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  3. Nuyorican Feminist Performance: From the Café to Hip Hop Theater

Nuyorican Feminist Performance: From the Café to Hip Hop Theater

Patricia Herrera
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  • Contents

The Nuyorican Poets Café has for the past forty years provided a space for multicultural artistic expression and a platform for the articulation of Puerto Rican and black cultural politics. The Café's performances—poetry, music, hip hop, comedy, and drama—have been studied in detail, but until now, little attention has been paid to the voices of its women artists. Through archival research and interview, Nuyorican Feminist Performance examines the contributions of 1970s and '80s performeras and how they challenged the Café's gender politics. It also looks at recent artists who have built on that foundation with hip hop performances that speak to contemporary audiences. The book spotlights the work of foundational artists such as Sandra María Esteves, Martita Morales, Luz Rodríguez, and Amina Muñoz, before turning to contemporary artists La Bruja, Mariposa, Aya de León, and Nilaja Sun, who infuse their poetry and solo pieces with both Nuyorican and hip hop aesthetics.

  • Cover
  • Title Page
  • Copyright Page
  • Dedication
  • Contents
  • Acknowledgments
  • Prologue
  • Chapter 1. Practicing a Feminist Nuyorican Aesthetic
  • Chapter 2. Gendering the Genealogies of the Nuyorican Aesthetic
  • Chapter 3. The Founding Mothers of the Nuyorican Poets Café
  • Chapter 4. Masculinity in Hip Hop, Spoken Word, and Slam Poetry
  • Chapter 5. “It Was Definitely a Family Affair”
  • Chapter 6. Performing Afro-Latinidad
  • Chapter 7. A Hip Hop Feminist Approach to Aya de León’s Thieves in the Temple
  • Chapter 8. Beyond the Tangible
  • Epilogue
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Index
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Published: 2020
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN(s)
  • 978-0-472-07448-8 (hardcover)
  • 978-0-472-12676-7 (ebook)
  • 978-0-472-05448-0 (paper)
Subject
  • Literary Studies:Poetry and Poetry Criticism
  • American Studies
  • Latinx Studies
  • Theater and Performance

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Figure 1. Flier of the performance “Nuyorican Poets” on August 18, 1975, which was part of “The Poets of the City” event produced by Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre. A photo on the flier includes Lucky Cienfuegos (top), Miguel Algarín (left), Miguel Piñero (right) sitting on the stoops of a tenement building and a young boy executing a side-thrust martial arts kick in front of the poets.

"Nuyorican Poets" Flier

From Prologue

Figure 1. Flier from 1975 performance in Central Park. Clockwise from top: Lucky Cienfuegos, Miguel Piñero, and Miguel Algarín. Sandra María Esteves, who also took part in the performance, is missing from the photo. Courtesy Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library.

Figure 2. Program for the production Poets of the City held on August 18, 1975, at Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, which includes Sandra María Esteves as part of the “The Nuyorican Poets” ensemble.

Poets of the City Program

From Prologue

Figure 2. Program from Poets of the City, including Lucky Cienfuegos, Miguel Piñero, Miguel Algarín, and Sandra María Esteves. Courtesy Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library.

Figure 3. A poster in black, white, and bright red commemorates Albizu Campos as well as two uprisings El Grito de Jayuya (the Jayuya Revolt) in Puerto Rico and the 1954 attack on the House of Representatives.The poster includes three superimposed peripheral images of Albizu Campos gradually decreasing in size. Martorell also imprints on Campos’s right arm two historical revolts led by women from the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party: El Grito de Jayuya (the Jayuya Revolt) in Puerto Rico and the 1954 attack on the House of Representative on Campos’s right arm.

Antonio Martorell's Pedro Albizu Campos

From Chapter 2

Figure 3. Poster by Antonio Martorell featuring a portrait of Pedro Albizu Campos and commemorating El Grito de Jayuya (the Jayuya Revolt) in Puerto Rico and the 1954 attack on the House of Representatives, led by female nationalist Blanca Canales and Lolita Lebrón, respectively. Reprinted in Palante (the Young Lords Party’s newsletter) 2.3 (1970): 35. Courtesy Center for Puerto Rican Studies Library and Archives, Hunter College, CUNY.

Figure 4. A comic illustrations shows two men wearing costumes at a Halloween party. There is a head-on view of a person dressed as Superman and profile view of the man dressed as a Puerto Rican. Superman dons a jumpsuit with the signature logo on the front chest, a cape, a utility belt, and boots. He assumes a smug stance with his muscular torso, arms crossed and legs in a plié. Superman is unable to identify his friend’s jíbaro style costume, which includes a bandana, a long sleeve shirt tucked under a wide belt, high water pants, and ankle boots

Comic panel in Notes of Neorican Seminar (1972) by Jaime Carrero, 1

From Chapter 2

Figure 4. Illustration by Jaime Carrero humorously addressing the complexity of what it means to be Puerto Rican. From Notes of Neorican Seminar (1972). Center for Puerto Rican Studies Library and Archives, Hunter College, CUNY. Courtesy of Maria Dolores Carrero and the Carrero family.

Figure 5. Cover page of Notes of Neorican Seminar . A slice-of-life cartoon illustration set in an urban landscape depicts residents speaking in Spanglish. A child holding a bat hollers: “Hey Johni, bamos a la yarda a jugal.” An adult daughter smoking a cigarette yells from the window, “Hey pops, el landlord esta en el rufo esperando que tu llegues de la marqueta pa’ cobrarte el bill (Hey pops, the landlord is on the roof waiting for you to come back from the market to charge you for the bill)” and a friend asks to borrow money “Hey bro, pana. ¿Como van las cosas? ¿[How’s] the family? Préstame 5 bolos. (Lend me 5 dollars).” A wide-eyed man sits at the edge of the sidewalk, wondering, “Quien @#* am I?? (Who the @#* am I??).”

Comic panel in Notes of Neorican Seminar (1972) by Jaime Carrero, 2

From Chapter 2

Figure 5. Cover of Notes of Neorican Seminar (1972) by Jaime Carrero, comically illustrating how Puerto Ricans in New York negotiate living between two cultures and languages. Center for Puerto Rican Studies Library and Archives, Hunter College, CUNY. Courtesy of Maria Dolores Carrero and the Carrero family.

Figure 6. Jaime Carrero‘s poem Neo-Rican Lessons next to a line drawing of a decapitated man with exposed genitalia and a sign hanging on his torso that reads: “A Puerto Rican.” The decapitated kneels on a topographical map with contour lines that web around his chest. In place of the missing head, there is a photograph of a man looking into the cityscape and holding several suitcases.

Neo-Rican Lessons by Jaime Carrero

From Chapter 2

Figure 6. Jaime Carrero reveals the trauma of cultural disavowal in his poem “Neo-Rican Lessons” and illustration of a decapitated man. Reprinted in Notes of Neorican Seminar (1972) from the San Juan Review. Center for Puerto Rican Studies Library and Archives, Hunter College, CUNY. Courtesy of Maria Dolores Carrero and the Carrero family.

Figure 7. Sandra María Esteves’s poem “Eulogy for Martín Pérez” and her angel line drawing, Yerba Buena (1980). The angelic figure wears a Puerto Rican bandana on its head

“Eulogy for Martín Pérez”

From Chapter 3

Figure 7. Sandra María Esteves commemorates the life of Martín “Tito” Pérez with her poem “Eulogy for Martín Pérez” and her angel line drawing, Yerba Buena (1980). Courtesy of the poet and artist.

Figure 8. Bilingual flier protesting the unexplained death of Martin “Tito” Pérez while in prison. There is a black and white picture of Pérez joyfully singing and drumming. An image of the revolutionary icon Albizu Campos hovers above Pérez. The flier states: “Este no es un incidente aislado dentro de la comunidad Puertorriqueña. Nosotros, el Comité del Primero de Diciembre, creemos que Tito fué asesinado y dejado ahorcado en las barras de la celda para crear un ambiente de suicidio. [This is not an isolated incident within the Puerto Rican community. We, the First Committee of December, we believe that Tito was killed and left hanging in the bars of the cell to create an atmosphere of suicide

Protesting the Death of Martín "Tito" Pérez

From Chapter 3

Figure 8. Flier in Spanish protesting the unexplained death of Martín “Tito” Pérez while in prison. Courtesy Sandra María Esteves.

Figure 9. When Sandra María Esteves files charges against Eduardo Figueroa and Joseph Papp, the director and producer of the Public Theater, she frames the court trial as a performance titled The Lawsuit (1979). The flier includes a pencil thin man dressed in a suit. There is a pair of eyes on top of his U-shaped head. He stands erect, and his hands are folded like a proper gentleman, while many eyes watch him. On the bottom of the flier, Esteves includes a section of acknowledgments.

The Lawsuit (1979)

From Chapter 3

Figure 9. Drawing by Sandra María Esteves, who had filed charges against Eduardo Figueroa and Joseph Papp, the director and producer of the Public Theater. The court trial is here ironically presented as a performance titled The Lawsuit (1979).

Figure 10. Flier of a New Rican Village’s band Conjunto Libre performance at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park. The flier includes a drawing of a guitar, piano, flute, a brass instrument, different types of drums like congas, bongos, and timbales, and pairs of claves and maracas.

Flier of a Nuyorican Village Conjunto Libre performance designed by Néstor Otero.

From Chapter 3

Figure 10. Flier advertising performance of New Rican Village’s salsa performance, July 17, 1978 at the Delacorte Theatre. Designed by Néstor Otero. Courtesy of Sandra María Esteves.

Figure 11. Flier of New Rican Village performance. Esteves includes cropped photographs of men and women in motion from playing the alto saxophone to drumming to wearing a vejigante costume. A series of images captures a female dancer moving from one point to another. The dancer jumps in the air, extends her arms and legs to execute a jeté, and then reaches sideways, extending her arms upwards, and falls to the ground.

Flier of New Rican Village Performance designed by Sandra María Esteves.

From Chapter 3

Figure 11. Poster of New Rican Village performance, Summer 1978. Designed by Sandra María Esteves. Courtesy of the artist.

Figure 12. The portrait of Caridad de la Luz wearing a baby blue bandana on her head, red lipstick, and large hoop earring serves as the program cover of the solo performance of Boogie Rican Boulevard (2002).

Program cover of Boogie Rican Boulevard

From Chapter 5

Figure 12. Program from Boogie Rican Boulevard (2002) a solo performance written and performed by Caridad de la Luz and sponsored by Urban Latino, Café Bustelo, and Nuyorican Poets Café.

Figure 13. Flier of the musical version of Boogie Rican Boulevard (2009), performed at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater. A green and white street sign at the top of the flier reads “Boogie Rican Blvd.” A chat bubble with a pink background and white fonts invites the reader to “meet some of the characters.” There are photos of Caridad de la Luz in theree different roles: Mamá, who wears hairrollers; Pito, who wears ski googles and a hoodie; and Don José, who wears a hat with a Puerto Rican flad. Finally, there is a photo of the family posing for a photoshoot.

Flier of the musical version of Boogie Rican Boulevard (2009), performed at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater [sic].

From Chapter 5

Figure 13. Poster of the musical version of Boogie Rican Boulevard (2009), performed at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, includes Caridad de la Luz (aka La Bruja) as Mamá, Pito, and Don José and portrait of cast members, who play different family members.

Figure 14. In the press photograph of La Nubia Latina (1997) Nilaja Sun holds a blue mask, reminiscent of her bluefacing to become Smurfette, to express her Afro-Latina identity. So not to conceal her face, Sun peeks through one eyehole, while revealing the other half of her face.

La Nubia Latina (1997)

From Chapter 6

Figure 14. Photograph for La Nubia Latina (1997), Nilaja Sun holds a mask, reminiscent of her bluefacing to become Smurfette, to express her Afro-Latina identity.

Figure 15. The photo is a close up of Aya de León as a wigga, a white teenage wannabe hip hop thug, in Thieves in the Temple (2002). De León has a smirk on her face and wears a blue hat and shirt.

Wigga in Thieves in the Temple (2002)

From Chapter 7

Figure 15. Aya de León as a wigga, a white teenage wannabe hip hop thug, in Thieves in the Temple (2002). Photo by Deanne Fitzmaurice. Courtesy of San Francisco Chronicle/Polaris.

Figure 16. Aya de León as Lady Triple X in Thieves in the Temple (2002). Lady Triple X is a female emcee wearing a blonde wig, black spandex panty shorts, a black tube top, and black heels.

Lady Triple X in Thieves in the Temple (2002)

From Chapter 7

Figure 16. Aya de León as Lady Triple X in Thieves in the Temple (2002). De León stages a hypersexualized constructed caricature as a theatrical intervention to shatter the social prescriptions of Black women as hos, bitches, and pimps.

Figure 17. Poem Oye me que mi espíritu habla with drawing by Sandra María Esteves. On the left page she depicts a god-like figure, with an enlarged head and ears. On top of the head, there are four ventricular chambers. The eyes are half-opened, as if in a meditative state. Contour lines cover the entire torso, creating a corporeal topographical map. On the right side of the page is the poem.

Oye me que mi espíritu habla

From Chapter 8

Figure 17. Poem Oye me que mi espíritu habla with drawing by Sandra María Esteves.

Figure 18. Mandala de Elegua (2005), 18” x 18” mixed media decoupage mandala vibrant red streams on canvas. Bright strands of color—most are a solid bright red, but some are multicolored patterns—emanate from the central point of the mandala on a black background.

Mandala de Elegua (2005) by Sandra María Esteves. Personal archive of Sandra María Esteves.

From Chapter 8

Figure 18. Mandala de Elegua (2005), 18”x 18” mixed media decoupage mandala on canvas. Courtesy of artist Sandra María Esteves.

Figure 19. Four different handmade beaded earrings by Sandra María Esteves. On the top left are black and red diamond-shaped earrings. On the top right are dangling earrings with black and white lines. The earrings on the bottom right are shaped like lightning bolts and made of black, red, and white beads. On the bottom right are blue and yellow dangling earrings.

Handmade beaded earrings by Sandra María Esteves by personal archive of Sandra María Esteves.

From Chapter 8

Figure 19. Handmade earrings by Sandra María Esteves. Clockwise from top left: “Elegba Portals,” “Elegba Spirals,” “Ochun Egypt,” and “Elegba Dragons.”

Figure 20. Flier of La Cura: A Ritual of Healing and Feeling.The flier is a black and white photomontage using a series of cut outs of the performeras’ silhouettes. There is an image of Esteves in the foreground in a declamatory posture while Marilyn Worrell holds her head as if she were in the middle of crisis. Andrea Brachfeld holds her flute with a joyful smile. Esteves expresses that the ritual performance of La Cura, The Healing.

La Cura: A Ritual of Healing and Feeling

From Chapter 8

Figure 20. Flier for La Cura: A Ritual of Healing and Feeling, Nuyorican Poets Café, 1976. Designed by Sandra María Esteves. Courtesy of artist.

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