Oír Mi Llanto, or Hear Me Cry

Oír Mi Llanto is the second installment of an ambitious series of U.S.-Latin American collaborations/exchanges that seek empowerment and nourishment from the investigation of Latinx identity. This performance-triptych is inspired by the various aspects of my multi-faceted Latin-American experience and heritage, and Oír Mi Llanto roots itself in my queerness and spiritual inheritance. 

My family, though Cuban, has had a long history with Mexico’s patron saint, La Virgen de Guadalupe, who appeared to my grandmother and mother on multiple occasions (in one instance, predicting the date of my birth). These visions, and their feminine-centered quality, lay the groundwork for Oír Mi Llanto, a queer exploration of spiritual ecstasy.

Following in the path of the triptych’s first installment, ¡BIENVENIDOS BLANCOS! (an international collaboration with Cuban artists), Oír Mi Llanto brings together a Mexican/American all-queer ensemble and begins with three areas of research: 

1) Personal and historic exploration of queer, Latinx physicality

2) Research of the spiritual ecstatic state, and the physical/mental preparation needed to serve as a vessel for the divine

3) Theatrically staging the ecstatic, inspired by “ex-votos”, small, gratitude-focused artisan paintings/tableaus depicting divine intervention (of which there are many displayed at the Basilica de la Virgen de Guadalupe in Mexico City)

Featuring three Mexican/Mexican-American performers and performed in Spanish, Oír Mi Llanto  blends the construction/deconstruction of elegant tableaux vivants with the visceral, highly-physical act of ecstatic ritual, creating a theatrical spectacle that at its core seeks to center Latinx queerness and spirituality as a pathway towards self-discovery and strength.

Photo by Amin Moshrefi on Unsplash