Work in Progress

“Women on the verge, women on top, daddy’s girls and little dreamers with a lot on their mind. Maya, Milta and Cruz disentangle the myths from the mayhem of civil wars, urban wars, and the war raging in young hormonal bodies. Where Roxanne Shante, meets high school musical theater, doc martens and top siders. Traversing the terrain through Guatemala City, Fort Worth Texas, Florence and Normandy, Sonsonate, El Salvador and Abuelita’s kitchen. Where high school theater freaks, and post Rodney King human relations influence band-aid multiculturalism, the legacy of family secrets, teenage pregnancy, and where immigrant-american dreams rub up against Gringo-landia, cabbage patch kids and the feminism inherent in jello molds.”

with Script Advisor Lisa Marie Rollins

Keep June 16th open for LM3

We’re hard at work finishing up some new vignettes funded in part by an Oakland Arts Grant and under the guidance of Lisa Marie Rollins so keep June 16th in the evening open! Location to be announced.

LM3, Gabriella Callender & Chueh Jun-Fung JUNE 11 @ LA PEÑA

Complex, articulate, delicious, mentally ferocious yet ridiculously playful divas seek active audience with a few highly pertinent kinks for a stimulating exchange in vibrant energy. Have a weakness for hoodrats, academics, students, engineers, teachers, mechanics, activists, postal workers and all those in the service industry…you know the type…Can’t promise a revolution but if it happens then we can say we did it together…Must have an eye for beauty. Expect fireworks. Must be available June 11 @ 8pm. Meet at La Peña. Bring friends. We’ll be waiting.

Standard Deviations: Grown and Sexy Goes Deep

Complex, articulate, delicious, mentally ferocious yet ridiculously playful divas seek active audience with a few highly pertinent kinks for a stimulating exchange in vibrant energy. Have a weakness for hoodrats, academics, students, engineers, teachers, mechanics, activists, postal workers and all those in the service industry…you know the type…Can’t promise a revolution but if it happens then we can say we did it together…Must have an eye for beauty. Expect fireworks. Must be available June 11 @ 8pm. Meet at La Peña. Bring friends. We’ll be waiting.

La Peña needs your help

La Peña is a place that has supported our work for a very long time. We are most indebted to community centers such as La Peña that work hard to give us so much working with so little. Please make a contribution to them knowing that they have given us as well as many other artists a space to grow, learn and perform as well as a place to create and maintain community. LAS MANAS 3 LOVES LA PEÑA!!!

And we’ll see you soon at LA PEÑA no less JUNE 11, 2009 at the Standard Deviations: GROWN AND SEXY GOES DEEP SHOW 8pm w/Gabriella Callendar, Chueh Jun-Fung and of course Las Manas Tres! More info to come soon.

La Peña Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, Ca. 94705 * 510-8749-2568 * lapena.org

Dear La Peña community members,

For 34 years La Peña has been contributing to the cultural, educational and political life of the Bay Area through: arts education; artist support and development; and community organizing. Now more than ever, YOUR contribution is NEEDED. La Peña needs to raise $50,000 to maintain our current level of activies: our diverse programming, our support of artists and community organizing; and arts education. We know that everyone is hurting from this down economy. Non-profits have seen a decline in contributions. We are no exception. We are deeply affected by the decline of donations. Please consider making a contribution to keep us going for another year. You can make a difference. Please mail in your donation today to La Peña today, or contribute securely online Here Every donation counts! Together we can manifest the dreams we create! Peace, Nadine Ghammache

Director of Individual and Community Giving

34 Years of Cultural Activism for Social Justice!

La Peña Cultural Center 3105 Shattuck Avenue Berkeley,

CA 94705 (510) 849 2568, Ext. 12

who we be LM3

Las Manas Tres, Maya Chinchilla, Cruz Grimaldo and Milta Ortiz, hybrid poetas bringing the fierce flava, heating the heart and melting the mind from the Bay to L.A. These storytellers are cultural warriors, of Guatemalan, Salvadorian and Mexican descent, paying homage to their ancestors by creating performances that serve to purge their communities of our collective traumas with the firm belief that tears, love and laughter builds bridges and transforms.

They use testimony to embrace radical love and break through social norms while reclaiming their space, redefining their roles and inspiring a new generation of performers and artists.

Fierce, phenomenal, committed to craft and audience, Las Manas Tres is socially revolutionary and avant-garde. Some of their influences include Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Cherrie Moraga, Gloria Anzaldua, Martin Espada, Roque Dalton, Rumi, Ntozake Shange, Anna Deavere Smith, Sandra Cisneros, Pedro Pietri, Audre Lorde, Sonia Sanchez, Silvio Rodriguez, Zora Neale Hurston, Alfred Arteaga, June Jordan, Emily Dickinson,Virginia Woolf, Jessica Hagedorn, Toni Morrison, Edward Said, and Daisy Zamora among others.

Las Manas Tres has shared the stage with Lorna Dee Cervantes, Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman, Violeta Luna, Mamacoatl, Guillermo Gomez-Peña, Aya de Leon, Luis Rodriguez, Brwn Bflo, Head Rush, Leticia Hernandez-Linares, Teatro Luna, and Teatro Campesino.

They have performed at the Hip Hop Theater Festival, UC Berkeley, La Peña Cultural Center, Saint Mary’s College, Los Medanos College, Teatro Vision, YBCA, Galeria de la Raza, Brava Theater, USF, University of Illinois, Self Help Graphics, CASA 0101 and hope to come to a barrio or ivory tower near you.