Inside the Pillow Lab: Ana Maria Alvarez & CONTRA-TIEMPO

During their Pillow Lab, CONTRA-TIEMPO continued to develop their newest work, "¡azúcar!". Led by the vision of Alvarez, founding Artistic Director, alongside twenty artists and collaborators from across the country, "¡azúcar!" brings to life the vibrations of Cuban musician Celia Cruz, and embodies personal narratives about sugar, Afro-Latin ancestral technologies, dance, music, and healing as a community practice. The development of "¡azúcar!" was driven by questions of unearthing the history embedded in the artists’ bodies to courageously name, confront, and intentionally obliterate the often unspoken undercurrent of anti-Blackness in Latinidad. In CONTRA-TIEMPO’s residency, the artists deepened the narrative physicality and expanding the piece of "¡azúcar!". About Ana Maria Alvarez & CONTRA-TIEMPO Artistic Director Ana Maria Alvarez is a prolific choreographer, skilled dancer, masterful teaching artist, and movement activist. A 2020 Doris Duke Artist, an inaugural Dance/USA Artist Fellow, and a two-time grantee of NEFA National Dance Project, Alvarez has achieved multiple accolades for her dynamic works. In 2005, Alvarez founded CONTRA-TIEMPO, a Los Angeles-based activist theater dance company that draws upon salsa, Afro-Cuban, hip hop, and contemporary dance to awaken audiences and create communities. Alvarez recently joined the faculty of the Theatre & Dance Department of UC San Diego as she continues her research through her work with CONTRA-TIEMPO. The company has been celebrated by the Los Angeles Times as a company that “represents the kind of socially aware contemporary work that only a few dance artists such as Bill T. Jones reliably provide…” Alvarez and CONTRA-TIEMPO were invited for multiple tours in Central and South America as cultural ambassadors through the U.S. State Department and have toured their work for almost 2 decades. INSIDE THE PILLOW LAB Ana Maria Alvarez & CONTRA-TIEMPO RESIDENCY DATES: February 14-25 “¡azúcar!” APPEARING IN FILM: Ana Maria Alvarez artistic vision, creative instigator, director, choreographer, community organizer Jannet Galdamez: cielo performer, rehearsal director, choreographer, creative generator Kati Hernandez: celeoshun cultural consultant, movement coach, collaborator, creative generator, guest artist Ruby Morales: be(e) performer and creative generator Jasmine Stanley-Haskins: see see performer, creative generator, vocalist Alék G Lopéz: pi performer and creative generator Edgar Aguirre: jelik’ laj b’alam performer and creative generator Meena Murugesan video projection designer, creative collaborator At the talkback: Holly Johnston- Responsive Body Ecologist Maritxell Carrero- Production & Tour Manager Meena Murungesan - Video Projection Designer Tuce Yasak- Lighting Designer of original piece Music: Rashaan Carter composer, sound designer, musician Anaïs Maivel composer, vibration vocalist, musician Robert “Bobby” Wilmore musician Music sampled: Azucar Negra by Celia Cruz Other Credits: Daniel Penilla dramaturge David Israel Reynoso costume designer for performers Jaymee Ngernwichit Costume designer assistant for performers Halei Parker Costume designer for Celeoshun Emily Orling visual design consultant Maria I. Garcia celeoshun headpiece designer and stylist, costume assistant Peter Volk set and prop fabrication/design holly johnston responsive body ecologist, set and prop fabrication/design, embodied dramaturgy contributor Maritxell Carrero Production Manager Steve Tolin caña prop fabricator Source material: 1619 Project / Nicole Hannah-Jones My Grandmother's Hands /Resmaa Menakem Rest is Resistance /Tricia Hersey Celia Cruz’s body of work and life story CONTRA-TIEMPO ADMINISTRATION TEAM Ana Maria Alvarez, founding artistic director Jannet Galdamez, programming + rehearsal director Ruby Morales, development director Karina Sainz, managing director Maritxell Carrero, production + tour manager Maximiliano Urruzmendi technical director Jasmine Stanley-Haskins, communications and social media associate Matthew Kellaway, operations manager holly johnston, responsive body ecologist Filming: Erica Spizz NEL SHELBY PRODUCTIONS Nel Shelby, Producer Loren Robertson, Editor Benjamin Richards, Graphic Animation Sonia Bartolomeo, Project Manager THE 2023-2024 PILLOW LAB RECEIVES LEADERSHIP SUPPORT FROM: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation © 2024 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Inc.