4-H Dancers
Contact Erica Cruz
541-752-1290
Terrific children's dance troupe that performs traditional Mexican dances. The children also teach the audience several simple dances. Hugo Nava
2300 NW Highland
Corvallis, OR 97330
541-754-6660
navasanh@onid.orst.edu
Fee: $50 per hour with a 2-hour minimum, plus mileage.
Offers instrument-making workshops, cooking classes, and gives concerts.
Eugene-Based Performers
Ballet Juvenil Azteca
Contact Joyce Wade
541-345-0921
Mostly Mexican folk dancers, children and young adults. Do educationals as well as performances for all ages.
Fee: $100-150
Fernel Lopez
541-484-1387
Leader of the the group Lo Nuestro, musician; does rhythm activities and singalongs as well as performances, best with elementary and up.
Fee: $50-100 solo, varies with Lo Nuestro.
Jessie Marquez
541-686-4974
jessie8@mindspring.com
http://www.jessemarquez.com/
Fee: $50 for 1/2 hour storytime or several hundred with her hot salsa band Son Melao.
Cuban American musician and storytime presenter, great with any age/ magnificent voice.
Anahid Bertrand
541-221-3407
anahid@efn.org
Anahid Bertrand teaches Spanish and music classes to children ages birth thru teens. She performs Spanish songs that are fun, energetic and inspire a great participation from the audience. Children dance, clap and sing along. The rich repertoire depicts songs for children from Spain, Mexico, Cuba and almost every other Latin American country of the world. Anahid Bertrand holds a Bachelors in music and Spanish from Sonoma State University and the University of Sofia.
Otter Rock-Based Performers
Chayag
Alex Llumiquinga
PO Box 127
Otter Rock, OR 97369
(541)765-7689
alex_intis@yahoo.com
Mostly Andean music, very interactive, great with any age.
Portland/Vancouver-Based Performers
Ballet Folklorico "SOL AZTECA"
David Gallardo
503-332-9149
davidgallardo84@hotmail.com
22 dancers from Oregon perform a variety of native dances from different regions of Mexico.
Connie Bieberach
541-675-7324
Based in Portland.
Storyteller and sings in 8 different languages, native of Peru. Pricey Grupo Condor
Gerardo Calderon
PO Box 1573
Beaverton, OR 97075
503-805-0914
mailto:grupo-condor@yahoo.com
http://www.grupo-condor.com/
Gerardo Calderon leads this group that performs traditional folk music featuring Spanish, African and Native American influences. They'll teach audiences about the instruments and the importance of each culture's contribution to the music. Veronica Guzmán
503-844-6444
http://www.veronicaguzman.com/
veronica@veronicaguzman.com
Paiting, printmaking, paper maché workshops and demonstrations for children, teens and adults.
Vicente Guzman-Orozco
503-223-8067
jefe@mexicology.com
Bilingual theatre and playwriting workshops for teens and adults. Vicente's work has been read and performed up and down the West Coast in both Spanish and English. He has also led acting and script-writing workshops for underserved communities.
Hay Caramba
503-235-0211
Kathy Karbo and her team perform a bilingual puppet show, The Barking Mouse, featuring a Spanish mouse family. The mother mouse saves the day by demonstrating her ability to speak another language. They will also conduct a shadow puppet workshop for families after the performance.
Will Hornyak
503-697-5808.
Local storyteller who has some bilingual stories as well.
Virginia Lopez
503-238-2465
http://www.mamboqueens.com/
ginger@aracnet.com
Afro-Cuban music, singing, drumming and dance workshops and presentations. Virginia Lopez is also available as a percussionist, teacher and solo presenter.
Rebecca Martinez and Viva La Cultura
503-916-1055
rebeccamartinez@hotmail.com
This group can be found through Young Audiences. They have a couple of performances for audiences of all ages incorporating song, dance, theater, stories and movement.
La Musica es Magica
503-699-1814
tgreta@greta.net
Singer/songwriter Greta Pedersen performs bilingual songs.
Angel O'Casio
360-260-8557
ocomedy@aol.com
http://www.ocomedy.com/
P.O. Box 4331
Vancouver, WA 98662
Very versatile, Angel does magic, comedy, clowning, etc. Super nice guy.
Pan Dulce
503-223-1206
musica@xprt.net
Pan Dulce performs tangos, flamenco, classical Spanish and Latin American folk music with guitars, accordian, flute and voice for families and adults. Drawing on Ph.D, MA and BA degrees in English, Music, Linguistics and Sociology, Janice Gould, Janna MacAuslan and Kristan Aspen are experienced teachers as well as performers.
Isaac Shultz-Reyes and Ballet Folklorico Ollin
360-786-8567
http://www.paradisewest.com/ or http://www.arts.wa.gov/
mailto:balletollin@scattercreek.com
Specializing in Mexican dance and Folk Arts, Isaac was a soloist of the Deer Dance with the world-renowned Ballet Folklorico of Mexico at Bellas Artes. Isaac offers performances and instruction of Mexican dance and Mexican folk arts, including piñatas, masks, paper flowers, paper-cut banners.
Solo Flamenco
Contact Diana Bright
503-287-8446
This group performs a blend of dance, song and music. Members are from a Portland dance school.
Teatro Milagro
503-236-7253
http://www.milagro.org/
malan@milagro.org
Teatro Milagro is a bilingual musical theater group that presents plays about the history, culture and people of Latin America for teens and adults. Mialagro Bailadores is a mult-national dance troupe presenting dances of the Americas. Both programs are part of the Miracle Theatre Group.
Regina Wollrabe - ChaCha the Clown.
503-252-1807
She's one of the only bilingual clowns I'm aware of. She has a 45-minute show as well as balloon making and face painting.
Omar Vargas
503-720-7491
mailto:almimotiempo@yahoo.com
Omar does Mime shows for all ages. Very entertaining and great to work with. I know, a bi-lingual mime, it doesn't make sense, but he's from Ecuador and
does talk some during the show! He's wonderful with kids and finding ways to for them to participate in the show.
Oregon FolkLife Program - contact all performers at 503-306-5290
Ballet Folklorico de Woodburn
The Ballet is made up primarily of teenagers of Mexican heritage from Woodburn. They perform a variety of regional Mexican dances in authentic costumes.
Antonio Centurion
Paraguayan harp music and traditional Latin American songs. He also performs with a five-member pan-Latin group, Grupo Kultura.
Rocio Espinoza Cotero
Rocio Espinoza Cotero started dancing with her grandfather at the age of eight in the city of Cuernavaca, Mexico. Her grandfather passed on to Rocio his knowledge of pre-Hispanic dances and ceremonies. She continued her study of traditional Mexican folk dances by attending two professional schools of dance. During her 15 years as a dancer, she performed throughout Mexico. Since moving to Oregon she has been teaching folklorico and pre-Hispanic dance at Centro Cultural in Cornelius.
Maria Escobar
Maria Escobar was born in Chaletanango, El Salvador where she learned to make paper Mache masks and corn husks (Tulsa) and eggshell decorative flowers from the Indigenous community. She also makes traditional decorative flowers out of paper crepei and she cooks many traditional El Salvadorean dishes such as pupusas and tamales. She can teach workshops in masks, traditional flowers and give cooking demonstrations.
Salomón and Mercedes Falcón
Salomón Falcón is from Jalisco, Mexico where he learned the traditional Huichol-style dance performed during the feast day celebrations of the Virgin of Guadalupe. He and his wife, Mercedes, currently direct a youth dance group in Independence, OR that had its first public performance in December 2001. Mercedes also knows various folklórico dances and is available to teach dance workshops.
Rafaela Gillette
Rafaela trained under a master Flamenco dancer/singer in Spain. She started at a very young age and performed with professional groups throughout Spain. Rafaela has taught students, old and young, in community settings in the Portland metropolitan area.
Roberto Gonzales
Roberto Gonzales was born into an artistic family in Havana, Cuba where as a child he learned to play the tres, the mandolin and the guitar. Roberto sings the traditional Troba, and Nueva Troba. He also composes and sings his own songs.
Grupo Kultura
Grupo Kultura presents a rich variety of rhythms from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico and Paraguay on original instruments, including charango, uena, zampoñas, bombo leguero, tiple, cuatro and the Paraguayan harp.
Rigoberto Hernandez and Flor y Canto
Rigoberto Hernandez was born in Corupo, Mexico where he started learning Aztec dances and rituals as a children from his grandfather. As a college student he renewed his interest and commitment to Aztec traditions by studying with individuals in Mexico City. Hernandez directs Flor y Canto, a dance and Aztec culture group that teaches the arts and philosophy of pre-Columbian, indigenous Mexico. Hernandez and Flor y Canto are available for performances, workshops and residencies of Aztec dance.
Cecilia Larson
Cecilia Larson was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Her love for music comes from her maternal grandmother who was very involved with the arts and taught children. Cecilia started teaching her nephews and nieces and composing her own lyrics. She can teach Ecuadorian children songs adapted to a modern sensitivity. She lives in Portland and is available evenings and weekends. She also performs interactive theater and songs with Alfredo Muro and other local artists.
Estella Lerma y Alberto Gonzalez
Estella Lerma, born in Laredo, Texas of Mexican heritage, has lived in Portland since childhood. As a young adult she learned to play guitar and sing songs of her Mexican background. Alberto Gonzales was born in Tepic, Mexico. He grew up singing folk songs and playing the traditional instruments of the region. Both sides of his family were musical so he had plenty of relatives around always playing music. Together, Estella and Alberto sing duets of the traditional boleros, rancheras, and folk songs from many regions of Mexco. They accompany themselves on a variety of traditional instruments: the requinto, bijuela, guitarrón and mandolin. They also offer programs for schools and individual classrooms.
Los Palmeros
This seven-piece group plays typical mariachi instruments including several types of guitars, violin and trumpets. They perform in a variety of venues including outdoor festivals and street fairs as well as indoors. The group is very popular with Mexican communities in the greater Portland area.
Armando Olveda
Armando Olveda was born in San Luís Potosí, Mexico. He learned to make tradiational paper mache masks, alibrijes (magical animals), figures (women holding baskets, old men walking), and skulls from his community. Olveda is a contemporary artist as well and can conduct workshops.
Antonio Ramos
Antonio Ramos, of the indigenous, Pur'hepecha culture, grew up in the rich Purembe culture around Paztcuaro Lake in Michoacan, Mexico where he learned traditional wood carving skills from his family. He makes furniture, woodcarvings and wood toys, such as sun, moon, flower, trompo, balero, pirinolas. Antonio also uses traditional colors and designs to paint on wood.
Leticia Ramos
Leticia Ramos was born in Guanajo in Michoacán, Mexico, a region known for its indigenous Pur'hepecha culture. As a child, Ramos learn many traditional arts and crafts from her mother. She learned to weave and embroider, as well as to make festive piñatas and paper flowers. Her mother also taught her to cook traditional dishes such as pan de muertos, pan rancheros, tamales, empanadas, mole and posole. Ramos can do workshops and demonstrations of various traditional arts.
Lolo (Jesus) Rivas
Lolo (Jesus) Rivas was born in El Bulgarcito de America in El Salvador where he learned to play the guitar from his father and his family who were musicians. He plays the comarcita, contrabajo, guitarron, binuela, the Venezuelan cuatro, the Jarana veracruzana, and the Bajo electrico. He composes music and now lives in Portland.
Neftali Rivera
Neftali Rivera is from Ponce, Puerto Rico, where his father taught him to play traditional plena music, a form similar to country music. Mr. Rivera has played for over 25 years and has a group called Grupo Boriken. The group's members are from the Caribbean island and hold a genuine love for this tropical music.
Seattle-Based Performers
La Casa de Artes
http://www.lacasadeartes.org/
P.O. Box 22968
Seattle , WA 98122
Marco Cortes
5814 200th St. SW #F
Lynwood, WA 98036
(206) 890-6019
mailto:marco@marcocortes.com
http://www.marcocortes.com/
Cry of the Rooster Theater
Joshua Okrent
6507 19th Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98115
(206) 528-7799
mailto:josh@cryoftherooster.org
http://www.cryoftherooster.org/
Pierce County Library System of Washington recently hosted a bilingual performance by "Cry of the Rooster Theatre." They performed "La Sal de la Tierra": "This show, based on Mexican folk tales and street songs, features a wide variety of puppets and story telling techniques in a show suitable for all ages." Highly recommended.
Miho & Diego Duo
Marimba and Andean flutes duo
www.mihodiego.com
www.myspace.com/mihodiegoduo
(206) 321-8759 (Spanish & English)
We are the Miho & Diego Duo who performs music from Latin America and sing in Spanish. We have been sponsored by the Seattle Public Library Immigrant & Refugee Programs as well as many other bilingual organizations.
Know a great bilingual performer who is not on the list? Please contact the webmaster.
