New show recreates key moments in Chicano movement

Su Teatro is premiering a new play featuring recordings of some of the lesser known heroes of the Chicano movement.

The multi-media production "What We Lived Here:  The Movimiento Years" challenges audiences to see history from new perspectives.

Opening scenes recount the early days in the 56 year relationship between Corky and Geraldine Gonzales.  But the storyteller is Geraldine, whose entire family became involved in the decades long struggle for civil rights.

Filmmaker and artist Daniel Salazar, who directs the XicanIndie FilmFest, wrote the play which uses audio, still images and film interspersed with live theater to ensure audiences use their own experiences and imaginations to relive the ambiance of those times.

To imagine, Salazar said, "What was it like when people fell in love in that time and were able to maintain a really strong partnership throughout their lives."

"What We Lived Here" includes sound recordings catalogued at History Colorado from individuals critical to the Chicano movement - who many Coloradans may have never heard of.  Such as Federico Trujillo.  

Muralist Carlota Espinoza's La Guadalupe was painted and subsequently hidden at our Lady of Guadalupe Church. She demonstrated her own resilience by not losing hope and feeling confident in the timeless power of art.

"Successful movements and important movements are the result of the involvement of a lot of everyday people," Salazar said.

People motivated by key moments in their own lives to embrace their identities and work to fight for change.

"What they shared with us in those sound recordings were really personal stories about the movement that we have a tendency to lose," said Tony Garcia, executive artistic director of Su Teatro. "It was an ongoing deeply embedded drive to really change our world and they were successful at it."

The show's creator is hopeful it provides universal themes to which everyone can relate.  Salazar said, "Regardless of their race, color, creed, political affiliation or anything else.  They're just really human stories from some very everyday extraordinary people."

"What we Lived Here" will be staged at the Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center on Santa Fe on Friday September 30 and Saturday October 1st.  Find out more at http://suteatro.org/