California DanceMaker Grants

2001 Grantee Profile: Gema Sandoval
Chicanos, the Spirit of Aztlan

In May 2001, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art inaugurated an exhibition entitled The Road to Aztlan: Art from a Mythic Homeland. Integral to this presentation were regional festivals celebrating the shared history and culture of Mexico and the Southwestern United States over a period of two thousand years. The overall theme was to explore and discover the "literal and figurative roads that brought us here." For this festival, Gema Sandoval created an evening-length work entitled Chicanos, the Spirit of Aztlan that reflected this theme. Her efforts received seed funding from several sources, including a California DanceMaker Grant. This grant was significant due to the fact that it was the first grant Ms. Sandoval received based on her choreographic work, and not on her company's performance.

The choreography was divided into three chronological sections linked to the themes of the exhibit. The pre-Colombian section illustrated the complex themes of cultural interaction that laid the groundwork for the legendary character of the Southwest. In the second section, themes of convergence and negotiation reflected the efforts of local populations to come to terms with the impact of the Spanish on the region. The third section dealt with the issues of revival and survival in native cultural practices in the Southwest, and, specifically, in Los Angeles. The overall plan was to incorporate traditional choreographies into the specific themes mentioned and use the vocabulary of conchero and mestizo Mexican folk dance to develop the general story line.

The work was premiered at the Japan America Theater in Los Angeles on April 27, 2002.

Gema Sandoval's Remarks

"This program has brought several life endeavors to full circle for me. I began my adult life as a student activist in the late '60s. And when I began my teaching career, some six years later, I became fully immersed in the research and development of my folklorico self. Research and activism are at opposite ends of the spectrum. And so for many years, I saw no way of connecting the two. However, over the past 10 years, as I attempted to develop my artistic voice, every once in a while, I found that the two worlds did connect. Through Chicanos, The Spirit of Aztlan, I have been able to connect some of the past works that I have felt were particularly pertinent to this evolving aesthetic. This same element, which I will call historical activism, was also what particularly resonated for me in the exhibit The Road to Aztlan, Art From A Mythic Homeland. It allowed me to unite my traditional self with my activist self. The Floricanto company members have allowed me to take them along through this intensely personal trip because of our mutual trust and because I believe that they, too, found some personal truths along the way."