4th July, 2009
CASA Latin America Theatre Festival
Casa Fiesta
Presented by Tangram Theatre Company in association with Discovering Latin America. Supported by Southwark Council’s Elephant and Castle Regeneration Team.
The inaugural CASA Fiesta launched with a bang on Saturday night in Elephant Castle. At the refurbished Coronet Theatre the event, dedicated Latin American music and performance, took over the three upstairs rooms with different style acts in each.
Revellers were greeted by a performance by Sofia Buchuk from Peru who performed her moving poetry to the soothing tunes of pan pipes and guitar. A tough act to follow, Tangled Feet Theatre Company soon stole the show with their striking entrance to the main space as five refugees searching for a ‘Home’. The group weaved through guests, clambering over chairs (and people) to reach a ‘safe haven’ where they could erect their tents and create a settlement. Audience members were encouraged to join in; to explore the tents; caress the mysterious ‘tent beast’; and, to help the home-makers escape the earth-quake threatening to destroy the home they had just built.
As the main space lost its holding camp appearance, alasVALS introduced us to the unusual medium of Folktronic Tango; bongo, double bass, and keyboard made for interesting listening and a good contrast to the bouncing music from Soulsa who opened the VIP lounge. But Soulsa’s DJ Gooby was the star of the night, and his two-hour set played to a full room of dancing. When the Latins dance, they move, and their enjoyment is so infectious that even the most self-conscious Brit can’t help but start to loosen up and join the groove.
DJ Laporta took over the main space with some classic club tunes, which kept the mainstream happy. Menino Josue then played a brilliant set of acoustic Latin tunes with his fantastic three-piece band from Brazil. What a talented guy. The crowd loved him and despite having played for an hour, they were willed to continue with cries of ‘encore’ or ‘encore,’ its Spanish equivalent.
The upstairs room opened at 11pm with London’s DJ Andy Clapperton playing a great set of Latin tunes, followed by DJ Pysike and DJ Laporta’s second set downstairs. In the VIP room, DJ Chino played while DJ Cal and DJ Clem George from Movimientos brought the night home in the main room with their funky Latin tunes. Alex Acuna in the upstairs room ended the night in style with a cracking set which kept the die-hards dancing ‘til the very end.
The purpose of the CASA Fiesta was three-fold: to introduce Latin culture to British audiences; to introduce encourage Latin audiences to participate in theatre in the UK; and, to raise money for the CASA Latin American Theatre Festival. The Fiesta was successful in meeting all three aims. We would like to thank Southwark Council’s Elephant and Castle’s Regeneration Team for their generous sponsorship of the event. And finally, we’d like to say thank you to all the Artists who performed to make the CASA Fiesta a memorable evening.
Contact Us
For more information about DLA and what we do e-mail us: info@discoveringlatinamerica.org
You can also join our mailing list.