This summer’s program, Spanish on Stage, was designed to spotlight the Spanish language, specifically Dominican Spanish and its cultural underpinnings, through the use of theatre. However, because we were not able to round up a cohort of American youth that would have counter-balanced such an exploration, the stage morphed into a tool to highlight social injustice, specifically that of the mistreatment of Haitians, with the staging of Luís Pie by Dominican author Juan Bosch. Additionally, under the direction of Orlando Muñoz, the young actors continued to hone their theatre skills as many were repeat theatre offenders, in the most positive sense.
Many of La Ceiba’s youth were exposed to theatre for the first time during Kyle Waites’ theatre skills and games workshop in 2010. The interaction sparked the formation of a community theatre group led by Cucuyo Director Orlando Muñoz. The group staged an outrageous production of Se vende una burra upon Cucuyo’s return in 2011. And it seems to be catching on. An additional workshop was added into the schedule due to demand from youth who were interested in acquiring theatre know-how but not quite prepared for a full-length production.
While Orlando’s home was filled with the sounds of farm animals, moaning Haitians, and gossipy nail salon clientele, just down the gravel road, the pounding of basketballs against a steamy concrete court. Cucuyo had never contemplated sports as an extension of the arts until the community leadership, in 2012, expressed a definite interest in basketball. The court at the Juan Pablo Duarte community center may get more use than the center itself as young men, scrounging up a ball, consistently close their day with a couple of hours of pick-up bball. The love and dedication to the game was definitely present, but none of the kids have ever had access to formal coaching.
Enter Fred Raphael, teacher and coach at the International School in Brooklyn, New York. Learning names and language with astonishing speed and easily adapting to pretty much any situation under the hot hot sun, Fred was a veritable MVP this year. Fred led five workshops per day, from 10am to 7pm, for players aged 6 to 25, even opening a space for female participation in an all girls workshop. The workshop culminated in final tournaments for each group complete with prizes and cornflakes.
Meanwhile, in the background, we were fortunate enough to once again count on the presence of Buenos Aires resident and ESL-certified instructor, Lauren Stephenson for a twice-daily English language workshop. When Cucuyo launched in 2010, teaching English was not in the plans. However, in light of the community’s persistent interest, Lauren deftly stepped up to the whiteboard and has been doing it ever since. Interest and participation remains high—a reflection of Lauren’s engaging teaching abilities and her all around lovability. This year, students presented a mock cooking show in English during Cucuyo’s final exhibition. All the English speakers learned how to make chicken and rice or pizza a la dominicana!
All of this great stuff was lovingly documented by Bianca Bidiuc’s keen photographer’s eye in between her duties as a workshop interpreter. For those interested in seeing the program brought to life, visit the gallery or Cucuyo Arts on Facebook. Bianca’s photos give staff and participants the perspective necessary for understanding that our humble summer program is more magical than we can take in while we’re up next to it.
Open up parameters for participation
Ensure that each participant walks away with concrete skills
Create a fun experience for the participants
Provide thorough language support for staff
Honest documentation of the program
Encourage continuity by inviting youth to be leaders and create their own summer programs
Despite the staff’s multiple new family and professional commitments and a bank account that now sits at zero, we recognize that the Cucuyo program continues to serve a purpose and add value to the lives of those involved. Because of this, we are not willing to close our doors and walk away.
This summer, La Ceiba’s youth expressed great ideas for future workshops—urban dance, computer maintenance and repair, baseball. At the same time, high school teachers in the US have expressed interest in traveling to the DR with a group of their students. At a minimum, Cucuyo is well positioned to consult with and facilitate such experiences for these groups and, in turn, continue to bring unique opportunities for arts, exchange and growth for the youth of Bonao.
In this way, Cucuyo does indeed sacrifice autonomy but it alleviates the funding and many of the time constraint issues that are currently standing between us and continued programming. Another option would be for the director and or staff to privately fund the program through their own salary and soliciting material and cash donations from family and friends as we did this year. Though not necessarily a sustainable option, it is a viable option as we watch to see where Cucuyo is headed.