’ We went through several rounds and even had alternatives in case an artist group could not participate. It was tough; we wanted to bring in more artists because of such talent, but we were limited by our budget.”
As Justin Rustle, over at the Maryland Theatre Guide, has already written a thorough overview of each of the performances, I will focus here more on what moved me personally.
The presence of Carne Viva Dance Theatre, a troupe rooted in Afro-Cuban music and culture, particularly struck me. During the talk back, Chachi Perez, the troupe’s founder, mentioned that their piece, Dame La Receta!, was partially inspired by her mother’s worship of Yemaya, the Yoruba orisha of the ocean. This inspiration was conveyed via the ocean blue lighting and the dancer’s loose-fitting blue costumes. I loved the use of percussion during their performance, from both a professional drummer as well as the dancers banging wooden spoons and metal pans toward the performance’s end, emphasizing the piece’s relationship to homespace.
Also touching, during the talk back, the father of Tabata Vara, one of four local dancers performing in the festival, encouraged her to repeat everything she’d said to the audience in Spanish, making the request in Spanish himself. A heartfelt interaction in any context, the largely Latine/x audience members’ ecstatic reactions to this moment accentuated the significance of the Latinx Movement Festival to members of the Latine/x community.
As someone who is not Latinx or Spanish speaking, I have to admit that, literally and figuratively, some things were lost in translation for me. That said, I don’t believe that lack of understanding or familiarity should inhibit one from partaking in the experience of other people’s creations. There was such richness in what The Latinx Movement Festival offered that anyone from any background would leave the space in awe and with much to mull over.
Too, there is something to say about how my momentary and low-stakes experience of confusion should be understood in relation to the confusion that many people who immigrate to the United States from Latin America feel each day of their lives as they try to make a home for themselves and their families. As Patricia “Patty” Huerta from Primera Generación Dance said regarding the collective’s performances, “We don’t translate everything because they don’t translate for our families.”
As well-received and astounding as the Latinx Movement Festival was, the festival was not lucrative financially. “The program was not financially equitable in terms of paying artists.” said Mata “I believe the artist stipend was not enough. The traveling artists went out of their way to make an investment.”
When asked about the future of the festival, Mata also said, “I want to challenge myself to gather more community interest and funding. I am surprised (but not really) at the love and openness of all artists. I am looking forward to how these artists will continue to develop and even connect in the future. The Latinx Movement Festival DC could be its own non-profit. In future iterations, it could also facilitate film, poetry, visuals, music, and cultural dance forms. It stayed “contemporary” because I was the sole figure. I also want not to be the sole individual of power, I want to pass the curatorial eye to other Latinx/e artists in DC or co-direct with local talent.”
I look forward to attending the 2025 Latinx Movement Festival with deep excitement, and, for years to come, encourage you all to do the same.
