Posted by Elena del Valle on September 15, 2006
Las Florecitas
Photos: Pochteca Media
The city of Laughlin in Nevada will salute Hispanic Heritage Month with the third annual Viva Laughlin! from October 6 through October 9. The event will offer Latino entertainment options in Laughlin’s casino resorts. This small city in Nevada experienced a surge of casino construction in the 1980s. Today there are nine hotel casinos, where Los Angeles Hispanics alone make an average of 3.2 casino visits per year.
“It’s a smaller scale and it has a small town feel and more people feel at home,” said Minerva Partida, media director for Pochteca Media, which helped organize and produced the event with the Laughlin Tourism Committee and the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority. “In the last two years, there is combined revenue of $4 million and last year it sold out. This event has also introduced the city to the public.”
Malo band
This year’s version of Viva Laughlin! will appeal to an older crowd by showcasing music veterans who established their careers over twenty years. Three-time Grammy Award winning Tejano singer La Mafia will perform every night at Don Laughlin’s Riverside Resort in Don’s Celebrity Theater. Legendary Tejano superstar Little Joe y La Familia will also perform on October 7 at the Flamingo Laughlin at 8 p.m. Varied music from bands such as Malo and Las Florecitas will be part of the event including rancheras, polkas, and cumbias.
Viva Laughlin will also include a beauty contest featuring Miss Hawaiian Tropic Latina models on Saturday, October 7 at the Colorado Belle Hotel Casino; as well as the first Mexican poker tournament hosted by the Colorado Belle Hotel in the Casino Poker Room on Saturday, October 7 at 1 p.m. More information is available at VisitLaughlin.com — Sergio Carmona
Posted by Elena del Valle on September 8, 2006
Tania Waisberg and Facundo Lujan
Photos:Tania Waisberg and Facundo Lujan
Stories are frequently told of doctors and lawyers who immigrated to the United States only to wash dishes. It is unfortunate but many lose their credentials and even identities when trying to live out the American dream. Is the immigrant story the same for all professions? What happens to artists?
Tania Waisberg and Facundo Lujan set out to answer these question with their documentary “Portraits of Artists as Latino Immigrants,” scheduled for a screening at Encuentros at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in San Francisco on September 27. The 32 minute documentary tells the story of four artists who immigrated to California. Through their stories and art the artists show the process of adapting and the hopes of success that are common for immigrants to the U.S.
Artists from “Portraits of Artists as Latino Immigrants”
The artists selected for this project are in different stages of the immigration process and represent various artistic disciplines. Salvadorian born Victor Cartagena has been making art in the Bay area for more than a decade. His work can be found through out California and even Hawaii. Cartagena’s work focuses on the immigrant experience and social issues in the U.S. Using sculpture, video and audio he brings to light economic and political issues.
With a focus on glass sculpture brothers Eimar and Jamex de la Torre portray their artistic talent. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico they have spent the majority of their lives in the United States. Their work can be found in museums in Chicago, Arizona and their home state of California.
Maria Amparo Escandon is on the other side of the spectrum as a writer. She has written screenplays as well as short stories and published a novel, Santitos. Escandon was born in Mexico City and now lives in Los Angeles where she created Acento, an advertising agency for the Hispanic Market.
The film has already received awards from the Sacramento and San Francisco’s Women’s film festivals. “Portraits” was also recently screened at the Nosotros American Latino Film Festival which was founded by Ricardo Montalban. Additional information is available online at Portrait.com — Melissa Gonzalez
Posted by Elena del Valle on September 1, 2006
Los Tres
Photo: Los Tres
Chilean rock band Los Tres is releasing a new album, “Hagalo Usted Mismo” (Do It Yourself), on September 26, 2006. A follow up to 2001’s “Freno de Mano,” it combines melodic rock with traditional Chilean folkloric influences and instruments, and classic rock sounds. “Camino,” the first single, is described in promotional materials as having an upbeat, vintage rockabilly sound. “Camino” broke radio records for initial airplay on its Chilean release and has been going strong on rock stations throughout Mexico.
The album, produced by Joe Blaney (The Clash, Prince, Charly Garcia) was recorded earlier this year in New York City and features the participation of drummer Steve Jordan (Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin); and Café Tacuba’s Emmanuel del Real, who participated as an invited musician and produced and mixed several of the songs.
The collaboration with Café Tacuba was a natural step after the success of Tacuba’s four-song EP of Los Tres covers “Vale Callampa,” which brought Los Tres back into the spotlight and introduced the trio to an international audience. Del Real accompanied Los Tres before a crowd of 30,000 fans in Santiago, Chile and also at their performance at the Latin American equivalent of Coachella, Vive Latino in Mexico City.
Los Tres, originally formed in Concepcion in the late 80s, is Alvaro Henriquez (vocals, guitar, piano), Angel Parra (lead guitar) and Roberto “Titae” Lindl (bass). To listen to “Camino” from the new album, “Hagalo Usted Mismo” click on the play button below.
Click the button to hear the podcast:
Click here to sponsor a HispanicMPR.com podcast
Posted by Elena del Valle on August 25, 2006
“Tree Full of Life” by Sonia Romero (2005)
Acrylic and block printing on canvas
Photo: Sonia Romero
Los Angeles, California — Avenue 50 Studio will present Sonia Romero’s first solo show of paintings, prints and mixed media from September 9 to October 8, 2006 in Highland Park, California. The opening reception will take place Saturday, September 9, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sonia’s new technique fuses the graphic character of block printing with painting.
The series takes inspiration from the universal idea of the Tree of Life, incorporating early folk art and iconography, children’s stories and fairy tales, and the contemporary urban landscape of Los Angeles. The collection is described as “laden with intensely personal and evocative stories that invite the viewer into a world of rich and quirky imagery.”
Romero is a full time artist. She was part of a recent exhibition in Lyon, France, “Five L.A. Chicano Artists” at Galerie Par-ci, Par-la and “Latino Artists of Los Angeles – Defining Identity,” at the Millard Sheets Gallery. Recent public works include a mural commission and award at the Gene Autry Museum, and the Caltrans Metro Neighborhood Poster Award.
She received her formal education at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and her bacheor of fine arts BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, with an emphasis in printmaking. Romero is the daughter of renowned artists, Nancy and Frank Romero, and the granddaughter of Edith Wyle, founder of the Craft and Folk Art Museum. Additional information is available online at SoniaRomero.com
Posted by Elena del Valle on August 23, 2006
Marla Provencio, co-senior vice president, Marketing, ABC Entertainment
Photo: Marla Provencio/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., Arenas
ABC Entertainment has selected Arenas as Hispanic agency of record. Arenas will be responsible for Hispanic strategy, media planning and buying, as well as creative targeting of the burgeoning U.S. Hispanic market. Shows selected by ABC for Hispanic targeted marketing efforts are primetime’s “Ugly Betty” and “Desperate Housewives.”
“Bringing Arenas on board, a recognized leader in the field of Hispanic marketing, is an integral part of our strategy to reach the estimated 44.1 million Hispanics in the United States, most of which are bilingual and bicultural,” said Marla Provencio, co-senior vice president, Marketing, ABC Entertainment. “Adding Arenas to our cache strengthens our brand identity in the Hispanic community.”
Santiago Pozo, CEO, Arenas
“We commend the ABC Television Network executives, in their efforts to expand their audience base, for having the vision to aggressively target the U.S. Hispanic market. I’d like to personally thank ABC for their faith in Arenas to deliver more bilingual and monolingual English Hispanic viewers to their shows. I also feel that in winning this account it is a testament to the high caliber of professionals that make up the Arenas team,” said Santiago Pozo, CEO, Arenas.
Based in Beverly Hills, and started 18 years ago by Pozo, Arenas is one of the oldest Hispanic marketing agencies in entertainment. Their client roster has included studios Disney, Universal, Paramount, Warner Bros., DreamWorks and MGM, as well as Universal Home Entertainment, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, PBS and Universal Studios Hollywood.
Primetime Entertainment on ABC crosses various programming genres with hit series like “Desperate Housewives,” “Lost,” “Grey’s Anatomy, ” “Extreme Home Makeover: Home Edition,” “Boston Legal,” “According to Jim,” “George Lopez,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “Supernanny” and “Wife Swap.” ABC Entertainment is part of the ABC Television Network and is managed by the Disney-ABC Television Group, a division of The Walt Disney Company.
Posted by Elena del Valle on August 22, 2006
Grammy nominated gospel rapper Scoob Serious
Photos: GL Media Company
Hispanic Heritage Month doesn’t begin until September 15, but Logo Enterprises and the Zera foundation will present Faith Fighter Live 2006 at El Camino College in Hispanic populated Torrance, California on August 25. The presentation will showcase Holy Hip-Hop performers, all of them Hispanic, in an effort to appeal to the Hispanic market.
“All performers are Hispanic because we want to appeal to the majority of the people in the community of Torrance who are Hispanic,” said Charlene Turner, CEO of GL Media Company. “We want to reach out to Hispanic people and community and to inform them that the Hispanic market is not forgotten by Holy Hip hop.”
Grammy nominated T-Bone
Faith Fighter Live will also attempt to bring the gospel to today’s. Business owners and ministries will perform bible studies and special events focusing on spiritual development for young adults. The event will kick off with Big City of Mind Right Productions leading a bible study meeting. Holy Hip Hop Artist and Grammy nominated T-Bone will headline a concert.
Other artists scheduled to perform include DJ Gabriel, Christside Souljahz and five time Grammy nominated gospel rapper Scoob Serious. A “Rock The Mic” contest sponsored by Gospellinks.com and WePraise.fm will allow audience members to perform with the artists and give them the opportunity to showcase their talents. General admission tickets are $20 and VIP tickets cost $30 each. More information is available at FaithFighterLive.com . — Sergio Carmona.
Posted by Elena del Valle on August 18, 2006
Emily Rios as Magdalena in “Quinceañera”
Photos: Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics recently released “Quinceañera,” (Spanish for 15 year old girl), winner of the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Feature at the Sundance Film Festival 2006. According to the film’s promotional materials, the 90-minute “Quinceañera” is a look at what happens when teenage sexuality, age-old rituals, and real estate prices collide. It is described as a “reinvention of Kitchen Sink drama, fueled by the racial, class, and sexual tensions of a Latino neighborhood in transition.”
In the movie, Magdalena (Emily Rios) is the daughter of a Mexican-American family who run a storefront church in Echo Park, Los Angeles. With her fifteenth-birthday approaching, all she can think about is her boyfriend, her Quinceañera dress, and the Hummer Limo she hopes to arrive in on her special day.
A few months before the celebration, Magdalena falls pregnant. As the elaborate preparations for her Quinceañera proceed, her religious father finds out about the pregnancy and rejects her.
J.R. Cruz as Herman, Jesse Garcia as Carlos and Hector Quevedo as Dancing Boy
Forced out of her home, Magdalena moves in with great-great uncle Tomas (Chalo Gonzalez), a gentle man who makes his living selling champurrado (a Mexican hot drink) in the street. Already living with him is Carlos (Jesse Garcia), Magdalena’s cousin, a tough young cholo who was thrown out by his parents for being gay.
The back house rental where Tomas has lived happily for many years is on a property that was recently purchased by an affluent white gay couple (David Ross and Jason L. Wood), pioneers of gentrification in the neighborhood. Carlos quickly attracts the couple’s attention and they soon make him their plaything in an ongoing three-way.
As Magdalena’s pregnancy grows more visible, she, Carlos, and Tomas pull together as a family of outsiders. But the economics of the neighborhood are turning against them. Ultimately, this precipitates a crisis that threatens their way of life.
“Quinceañera” was written and directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland. Cast members include Emily Rios, Jesse Garcia, Chalo Gonzalez, David Ross, and Jason L. Wood.
Posted by Elena del Valle on August 15, 2006
Juan Jose Nuñez, vice president, Operations, StarMedia
Photo: StarMedia
Miami, Florida – StarMedia a Wanadoo company and leader in Internet media for the global Spanish-speaking audience, announced the re-launch of its new woman-themed channel, StarMedia Mujer. Promotional materials promise a new style and expanded content intended to appeal directly to the portal’s existing audience and draw new users.
The new service is the latest in a series of upgrades to the portal. StarMedia recently announced strategic alliances with Hotels.com to launch travel channel StarMedia Viajes, its first and most extensive travel booking engine for Spanish-speaking web users; and also with Voy Music in launching its online digital Latin music service, StarMedia Radios.
“StarMedia Mujer brings a new and welcome touch of glamour to the portal,” said Juan José Nuñez, vice president, operations, StarMedia. “In developing the new women’s channel we’ve implemented many excellent suggestions submitted to us by our users, including the expansion of content generally, particularly in the Fashion & Beauty as well as Diet & Nutrition areas. StarMedia has continually sought to strengthen its brand by developing the relevance and selection of its content; we’re certainly very proud of this latest addition, which we’ll continue working hard to improve, in consideration of our users and advertisers.”
A key feature of StarMedia Mujer is the new “Tu Espacio” (Your Space) section, with family, work, travel and leisure content. Consistent with the portal’s new image and re-design, StarMedia Mujer plans to feature an intuitive menu and navigation meant to allow easy access to its content with a design pallet in lightly shaded orange and gray tones over white.
StarMedia.com is a free-to-web service. According the company, their portals connect more than 20 million Spanish-speakers through the Internet. StarMedia has local operations in Mexico and Spain as well as Los Angeles, Miami and New York in the United States. It is wholly owned by Wanadoo, Europe’s second largest online company and a subsidiary of the France Telecom Group.
Posted by Elena del Valle on August 11, 2006
A Taco Testimony cover
Photo: Rio Nuevo Publishers
Denise Chavez who defines her roots as being from New Mexico, Texas, and México is the author of the newly released A Taco Testimony Meditation on Family, Food and Culture (Rio Nuevo Publishers). The 207-softcover book on “ruminations on a life lived among tacos” is set in the U.S.-Mexico border and written as a memoir to the author’s parents and family. Although it includes some recipes it is not a cookbook. The cover price is $16.95.
A Taco Testimony is peppered with words in Spanish and recepies. Although it has menu like section titles it is about Chavez’ memories of growing up in a Mexican American home more than it is about Mexican food.
An award-winning fiction writer, playwright, actress, and teacher, Chávez considers herself a “performance writer.” In 1995 her first novel, Face of an Angel, won the American Book Award. She authored the novel Loving Pedro Infante, as well as nonfiction, fiction for children, and more than 45 plays.
According to her biography, her writing and many community projects have been supported by the Fulbright Commission, the Lannan Foundation, and a Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Award. Chávez founded the Cultural Center of Mesilla and the Border Book Festival, of which she is executive director. She lives with her husband in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Click here to buy A Taco Testimony: Meditations on Family, Food and Culture
Posted by Elena del Valle on August 10, 2006
El Gran Combo
Photos: El Gran Combo, Mariachi Plata de Las Vegas
The world of Latin music is coming to Las Vegas with Las Vegas Caliente, a two-day multi-genre festival, Friday, August 11 and Saturday, August 12. The event, produced by Worldwide Vegas in association with Telemundo and Pochteca Media, will feature 14 bands from different Latin music genres including Salsa, Mariachi, Mexican Regional, Reggaeton, and Latin Jazz in four venues throughout the Vegas Strip. Producers are hopeful that this could add a new element to the city.
“There are people who are music fans, and if they are fans of Latin genres, this is going to help out city and introduce city to people who haven’t been there,” said Minerva Partida, media director for Pochteca Media. “You think of Vegas, you think of gambling, but there are many things they can do.”
One of the things going for Las Vegas Caliente is that Las Vegas is one of the preferred leisure destinations for Hispanics, which represent one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. tourism.
Mariachi Plata de Las Vegas
“I’ve seen growth and everyone is excited as Hispanics come from different parts, such as Central America or South America, and there are different varieties to fulfill musical taste,” said Partida. “Expectations are to continue event for following year and start new trend in Vegas.”
The concerts for Las Vegas Caliente are Salsa Vegas at the Stardust Hotel and Casino, Viva Vegas at Cox Pavilion, Mariachi Vegas at Cashman Theater, and Latin Jazz Vegas at Mandalay Bay’s House of Blues. The artists include El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Jose Alberto “El Canario,” Mañana de Havana, Banda El Limon, Los Freddy’s, Mariachi Plata, Suzette Marquez, and Zulema Villela Rick Arroyo. Tickets cost $20 in advance and $30 at the door. — Sergio Carmona
