Archive for September, 2005
Latinologues Hits Broadway
10:34 am By Maegan La Mala · Arts|Events|New York · Comments Off
22 Sep 2005Latinologues, a comedy show now on Broadway, is a series of monologues based on a Latino’s experience in the USA.
Though this is its first time on Broadway, Latinologues has been around, with specials on Showtime & HBO. They also have 2 DVD’s available.
I have to admit that I have not seen the show, but I have seen and listened to quotes from their website. Here is a little taste of what to expect. This monologue was given by a character Buford Gomez, Border Patrol, giving a special seminar:
Not every single Latino is Mexican, there’s different kind of Mexicans. There’s Colombian Mexicans, Guatemalan Mexicans…Puerto Ricans are legal Mexicans. Cubans are Mexicans with boats. Argentineans, you are not European, I repeat you are not European.
Written by Rick Najera, directed by Cheech Marin, and performed in English, the show runs through Dec 4.
Rican/Latino Power Plays in New York City
8:24 am By Maegan La Mala · New York City|Politics · Comments Off
22 Sep 2005
Puerto Ricans have been in New York City in substantial numbers since the early 20th century and their political power has been growing. Fernando Ferrer isn’t the first Rican to run for mayor in the Big Apple. Herman Badillo ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for mayor of New York City in 1969, 1973, 1977, and 1993. What’s different now in 2005 is that Ferrer may have a fighting chance.
After successfully sidestepping a runoff for the Democratic Party nod, recent polls have Ferrer currently running 14 points behind current Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The Rican community has Ferrer’s back though. 1199 SEIU, the largest health care union in New York under the leadership of Dennis Rivera, gave Ferrer their endorsement. And just in case there aren’t enough Ricans in NYC to help Ferrer close the gap between him and Bloomberg, Puerto Ricans on the isla del encanto are on call, maletas in hand. Who said there was a rift between Nuyoricans and island dwellers?
Latinos & TV in the U.S
22 Sep 2005An excellent essay about latinos and TV writted by John Sinclair: From Latin Americans to Latinos: Spanish-language television and its audiences in the United States
Two versions: English | Spanish:
(…) The 1960s – Chicanos, SICC and SIN
Spanish-language television in the US began as early as 1955, but it was not until 1961 that there were the beginnings of a network. In that year, the Spanish International Communication Corporation (SICC) launched its first station in San Antonio, followed by stations in other strategic locations over the next ten years, namely Los Angeles, New York and Miami. Programming was supplied by the Spanish International Network (SIN) from Mexico, the principal in these companies having been the founding father of the Azcárraga dynasty subsequently associated with Televisa in Mexico, although their manager was René Anselmo, a US Hispanic.
(…) Trends in the new millennium
As the situation appears in the last quarter of 2004, there has continued to be internationalization in the US Spanish-language television industry, other main trends being the expansion of the present networks, the diversification of the programming on offer, and the continued concentration of the industry in Miami.
There is further internationalization in the ownership of networks taking place, given that TV Azteca, the competitor to Televisa in Mexico and one-time collaborator with Telemundo in the US, has been seeking to develop a network in the US…
Via TELOS Magazine
Ballet to be saved…by Latinos
2:20 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Culture · Comments Off
21 Sep 2005
According to an article in The New York Times, it’s not just the reggaeton craze that Latinos are responsible for fomenting these days. American ballet, in a state of oblivion for the past 20 years or so, is beginning to see a revitalization at the hands (feet) of Latino dancers. Many are Cuban, a result of Castro’s long-time funding of the arts and ballet academies in particular, but dancers from all over Latin America are taking American ballet by storm:
“It used to be the Russians,” Kevin McKenzie, the artistic director of American Ballet Theater, said in a phone interview last week. “Now it’s the Latin community.”
Nearly half of the principal dancers at Ballet Theater and at the Boston Ballet are from Latin America or Spain. Four of the 12 foreign dancers at the New York City Ballet are from Latin America or Spain; one is from Puerto Rico. Principal dancers from Latin America and Spain now outnumber those from former Soviet-bloc countries at the Boston Ballet and the Royal Ballet, and are neck and neck at the San Francisco Ballet. At the Washington Ballet almost 20 percent of the dancers are from Latin America or Puerto Rico.
Press “2″ For English
21 Sep 2005
Movida, a new pre-paid cell phone service for the US targeting the Hispanic community is launching in South Florida this week. Rolling out to most of the nation next month, Movida executive’s say that they are on track to have 150,000 customers by the end of the year.
The Movida website states that “En Movida, el español es nuestro primer idioma.” With rates of 20 cents a minute to anywhere in the US or Puerto Rico, 25 cents to anywhere in Mexico and other “competitive” Latin American rates, Movida has cleared defined their target market.
From the article:
“Hispanics are looking for cultural affinity. Thirty percent of the customers who call our call center in Buenos Aires speak in English, but they still have the affinity with being Hispanic.”
Gilmore Girls: Rory Speaks Spanish
12:11 pm By Maegan La Mala · Bilingualism|TV · Comments Off
21 Sep 2005While I was watching one of my favorite shows last night, the Gilmore Girls, I realized that while Rory was stumbling through a conversation in Spanish with the maid, Esperanza…there were no subtitles. This was a conversation that must have lasted at least one minute long.
Now it’s possible that they did not subtitle the conversation because it was not important to know what they were saying. But it’s also possible that we are now starting to see more obvious signs of an even more obvious trend.
Is the US getting to the point that it will just be expected thatthe general population has, at the very least, a basic level of Spanish? My opinion: If we’re not there today, we will be soon.
Just Say No (al Reggaeton)?
21 Sep 2005
I’m not a huge fan of reggaeton. Alot of it sounds the same to me after awhile, alot of it is sexist and I am holding a grudge against the genre because local New York City radio station 105.9 FM , which occasionally played rock en espanish, became la Kalle, an all reggaeton format. Maybe I’m just getting old. I feel like I’m turning into my padres who would shake their heads back in the early days of hip hop and say, “y eso es musica??”
Pero I think that recent online campaigns that have been popping up on the web calling for a ban on reggaeton are taking it a little too far. It disturbs me that Latinos are passing judgment and making huge generalizations of what a reggaeton fan is like. Isn’t that what we call racism when gringos say such things about us? Just to counter with one example, did you know that there are gyms in the New York City area that are using reggaeton in their dance aerobics classes and that the gringas in the gym love moving to la Gasolina as much as the Latinas? Or how about the other day when I heard a group of preschoolers of mixed ethnicities singing reggaeton songs word for word. Are they all uneducated, vulgar, and without a future?
Every generation has its voice and often that voice is expressed through music. Just like hip hop was born from the lower classes of Latinos and African Americans as a way to tell their story from their point of view, reggaeton is serving the same purpose for Latino youth. Reggaeton is like Spanglish, blending histories, cultures and languages. It is something that to many Latinos feels uniquely their own. Maybe the genre could use cutting down talking about chicas with tremendo culo but like any cultural phenomenon, reggaeton is a reflection of the good, the bad and the ugly. Turning our back on a form of expression is tantamount to turning our backs on the youth that listen to it.
Premios Juventud coming your way
4:31 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Uncategorized · Comments Off
20 Sep 2005
With categories like “the Paparazzi’s favorite target” (Niurka Marcos, maybe? Lucero?) and “best moves” (uh…David Bisbal?) los Premios Juventud, which take place this Thursday in Miami, should be good times. Not to mention the huge names on the roster; to name just a few: Chayanne, Marc Anthony, Olga Ta
Yo Quiero Mi MTV
20 Sep 2005
For those of us Latinos who grew up along with cable music channel MTV, it was the source for videos and music in English only. While now more and more Latinos are showing up on the small screen , like reggaeton artist Daddy Yankee and Colombiana Shakira, MTV has caught on that Latinos in the U.S. like their media to be like them, bilingual. While it is true that in Latin America and for some satellite subscribers here in the U.S. MTV Latino has given Latinos el sabor of the growing rock en Español movement, it doesn’t give play to hip hop and U.S. rock music that Latinos in the U.S. like to mover to.
Today’s announcement as reported by Radio Ink via Hispanic Tips, that MTV Radio is launching TRL Latino, could be good news. Especially if the network keeps true to its word to:
… aggressively support this radio launch via cross promotion with our cable and web platforms.
I just hope that MTV doesn’t push the same old Spanish crossover artists that it tends to lean towards in its English Language format and really mixes up all the different genres that is Latino music.
So Exotic, So Romantic!
20 Sep 2005
Once again, my morning began with yet another ridiculous article on “the way Latinos are” found in Nashville-area newspaper. As the Latino population grows, this seems to be becoming a trend. Some classic quotes from the article, so eloquently titled “Hot, hot, hot!”:
…The formal manners and sultry climates of these locales add to their mystique and romance…
South Americans take exquisite care of their appearance, Scokin said, such as languidly spending the entire day [getting] ready for a dinner with their husband.
…Her must-have details for an evening of 1950s South American glamour include mojitos, Argentinean asado, flamenco girls, a tango performance, and the live Orkesta Mondo Pingus so guests can heat up the room with the sexy salsa, rumba, conga and cha cha cha.
That last one groups everything from Argentine cuisine to Cuban cocktails to traditional dance from southern Spain together. It’s all the same to these journalists. It must be fun for them to romanticize who Latinos are. It’s much cooler than actually learning something.
Who are these people and where do they get this stuff?
Hola!
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by Mamita Mala Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse Latin@ diaspora.
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