Saturday, February 22, 7:30 p.m.
St. Ambrose University's Galvin Fine Arts Center, 2101 North Gaines Street, Davenport IA
Touring the country with messages of equality, tolerance, and unity delivered with eye-popping theatrical flourish, the stage talents of Mexico Beyond Mariachi bring their presentation Trekking Mexico to St. Ambrose University on February 22, the final, family-themed engagement in the group's week-long residency as Quad City Arts Visiting Artists.
Created 15 years ago as a means of addressing the needs of New York City communities who wanted to know more about traditional Mexican performance culture beyond the stereotype, the original talents of Mexico Beyond Mariachi realized that what seemed so obvious was, in actuality, being overlooked. They began by asking themselves questions: While Mexican influence is all around us, what do people really know about the traditions of Mexico’s music and dance culture? Or the origins of the stories, legends and myths that are interwoven together? And how could that knowledge be effectively communicated to young audiences? Responding to what they saw as a clear community need, Mexico Beyond Mariachi's originators created an in-depth school performance and arts-in-education program that, to date, has reached over 100,000 students in over 250 schools and community venues on the East Coast. Building on that success, the group consequently mounted their first full-scale touring show – Trekking Mexico – for national performing-arts centers in 2015 to further help tell the rich story of Mexico's cultural heritage to young audiences.
Diving deep into folk traditions both ancient and contemporary, Mexico Beyond Mariachi's St. Ambrose presentation Trekking Mexico stands as an entertaining, educational, and exciting show that takes patrons on a historical and geographical journey through the country's music and dance. From the drums of Tenochtitlan to the jaranas of Veracruz, and from the jungles of Tabasco to the mountains of Guerrero, this thrilling multimedia production whisks audiences of all ages away on a joyful ride through this culturally vast republic.
Mexico Beyond Mariachi 's Trekking Mexico will be performed in St. Ambrose University's Galvin Fine Arts Center on February 22, admission to the 7:30 p.m. show is $15-20, and more information on this and other events in the Visiting Artist Series is available by calling (309)793-1213 or visiting QuadCityArts.com.
