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Your search yielded 40 results:

Mrs. Paulette Atencio
TRADITIONAL STORIES FROM NORTHERN NEW MEXICO

Series: Writers, Storytellers and Poets; New Mexico History and Cultures

Atencio delights audiences with cuentos (stories) learned growing up in Penasco, NM and a lifetime traveling northern and central New Mexico. Stories can be told in English or Spanish, to adults or children. The stories focus on traditions, what it means to be of Hispanic descent, and universal humor and lessons. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. Judith Avila
CHESTER NEZ: World War II Navajo Code Talker

Series: New Mexico History and Cultures; Conversations With the World

Although 420 Navajo code talkers served in the Marines during World War II, none had written memoirs until Nez's 2012 autobiography Code Talker. Chester Nez (1921-2014) was one of the original 29 code talkers, men who developed the only unbroken code in modern warfare and took it into battle against the Japanese. His life demonstrated how challenges enhance strength and how diversity augments the strength of a nation. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. Nancy Bartlit
Silent Voices of World War II: New Mexico’s Fierce Encounters with Japan

Series: Conversations With the World; New Mexico History and Cultures

Based on Bartlit’s interviews with (1) New Mexico New Mexico National Guardsmen who survived the Bataan Death March and three and one-half years as POW “guests” of the Emperor of Japan; (2) Navajo Code Talkers whose “code-within-a-code” was unbreakable; (3) an internee of the Santa Fe Internment Camp; and (4) scientists who worked with the Manhattan Project researchers; her talk illustrates how the contributions of the four groups were intertwined and helped to shorten the war in the Pacific. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. Nancy Bartlit
The Santa Fe Internment Camp (1942-1946) in the Shadow of Los Alamos

Series: Conversations With the World; New Mexico History and Cultures

The former Santa Fe Civilian Conservation Corps Camp was converted to a camp for 4,555 civilian men of Japanese descent from 1942 to the spring of 1946. Initially, men of Japanese descent who were brought to the camp had been denied U.S. citizenship even though they had worked in America for two decades or more. Their age averaged 52 years. They were removed from the West Coast because their leadership roles in their communities had a perceived potential to support the enemy, yet they were innocent of wrong doing. This talk describes, through archival photos, how the internees spent their waiting hours while being separated from family while some had sons serving in the U.S. Army. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. Deborah Blanche
Emma Tenayuca: La Pasionara de San Antonio
Chautauqua as Emma Tenayuca

Series: Conversations With the World

Meet Ms. Tenayuca in 1973 when she was nominated to the Texas Women's Hall of Fame. As she remembers her days as a young activist and leader in the Workers’ Alliance, you will be taken back to 1934-1939 when she was organizing picket lines for the “Mexican” women who worked as pecan shellers, giving interviews to reporters, speaking from the steps of City Hall and commenting on her so-called “commie” activities and subsequent arrests. Emma became the best known labor organizer of San Antonio’s Spanish speaking community and was dubbed by newspapers “La pasionara” for her impassioned speaking style. Emma's story resounds with topics of contemporary concern: Borderlands immigration; labor and economic justice; the right to dissent vs. mob and police violence. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. Deborah Blanche
LAURA GILPIN, PHOTOGRAPHER
Chautauqua as Laura Gilpin

Series: Art, Music and Dance

She packed in on horseback to photograph the source of the Rio Grande, made studio portraits for society matrons, directed pilots to “fly low” over Shiprock to capture its shadows from every angle. Laura Gilpin experimented with every subject and extant photographic technique for over fifty-five years before receiving widespread national recognition when in her 80’s and a resident of Santa Fe. You will meet her in 1952 narrating a retrospective slide show with images ranging from her first Lumiere color prints to others from her best known book The Enduring Navajo. Miss Gilpin answers questions and shares intriguing behind-the-camera stories. Her experiences offer parallels to many now -- an influenza pandemic, economic stress, recognition and remuneration for women in the arts, living conditions in Indian country, depictions of Native Americans and rights to one's own image. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. Deborah Blanche
LA NINA: Nina Otero-Warren
Chautauqua as Nina Otero-Warren

Series: New Mexico History and Cultures

Educator, feminist, public welfare director, politician, businesswoman—she was all of these and more. Honored by her depiction on the US quarters series of 2022, she is best remembered for her role in securing passage of the women's suffrage amendment by the New Mexico legislature. Afterward Nina wasted no time before tossing her chapeau into the ring and becoming the first woman in New Mexico to run for Congress. Born into two of the most influential families of the state—Los Luna and Los Otero—Nina moved to Santa Fe as a teenager and made it her home for a lifetime. Never timid about taking charge, she was superintendent of schools; an organizer of Santa Fe Fiesta, Indian Market, Spanish Colonial Arts Society; matriarch of her large family and hostess to her extensive social circle of artists, writers, historians, priests and politicians. Nina reminisces and confides, answers and disclaims, takes you back on the campaign trail of 1922, shares some of her post pandemic experiences, even tells stories from her book Old Spain in Our Southwest. Ever provocative she also raises questions about why women have not yet been written into the US Constitution; the inequities in health, labor and education for Native Americans and Hispanics; and the role of the arts. language and culture in education. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Gordon Bronitsky
Miguel Trujillo, New Mexico's Unknown Civil Rights Hero

Series: New Mexico History and Cultures

When New Mexico became a state in 1912, its constitution denied Indians the right to vote. In 1948, Miguel Trujillo, a WWII Marine veteran from Isleta, sued New Mexico and obtained the right to vote for Indians of the state. This presentation tells his story. The program encourages an an understanding of the background for denying Indians the right to vote in 1912 and encourages people to think beyond the Three Peoples myth – Indians, Hispanics, and Anglos living in harmony – to the reality of the struggle that began with the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and continues today. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Dr. Sherri Burr
The Pre-Civil War Complicated Lives of People of African Descent

Join Professor Sherri Burr, the author of Complicated Lives: Free Blacks in Virginia, 1619-1865, for a discussion on how the arrival of Africans changed the Virginia colony and the country into a multi-racial community where legal rights were advanced and restricted. Unbeknownst to most Americans, Africans and Indians possessed rights to own land (which was never stripped) and to vote (up until 1723). Slavery evolved in convoluted legal manner that was challenged after the Revolutionary War as prominent slaveholders contemplated how they could continue to hold humans. Instead of slavery being eliminated following the colonists’ successful fight for their liberty from Britain, several events increased its hold on the county, including the outlawing of the international slavery trade and the Louisiana Purchase. This brought pain to Native Americans who were dispossessed of their land and to enslaved Africans sold to the Deep South. This history of race progression and regression has repercussions for today. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Nicolasa Chávez
Felices Fiestas: Holiday Traditions of New Mexico

Series: New Mexico History and Cultures; Art, Music and Dance

What do Medieval Moriscas dances in Spain have in common with the Matachines dances performed by Pueblo and Hispano cultures during the Holiday season? How did the tradition of los Comanches develop into three separate traditions celebrated from Christmas Eve to the New Year and how is Los Comanches related to old European mummers’ plays? How is Dar los Días in the north of the state similar to Wassailing? What is the origin of the New Mexican farolito and the empanadita? Learn this and more as we celebrate our local New Mexican Holiday traditions. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Nicolasa Chávez
Villancicos Flamencos – Celebrating the Holidays in Spain

This presentation traces the history of Villancicos (Spanish holiday songs) via the lyrics and music of Medieval Spain to the present. Villancicos often represent the journey of José y María (Joseph and Mary) and Los Reyes Magos (The Three Kings) or they represent the local villagers preparing for the wedding of José y María or searching for the perfect gift for the Christ child. The Gitanos of Southern Spain have passed down the Flamenco versions of these songs for generations, often imbuing the characters with a local twist. This celebratory presentation combines history, storytelling, and music to bring Villancicos Flamencos to New Mexico and demonstrate their relationship to our local dramatic reenactments of Las Posadas, Los Pastores and Los Reyes Magos. Nicolasa Chávez is joined by various talented guitarists from New Mexico who share their love of history, Flamenco, and these special seasonal treasures. Bringing their talents together the Villancicos come to life ringing in Yuletide cheer and wonder | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Nicolasa Chávez
The History of Flamenco

This presentation traces the history of Flamenco in music and song. The presentation begins with flamenco’s origins in Medieval Spain through the present, concentrating on its arrival in the US and New Mexico. This dynamic duo will share the history and meaning behind the music and songs along with personal stories as flamenco performers in New Mexico. A special holiday version of this presentation is available from November 1 through January 6. During this period, the history of Flamenco comes to life via Flamenco holiday songs called Villancicos. Villancicos often represent the journey of José y María (Joseph and Mary) and Los Reyes Magos (The Three Kings) or they represent the local villagers preparing for the wedding of José y María or searching for the perfect gift for the Christ child. The Gitanos of Southern Spain have passed down the Flamenco versions of these songs for generations, often imbuing the characters with a local twist. This unique celebratory presentation combines history, storytelling, and music to bring Villancicos Flamencos to New Mexico and demonstrate their relationship to our local dramatic reenactments of Las Posadas, Los Pastores and Los Reyes Magos. This is the only program of its kind! | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. Lynn Cline
The Foodways of New Mexico

New Mexico's rich culinary history is full of fascinating food traditions representing diverse cultures across the centuries. Ancestral Puebloan people, Spanish settlers and miners, cowboys and ranchers as well as pioneers along the Santa Fe Trail, railroad passengers and many others have all contributed New Mexico's melting pot. The Foodways of New Mexico program introduces the many cultures that have shaped our culinary history along with the iconic people who've stirred the pot, including Doña Tules, Fred Harvey, Billy the Kid, Georgia O'Keeffe and the contemporary farmers, chefs and restaurateurs who continually cook up new ways to evolve our food traditions. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Mr. Ralph Estes
ME AND BILLY
Chautauqua as Billy the Kid

Series: New Mexico History and Cultures

Come ride with America's favorite outlaw - Billy the Kid. The callow desperado who killed 21 men (one for each year of his life?), robbed and rustled and murdered - while always laughing. Or the lad who "sang with a beautiful Irish tenor" in Sunday School, organized and staged a musical show at the age of 12, danced with the senoritas at fandangos and was always helpful to - and welcomed by - the native New Mexicans. Ralph Estes was Billy's best friend, rode with him, sang with him, fought with him. In this program, Ralph sings and tells of the real Billy, not the fiction created by the man who shot him. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Dede Feldman
BOOTS, SUITS AND CITIZENS: New Mexico's Unique Legislative Culture

Series: New Mexico History and Cultures

This program is designed to present an overview of the New Mexico legislature and how citizens can constructively engage with it. Our citizens legislature is a reflection of the state's history ”the divide between the rural and urban lifestyles, the unique mix of ethnic groups, and the personal and familial connections at the heart of a small state. Spanish might be spoken in the hallways of the Roundhouse as much as English, and Native American issues are often pivotal. My talk illustrates this culture with tales of heroes, villains, unlikely alliances, special interests, and successful advocates informed by my 16 years in the legislature. Knowledge of historical antecedents and contemporary history allows citizens to place each session of the legislature in perspective. I have been amazed at how little New Mexicans know about the "Roundhouse", and how appreciative they are to find out what they did not learn in school: how a bill becomes law, why governors and legislatures disagree and why newspapers do not tell the full story. Knowledge of the process will help empower citizens to become active and effective advocates for their own cause and make more informed electoral choices. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Mr. Arnold Herrera
THE WAY OF THE DRUM

Series: New Mexico History and Cultures; Art, Music and Dance

This presentation is a way into the Cochiti Pueblo world told from personal experiences, traditional stories and teachings. While demonstrating steps in constructing the famous Cochiti drum, Mr. Herrera tells about tribal political structures, language, ceremony, clans and moiety membership, roles of men, women and children, and modern Pueblo social problems. This journey covers the period from the 1940s to the present. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Johanna and Scott Hongell-Darsee
The Wandering Ballad

Series: Art, Music and Dance; Conversations With the World

People have sung stories since times immemorial as a way to memorize and record history and myths. A kind of stone age data base. The songs we today call medieval and traditional ballads have their roots among Nordic epic sagas, French romantic lays, Celtic lore and World mythology. As the songs have traveled, they have metamorphosed and melted into various musical traditions, weaving a world of fantasy and mystery. Scott and Johanna Hongell-Darsee are a duo who perform early traditional ballads, songs and tales from Scandinavia, The British Isles and other parts of the world. Their performances blend both modern and traditional instruments in unique, original arrangements. Their wanderings have led them from Finland and Iowa respectively - through Europe, Scandinavia, India, and North America. On the way they have picked up tales and songs that they perform together with the stories behind them, in particular exploring the links between these story singing traditions. Three of their recordings have been nominated for Best Vocal Performance by the New Mexico Music Awards (2014, 2016, 2020). Their performances have been described as magical, inspiring, haunting, mesmerizing. This program is suitable for adult as well as mixed all ages audiences. After relocating to New Mexico from Scandinavia in 2001, Scott and Johanna have performed all over the U.S. at festivals, theaters, arts councils, universities, schools, libraries, and live broadcasts. Johanna Hongell-Darsee began her performing arts career in 1980. She received her education in mime and theater at the Lecoq School in Paris, France and later studied Classical Indian Dance with Gurus Sri Kama Dev and Smt Savithri Jagannatha Rao. She also studied Abhinaya (the mimic part of the dance) with Guru Kalanidhi Narayanan and her students Uma Maheshwari and Nityakalyani Vaydjanathan. The past 25 years she has researched and performed medieval and traditional ballads. Before moving to New Mexico in 2001, she led a dance and theater company (Teater Bava) in Malmö, Sweden as well as toured throughout Sweden, Europe, USA and India. She has performed at festivals such as Avignon in France, La Batie in Switzerland, Tampere in Finland, Differenta Sensationi in Italy, and Kobenhavn Sommerscene in Denmark. She has taught Bharata Natyam as a guest artist at University of New Mexico Department of Theater and Dance. Scott Darsee is an artist and musician who spent many years in Europe before moving back to the USA in 2001. Parallel to his artistic pursuits, he worked as a consultant at Ballet companies such as Dance Theatre of Harlem, London Festival Ballet, The English National Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet and Hamburg Ballet. He also taught at the Danish State School of Modern Dance and worked at Teater Bava. Scott composes innovative arrangements and original themes on string instruments. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Elizabeth Horodowich
When New Mexico was China: Geographic Consciousness in the First Global Age, 1492-1700

It is widely known that after crossing the Atlantic, Christopher Columbus believed he had landed in or near Cathay. What is less familiar to us is the idea that, for hundreds of years after the Columbian voyages, Europeans believed that Asia and America occupied the same continent. In fact, on a regular basis, European cartographers and cosmographers understood the lands that are today the American Southwest and New Mexico to be near, or even overlapping with, China and India. The accounts of early explorers of the American southwest in particular, including those of Coronado and Oñate, repeatedly express the idea that India or China lay within easy reach of the lands of New Mexico, surely just beyond the next valley or mountain ridge. This talk explores a variety of maps, images and historical texts to demonstrate how and why it was logical for early modern Europeans to believe that the part of the world that today we call America, including New Mexico, was Asian. Perhaps most importantly, it considers how ideas about the lands of New Mexico were at the heart of some of the earliest European conceptions of globalization. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Dr. Dianne Layden
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: “Notorious RBG”
Chautauqua as Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away in September 2020, is celebrated for her work as an attorney, federal judge, and Supreme Court justice, notably on behalf of gender equality. Her life will be presented in both a lecture and Chautauqua portrayal that include her judicial opinions, family life, and reverence for opera. Ginsburg’s friendship with fellow justice and opera lover Antonin Scalia became the subject of the opera Scalia/Ginsburg, now performed worldwide. She visited Santa Fe with her family for many years and called the Santa Fe Opera the finest summer opera company in the world. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Mr. Chuy Martinez
SONGS OF THE CHICANO MOVEMENT

Series: Art, Music and Dance; New Mexico History and Cultures

In the 1960s and 70s, Mexican-American civil rights activists mobilized their people to struggle for change. The Chicano Movement called itself La Causa (The Cause) and was most active in New Mexico, Colorado, Texas and California. Chuy Martinez brings the music and history alive in the stirring songs learned in migrant camps and meetings. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Mr. Chuy Martinez
AN AMERICAN DIALOGUE: Latin American Ballads, Cumbia, and Nueva Canción

Series: Conversations With the World; Art, Music and Dance

For decades, a rich conversation has been exchanging musical ideas between the Americas: the ballad, from Spain and Mexico; the cumbia, of Caribbean African/Indian roots; and nueva canción (new song), social struggle music influenced by U.S. labor and protest songs. Mr. Martinez puts the songs and rhythms in historical context. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. Diana Molina
RARAMURI: The Foot Runners of the Sierra Madre

Series: Conversations With the World

Raramuri, Uto-Aztecan for Tarahumara, are among the world's best runners from lives spent traversing the canyon walls and plateaus of the Sierra Madre Occidental in northern Mexico. In a personal narrative complimented by anthropological, ethnographic and scientific research, Diana Molina will feature the exceptional Raramuri culture, discuss the impact of modern society on their lifestyle and highlight the amazing expanse of the canyon environment with stunning photographs taken while living among the tribe for extended periods of time. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. Diana Molina
ICONS AND SYMBOLS OF THE BORDER

Series: New Mexico History and Cultures; Sustaining Community

Regional artist Diana Molina will present an eclectic, multi-faceted portrayal that embodies the spirit of New Mexico's heritage through symbols and iconographic representations, sometimes with a distinctly modern twist. A photographic collection illustrates popular symbols and those less familiar. The Virgin of Guadalupe and Mimbres Rock Art are among the topics covered in a presentation that includes a blend of tradition, history, contemporary culture, and nature and socio-political subject matter. Touching on the current issues that face our borderland community, the artist's work as a photographer and exhibit curator provides a compelling representation of topics relevant to the national conversation and our place within it. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. VanAnn Moore
Concha Ortiz Y Pino
Chautauqua as Concha Ortiz Y Pino

Series: New Mexico History and Cultures

Concha Ortiz y Pino de Kleven was the Matriarch of a 300 year old New Mexico Legacy. She was born only two years before statehood. In 1936 at the age of 26 Concha was the youngest American woman elected to State office serving in the New Mexico House of Representations. By 1941 at the age of 30 she became the Democratic majority whip, the first woman to hold such a position in state government. She championed woman's rights, bi-lingual education, and equal funding for urban and rural schools. President Kennedy appointed her to the National Humanities Council as an appointee of President Ford. She served on 60 community boards while managing her family's 100,00 acre ranch in Galisteo New Mexico. Thus, Concha Ortiz y Pino was a remarkable “Larger than Life” woman who had more than just a political career. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. VanAnn Moore
AMAZING WOMEN OF THE WILD WEST: Territorial New Mexico
Chautauqua as Doña Tules Barcelo, Susan Shelby Magoffin, and Lydia Spencer Lane

Series: New Mexico History and Cultures

One of the most dramatic eras of New Mexico's rich history is the Territorial period when the United States first raised the American flag on August 18, 1846 over the plaza of Las Vegas for the first time. This program examines the territorial women through living history portrayals of Doña Tules (Gertrudes Barcelo), Susan Shelby Magoffin, and Lydia Spencer Lane. These women represented what it took to survive and thrive during very colorful and extremely challenging times in New Mexico's Territorial Era. It brings history into an understandable and personal reality. Doña Tules opened Santa Fe and New Mexico to America; through Susan Magoffin's detailed journal we understand the beginning of New Mexico as a Territory; and through Lydia Spencer Lane we experience frontier military life and the beginning of the American Civil War out West. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. VanAnn Moore
Jessie Benton Fremont
Chautauqua as Jessie Benton Fremont

For Jessie Benton Fremont, the idea of “Manifest Destiny” was her passion. The phrase originated from her father Senator Thomas Hart Benton. But it was her husband, John Charles Fremont the famous explorer known as the great “Pathfinder,” who made it a reality. The vivacious, strong-willed and beautiful Jessie became a prolific writer starting with putting John Fremont's Western Expeditions into print. Jessie was also born for politics. Her husband John became a Governor of Arizona, the first Senator of California, and the first Republican to run for President of the United States in 1856. Together they brandished an anti-slavery platform. Throughout her life she was in contact with influential abolitionists, women's rights Advocates and influential politicians. She spent most of her life traveling with her husband and writing about her experiences around the world. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Gabriela Moreno
I Live in a Mean Green State

Gabriela Moreno presents a talk that captures the essence of life on the border. She steps back in time to reminisce about the moments in history that shaped her Chicana/Fronteriza identity. Her personal view of history, culture, and life along the U.S.-Mexico border is one that is excluded from the history books. Moreover, she provides an opportunity to experience and understand people and life along the border through her analysis of representations in the region. I Live in a Mean Green State deploys theoretical approaches in the disciplines of Visual and Cultural Studies, Border Studies, Ethnic Studies, discourse analysis, and spatial theory. Gabriela addresses her existence within heterotopias (incompatible spaces) and homotopias (conforming spaces) that help her navigate through her imagined communities by creating a Third Space. Her commentary on discursive and social practices in everyday life, bring light to the way in which we function within our own power relations. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Steve Morgan
Aldo Leopold's Journey
Chautauqua as Aldo Leopold

We bring the words and wisdom of Aldo Leopold to our audiences through the Chautauqua performances of, Naturalist and retired Landscape Architect. Why is Aldo Leopold important to our current world? He is thought to be the father of wildlife ecology and our national wilderness system. He was a forester, conservationist, philosopher, educator and writer. His book, The Sand County Almanac, one of the most widely read on conservation, has been translated into 15 languages. What is most pertinent about his teachings is that those words, many written one hundred years ago, are even more relevant today than when he wrote them. His philosophy, he called the Land Ethic, included the natural world into ethical thinking. He said, "We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."� As our population has become more and more urban, the importance of embracing the natural world is more critical to our future all the time. Leopold asked that "people become more observant." Allow us to bring Leopold's wisdom and character alive to your venue through our performances. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Mr. Alan Osborne
JOURNEY INTO THE MIST OF TIME: New Mexico's Colorful Past

Series: New Mexico History and Cultures

We'll journey back to the pre-Columbian New Mexico cultures, the coming of Spain, Indian- Spanish relations, and the Mexican and American takeovers. New Mexico is maligned, if mentioned, in American history books and this presentation will correct some of the cultural stereotypes and misinformation common outside the Southwest. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Mr. Alan Osborne
THE REDISCOVERY OF NEW MEXICO BETWEEN CORONADO AND ONATE

Series: New Mexico History and Cultures

In this little-known period, Spanish explorers entered New Mexico Pueblo country and left behind a legacy of contact and conflict. We'll look at the Rodriquez-Chamuscado, Espejo, Castaño de Sosa, and Humana-Bonilla expeditions. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Mr. Alan Osborne
NEW MEXICO BEFORE COLUMBUS

Series: New Mexico History and Cultures

New Mexico before Columbus, prior to the European Age of Discovery, is a long and fascinating human story which was often overlooked or condensed in our history books in favor of the Colonial explorations, settlements, and stories. Now we have the advantage of more than a half-century of state-sponsored archaeological investigations and more than a century of anthropological fascination with New Mexico and the Southwest. We are living in one of the most studied cultural area in North America north of Mexico and with well more than one hundred thousand identified historical sites cataloged from the long span of human time here. This presentation will look at the time before Columbus and include paleo-Indian, archaic, and classic ancestral cultures whose presence is now much clearer and better understood. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Rosalia Pacheco
LA LLORONA, THE WAILING WOMAN (CHAUTAUQUA)
Chautauqua as La Llorona

Series: Writers, Storytellers and Poets; Art, Music and Dance

This famous ghost from Spanish folklore is known throughout the world for her eerie, spine chilling cries as she searches for her lost drowned loved ones, her darling children. Early Spanish settlers knew of her. Her folk story was ancient in European mythology, but in New Mexico it is said she lived next door, or that an ancestor actually knew her. Rosalia brings this uncanny tale to life with the help of guitarist Estevan Pacheco. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Dr. Noel Pugach
HARRY S. TRUMAN
Chautauqua as Harry S. Truman

Series: American Icons

Compared to the "Great Roosevelt," whom he succeeded as thirty-third President of the United States, Harry S. Truman had undistinguished beginnings. Yet, by virtue of his direct style, earthy personality and willingness to make tough decisions, Truman left an indelible mark on the United States and the world. His decisions on the atomic bomb, Soviet-American relations, the Middle East, the Korean War, the firing of General Douglas MacArthur, and the Truman Doctrine, changed the world forever. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Dr. Noel Pugach
LEW WALLACE
Chautauqua as Lew Wallace

Series: New Mexico History and Cultures; American Icons

He is remembered as the author of "Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ," but Lew Wallace (1827-1905) was also an Indiana lawyer and politician, Civil War general, and United States minister to the Ottoman Empire. As Territorial governor of New Mexico, he grappled with the Santa Fe Ring, the Lincoln County War, and Billy the Kid. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Dr. Cipriano Vigil
RITUAL AND TRADITIONAL FOLK MUSIC AND SONG OF NORTHERN NEW MEXICO

Series: Art, Music and Dance

Cipriano Vigil, a native of Chamisal in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, is the living embodiment of Nuevo Mexicano ritual music. As a boy, he learned from the previous generations of musicians at bailes (dances) and at entriegas, matrimonios y difuntos (christenings, marriages and funerals.) He takes you back to the encircling institutions where these village rituals bound families and neighbors together in responsibility for each other. His songs in the nueva canción tradition (related to U.S. protest and labor songs) address poignant issues of today. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne
ALL IN, DOWN AND OUT: The Great Depression in Song and Story

Series: Art, Music and Dance; Conversations With the World

The Great Depression inspired an amazing body of American popular and folk song. Woody Guthrie, Langston Hughes, Irving Berlin, Blind Alfred Reed, The Carter Family, E.Y. Harburg, Bessie Smith, and others gave us takes on many different aspects of the Depression. The songs are interwoven with readings from outstanding writers and wits of the day, as well as from ordinary working people. Stylistically authentic performances with piano and guitar. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne
1912: A Musical Snapshot of America in the Year New Mexico Became a State

Series: New Mexico History and Cultures; Art, Music and Dance

New Mexico achieved statehood during a fascinating and complex time in America's history. The frontier was no longer open for expansion. The U.S. was becoming a major power in the world. New technologies like electric power, telephones, film, recordings, radio, automobiles, and airplanes were changing life in America. Minorities, women, and workers were all agitating for more rights. Songs are documents of American life which tell a lot about what ordinary people of the time found interesting, and how they felt about these developments. Voss & Osborne are expert performers and scholars of historic American music. They present songs from the suffrage movement and the labor struggles, about the tumultuous presidential election, and about the Titanic - all from 1912 - introduced with historical information, much of it drawn from journalism and literature of the period. The program's climax is the corrido, "Hymn to the Statehood of New Mexico." | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. Jane Voss & Hoyle Osborne
I WANT TO BE BAD: The Flapper and Her Song
Chautauqua as Flapper

Series: Art, Music and Dance; Conversations With the World

Singer Jane Voss and pianist Hoyle Osborne give vivid, historically authentic readings of the songs of the women of the 1920s, the New Women, popularly known as "flappers." These fascinating and witty songs are remarkable artifacts of one of the greatest cultural shifts in American history, when women were establishing new roles for themselves and challenging conventions about costume, behavior, employment, sexuality, and expression. Quotations from journalists, poets, and the singers themselves complement the songs. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Darryl Wellington
Black Poetry in New Mexico and Beyond

A presentation by the Santa Fe Poet Laureate, Darryl Lorenzo Wellington on Black Poetry in America, in New Mexico and Beyond with selections from his own work, Hakim Bellamy, and Jay Wright. This presentation also includes selections from many poets outside of New Mexico such as Langston Hughes, Sonia Sanchez, Alice Walker, and Ross Gay. The historical trajectory from the Civil War till today will show how Black poets have consistently aligned themselves with Black empowerment and anti-racist political movements, from the anti-slavery movement to the anti-lynching campaigns, and from the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, up to today, when so many poets have been inspired by Black Lives Matter. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   

Ms. Susi Wolf
STORYTELLING: Animal Tales and the Lessons They Teach Us

Series: Conversations With the World; Writers, Storytellers and Poets

STORYTELLING: ANIMAL TALES AND THE LESSONS THEY TEACH US PRESENTED BY SUSI WOLF PROGRAM OVERVIEW Story is the oldest form of communication there is. From the earliest gatherings and etchings on cave walls, Story explained a culture for those who later passed that way. There is both practical and transcendent power within the storytelling realm, which is explored in conversation. This program will include: • Discussion and understanding of animal tales as they relate to various cultures. • Animal biofacts and artifacts. • The importance of animal tales and their purpose. • Trickster tales and their role. • Storytelling with various animal characters. • Q&A to finish. The presentation’s focus is on animal and trickster stories from the U. S. Southwest, Mexico, Cherokee, and Africa. Susi Wolf shares multiple tales, as well as leading a discussion about oral tradition within these cultures and more. Animal Connection Because Susi has a strong wildlife background, she has grown to appreciate the uniqueness of each animal – their skills and how they contribute to their environment. They are also our teachers in how to live. Wolves are fantastic pack animals and role model family life. Bear is solitary and independent. Prey animals demonstrate strong survival skills and community reliance. This is how animal tales began. The very traits and attributes of an animal will make them part of a story to teach a life lesson. She brings a few animal display items (coyote pelt, deer antler, and turtle shell) to enhance some of the stories told. As the audience members see these items up close and appreciate their uniqueness, they can think about the characteristics of these animals. Our brains are literally hardwired to understand facts, statistics, environment, concepts and more through oral tradition. It is one of the few activities that utilize both right and left brain activity. As a presenter for the Humanities Council, Susi can easily provide programs that bring educational, professional and quality principles to audiences in a variety of venues. In addition, these programs can be adapted to family audiences and older children. Susi Wolf prefers to do her presentations via Zoom Video Conferencing. | Full catalog entry and Chautauqua program application »

   
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