Come out and celebrate the Day of the Dead with the LA-based Las Cafeteras and their joyful genre-blending update on traditional Mexican music that is both retro and fresh at the same time. Las Cafeteras merge Afro-Mexican rhythms, son, and cumbia with hip-hop, soul, roots, and rock performed on traditional instruments of son jarocho. Singing in—as they say—“five distinct languages: English, Spanish, Spanglish, Love, and Justice,” the group makes music that welcomes everyone to the party. "Hasta La Muerte" is an enthralling new production celebrating Life and Death, in the spirit of the Indigenous/Mexican practice known as Day of the Dead. The performance is multi-dimensional filled with music, dance, theater, and folklore.
WHAT IS THE STORY OF “HASTA LA MUERTE”?
This imaginative work follows the journey of “La Catrina” (Patron Saint of the Dead) who returns every “Dia de los Muertos” for two reasons; console the “living” who have recently lost loved ones, and to guide the dead to the “after-life.” Through songs, theater and dance, we join La Catrina as she encounters the spirits of La Llorona, La Bruja, young migrants crossing the borders and families in despair. Hasta La Muerte weaves in Mexican folklore to tell new stories, revisit old archetypes, challenge patriarchy, uplift the role of curanderas and re-examine our imagination about “death” and the “after-life.” Hasta La Muerte, is not only a work that reflects the stories of Latine communities, but a testament to the Universal power of storytelling as a form of processing grief and sharing love with those in the beyond. Love, not sadness, allows us to celebrate and remember those that have gone and remember that “death is not the end, it is just the beginning."
Las Cafeteras - Hasta La Muerte: A Day of the Dead Musical Experience
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WUD Performing Arts Committee
performingarts@union.wisc.edu
608-265-ARTS
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