Elisa Marina Alvarado
Born
Elisa Marina Alvarado

NationalityAmerican
OccupationArtistic Director of San Jose-based Teatro Visión theatre company
Known forDirecting and training
Notable workLa Muerte Baila
Parents
  • Blanca Alvarado (father)
  • Jose J. Alvarado (mother)
Awards
  • In 2010 Alvarado received the James McEntee Lifetime Achievement award.
  • In 2016 Theatre Bay Area selected her as one of 40 individuals pivotal in building the prestige of the Bay Area theater community.

Elisa Marina Alvarado is an American director, actress, educator, social worker, practitioner of traditional Mexican medicine, and dancer.[1] Born in San Jose, California, Elisa Alvarado is a director and community organizer of Purépecha and Cuban descent.[1] She is perhaps best known as the founder and long-time Artistic Director of the San Jose-based Chicano Teatro Visión theater company. Teatro Visión is a leading Chicano theater company in the Latino theater scene, known especially for adapting classic Mexican novels and films for the stage to increase cultural awareness. She is currently invested in two theater programs Codices and the Instituto de Teatro, which produce new works by Latino playwrights and offer comprehensive training in culture-based theater.[2]

Personal life and career

Elisa Alvarado was born in San Jose, California, to Blanca Alvarado and Jose J. Alvarado. Her parents gave her access to books and the arts, and instilled values of social justice, spurring her natural talent and passion for the arts.[3] Her passion for theater, as well social change through theater, was sparked in high school in the 1970s after a performance by the legendary theater company El Teatro Campesino.[3] Shortly after, she joined the San Jose-based theater company Teatro de la Gente and toured through San Jose, Mexico, and the American Southwest.[3] After a few years with Teatro de la Gente, Alvarado and other women in Women in Teatro formed an all-female company called Teatro Huipil, named after the Huipil, a traditional garment worn by indigenous women in Mexico and Central America.[4] After disagreement over vision for the company, many of the co-founders left, and Alvarado renamed the company Teatro Visión.[4] Alvarado went on to act, as Artistic Director for Teatro Visión for 33 years, until 2017, when she gave the position to her protégé Rodrigo García.

On July 31, 2012, Alvarado suffered a stroke while at a family reunion in New Mexico.[5] She recovered fully and the period of inactivity prompted a restructuring of Teatro Visión to a more sustainable business model.[5]

Recently, Alvarado spent more time with the other programs that she belongs to or founded. In addition to her new works program Codices and her theatrical education program Instituto de Teatro, she is a member of the Native Family Outreach and Education project and the City of San José Independent Police Auditor Community Advisory Committee.[2] She works as a Clinical Social Worker Specialist in San Jose and founded the Ethnomedicine Project that offers training in traditional Mexican medicine.[6] She taught at San Jose State University, San Francisco State University, and Palo Alto High School.[7]

Awards

In 2010 Alvarado received the James McEntee Lifetime Achievement award, and in 2016 Theatre Bay Area selected her as one of 40 individuals pivotal in building the prestige of the Bay Area theater community.[8] In 2010 she was selected for the Silicon Valley Business Journal's Women of Achievement, and received the City of San Jose's Cornerstone of the Arts award in 2017.[8]

Productions by Teatro Visión

List of Productions
Production Name Author
The House on Mango Street Adapted by Amy Ludwig, Written by Sandra Cisneros
La Muerte Baila Rebecca Martinez and the Milagro Theatre Ensemble
Macario B. Traven
Solitude Evelina Fernández with Teatro Visión
Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya
Perla Leonard Madrid
Taking Flight Adriana Sevan
Ghosts of the River Octavio Solis
The Woman Who Fell from the Sky Victor Hugo Rascón Banda
La Casa en Mango Street Sandra Cisneros
Hero Luis Alfaro
School of the Americas Jose Rivera
Visitor's Guide to Arivaca (Map Not to Scale) Evangeline Ordaz
Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding) Federico García Lorca
Dog Lady/Evening Star Milcha Sanchez-Scott
La Victima Teatro de la Esperanza
The Cook Eduardo Machado
Electricidad Luis Alfaro
¡CANTINFLAS! Herbert Sigüenza
Santos & Santos Octavio Solis
4 Guys Named José Y Un Mujer Named María David Coffman and Dolores Prida
Real Women Have Curves Josefína Lopez
Drive My Coche Roy Conboy
Boxcar Sylvia Gonzalez and Teatro Visión
Chilean Holiday Guillermo Reyes
Lady From Havana Luis Santeiro
Conjunto Oliver Mayer
La Posada Mágica Octavio Solis
Fefu and Her Friends Maria Irene Fornés
Vieques Jorge González
Heroes and Saints Cherrie Moraga
The Kiss of the Spider Woman Manuel Puig
La Posada Mágica Octavio Solis
La Nona Roberto M. Cossa
When El Cucui Walks Roy Conboy
The True History of Coca Cola in Mexico Aldo Velasco and Patrick Scott
Harvest Moon José Cruz González
Rosita's Jalapeño Kitchen Rodrigo Duarte Clarke
La Casa en Mango Street Sandra Cisneros
La Carpa Aztlan Presents: I Don't Speak English Only Antonio García
Spirit Dancing José Cruz González
Real Women Have Curves Josefina López
¡NO SE PAGA! ¡NO SE PAGA! Dario Fo
Santos & Santos Octavio Solís
La Víctima Teatro de la Esperanza
Our Lady of the Tortilla Luis Santiero
Good Grief Lolita! Wilma Bonet
Rosario's Barrio Rodrigo Duarte Clarke
The Last Angry Brown Hat Alfredo Ramos
Las Nuevas Tamaleras Alicia Mena
Novenas Narativas y Ofrendas Nuevomexicanos Denise Chaves
Food for the Dead Josefina López
Roosters Milcha Sanchez-Scott
El Oro de los Quinteros Años Arturo Gomez, Jaime Avarado, & Denis Marks with Teatro Visión
How Else Am I Supposed to Know I'm Still Alive? Evelina Fernández
Brujerías Rodrigo Duarte Clarke
Soldado Razo Luis Valdez
Buy! Buy! Navidad! Adapted by Lalo Cervantes, Written by Manuel Pickett
Conversations With My Grandmother Martha (MGM) Edit Villareal
Brujerías Rodrigo Duarte Clarke
Images of Deceit Adapted by Teatro Huipil, Written by Anita Quintanilla

[9]

References

  1. 1 2 "Mission and History". Teatro Visión. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  2. 1 2 TV, BroadwayWorld. "STAGE TUBE: I AM THEATRE Project - Elisa Marina Alvarado". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  3. 1 2 3 Garcia, Vanessa (January 30, 2011). "Elisa Marina Alvarado: Leading Teatro Visión". modernlatina.com. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  4. 1 2 "Teatro Vision". Arts America. 2011-08-23. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  5. 1 2 "Pizarro: Community rallying around stricken arts leader, Elisa Marina Alvarado". The Mercury News. 2012-08-14. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  6. HealthCare4PPL. "Elisa Marina Alvarado - Clinical Social Worker, San Jose CA". www.healthcare4ppl.com. Retrieved 2018-12-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. "Press Releases". arts.ca.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  8. 1 2 "Teatro Visión announces new Artistic Director, celebrates co-founder Elisa Marina Alvarado". Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  9. "Past Productions". Teatro Visión. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
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