ORGANIZATION OF UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC & COMMUNITY EVENTS

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Uruguayan Film Series, in collaboration with the Consulate General of Uruguay in Toronto. Organized and hosted a series of 4 films rarely screened each Friday in May 2019, starting with May 10, as part of the international conference of the Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, celebrating its 50th anniversary. Sponsored by the Dept. of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics and the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean.

 

Literature & Music in Spanish America: Dialogues, Series. Fall-Winter 2018-2019. Organized by Professor M. L. Figueredo and students of AP/SP 4650 6.0 Literature and Music in Spanish America. (in English with Spanish materials available). Eight events (Workshops and lectures), 1-2pm on the following dates: Sept. 27, Nov. 15 and 29, 2018; Jan. 24, Feb 14, Mar. 7, 21 and 28, 2019. Sponsored by the LA&PS Research Events Fund, Dean’s Office of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, as well as supported by CERLAC, DLLL and Founders. The aim of this series was to empower students to engage with the research that I have established over the past twenty years, as well as consolidate and update a network of scholars and performers working on musical-literary innovations in Latin American and Caribbean arts. The series collaborated with colleagues at other universities and with artists from various regions of the Americas. It also included a workshop on the archival footage of one of the oldest running television media programs, OMNI TV’s “Canada Latino.” This speaker/workshop series brought together researchers, students, community organizations, consulates and artists to dialogue about diverse ways that music interacts with literature and society, making available (some for the first time in English translation to Canadian audiences) references to the most innovative contemporary Latin American writers and musicians. Each event in the series considered the role of music in multi-mediated formats that privilege its performative elements of meaning production as a social force and as a link between communities. By examining innovations and new research conducted in traditional formats and through community engagement and art practices, performances and recent publications, the perspectives on Latin American literature and music also highlighted the globalized nature of these relationships in their transnational settings. The presence, or irruption, of musical allusions and references to sound within the literary text was at the heart of the discussion, as was performance. Themes included: Ekphrasis, Migrations across the arts, Performativity of Writing and Song as Text, Musicalization, Latin American Writers, Gender, Multimedia Texts, Interdisciplinary Texts, Phenomenological Hermeneutics.

 

Spanish Music Hour 2018-2019

I organized a series of music hours open to all university members covering a wide and diverse of styles, historical periods and relations to poetry and socio-political references. Tuesdays 5-6pm. Curtis Lecture Hall C, York University, Keele Campus.

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Music Hour: Guest Performance by Uruguayan Popular Music Icon Huma Néctor Moraes, Nov. 20, 2018, Curtis Lecture Hall C, York University. 

After shows in Montreal and Ottawa, Numa Moraes performed on Saturday in Toronto to an enthusiastic audience. The performance was dedicated to Uruguayan guitarist and singer-songwriter Daniel Viglietti, who passed away last year. Numa Moraes has offered to visit our campus this week, perform some songs and have a dialogue with us about music and poetry. Héctor Numa Moraes sings songs of Uruguayan and Argentinian popular musicians and poets such as Washington Benavides, Osiris RodrígezCastillo, Humberto Megget, Juan Cunha, Daniel Viglietti, Idea Vilariño, Atahualpa Yupanqui, Alfredo Zitarrosa. With Maria Benedetti, he composed "Cielo del 69,” a key song of the Canto Popular Uruguayo, and has been interpreted by the duo Los Olimareños. His 1970 album La Patria, Compañeros became one of the most popular of the time. Exiled in Argentina, Chile and the Netherlands during the civic-military dictatorship, he contributed in the Hart voor Chili album in 1977. He returned to Uruguay in 1984, and has travelled on tour to other countries since then, as well, and has an extensive discography. Numa Moraes was born in Curtina, Tacuarembó in northern-central Uruguay. He currently has a radio program "El Sonido de Todos" en Emisora del Sur.

 

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Tango en el Río de la Plata [Tango in the River Plate], Nov. 28, 2017

For the 100th year anniversary of the world- famous tango La Cumparsita by Uruguayan composer Gerard Matos Rodríguez, and the 25th anniversary of the death of Argentina’s internationally recognized contemporary composer Astor Piazzolla, this public event presented a concise history of the relevance and artistic value of these River Plate authors. Included were the screenings of two films as well as original dance and musical performances by local Toronto artists and alumni. Co-organized with the Consulates of Uruguay and Argentina in Toronto and the Centre for Research in Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC), the event took place at York University’s Kaneff Tower and included student

volunteers from the Spanish Program/DLLL and was attended by over 50 members of the GTA communities, York University, media and consular representatives. Co-curricular ties to the event were made to courses at all levels of the Spanish Program, including assignments based on cultural elements, vocabulary and readings on the two composers and about the historical importance of the songs in Latin American culture, as well their significance in world culture. All members of the Department, Faculty, affiliated Colleges and of the university at large, were invited to attend. Presentations by the Chair of DLLL Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano, Associate Dean of Global and Community Engagement Narda Razack, and Associate Vice-President of York International Marilyn Lambert-Drache, as well as Consul General of Argentina, María Amelia Lonardi de Duardo, and Consul General of Uruguay, Silvana Montes de Oca, discussed the history and international resonance of the tangos represented.

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Music Hour: Spanish and Latin American Songs

A series of music hours open to all university members; each hour covers songs from a wide and diverse of styles, historical periods and relations to poetry and socio-political references. Calumet College 214 and Stong College 201, Tuesdays: October 10, 17, 24 and November 7, 14, 21 during the Fall 2017 semester. Performed at the Calumet & Stong Colleges ’Holiday Celebration on December 1st, 2017.

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Poet-Tree Factory at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games Torch Relay Celebration, July 8, 2015.

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Poet-Tree Celebration at York University featuring Uruguayan poet Miguel Avero and candombe group Magia Negra, July 2015.

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Frida: Naturaleza Viva (film screening)

As faculty member of the Spanish Program, Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, York University (11 Oct. 2012), in collaboration with the Consulate of Mexico in Toronto and the Associate Dean, External Relations, LA&PS.

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Raíces al cielo / Raizes au Céu / Roots to the Sky (magazine launch with performances and literary readings) 

Spanish and Portuguese Studies Section, Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, York University (5 Mar. 2011)

• Literary magazine launch (5th edition) for which I served as Faculty Advisor

• Co-organized in collaboration with undergraduate students and alumni of the programs, and of affiliated programs at York University, and with the support of DLLL, Founders College and the Office of the Dean, LA&PS
• The launch included performances of music, dance and song, and visual exhibits of poetry and art, in addition to literary readings of some of the original works of poetry, short story and essay published in the magazine.
• Organized a special performance of a Latin American classic folkloric song with members of the first edition of the magazine, now York alumnae.

 

Inspiración en la incertidumbre / Amidst Uncertainty. (Magazine launch with musical performances and literary readings) Spanish Program, Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, York University (Oct. 2009)

• launch of the 2nd edition of the bilingual literary and arts magazine for which I served as Faculty Advisor • Co-organized in collaboration with undergraduate students and alumni and affiliated programs at York University, with the support of DLLL, Founders College and the Office of the Dean, LA&PS.

• The launch included performances of music, dance and song, and visual exhibits of poetry and art, in addition to literary readings of some of the original works of poetry, short story and essay published in the
magazine.

• Performed (voice and guitar) three pieces of Latin American folkloric music with Cuban pianist and York undergraduate student, Spanish and Music double major, Amaury Rodríguez Ramos.

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Álvaro Figueredo Centenary Symposium, with international guest lectures and poet/music/dance performances, 2007. See details here.

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Ventanas al horizonte (magazine launch with performances and literary readings)

Spanish Program, Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, York University (March 2008) Literary magazine launch (1st edition) for which I served as Faculty Advisor

• Co-organized in collaboration with undergraduate students and alumni of the programs, and of affiliated programs at York University, and with the support of DLLL, Founders College and the Office of the Dean, Faculty of Arts.
• The launch included performances of music, dance and song, and visual exhibits of poetry and art, in addition to literary readings of some of the original works of poetry, short story and essay published in the magazine.

 

Festival Hispania (multimedia exhibit)

Department of Languages and Literatures. Produced in my course SP 222, Spanish Culture and Civilization.

Wilfrid Laurier University. Kitchener, Waterloo. 30 Nov. 2004.

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Raíces de mil colores (concert)

This performance promoted the diversity, interconnectedness and vitality of the cultural roots of Latin American and Peninsular cultures, with guest dancer Gerardo Reyes of the Danny Grossman Dance Company (Toronto); it featured poetry readings and musical performances by students and professors of Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Waterloo, McMaster University and the University of Guelph. Over 170 people attended. Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, Wilfrid Laurier University. Kitchener, Waterloo.18 March 2004.

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"Lucía, Lucía” (film screening) 

Spanish Program, Department of Literatures and Languages. Wilfrid Laurier University.Organized in collaboration with the Women’s Studies Film Nights Series, directed by Professor Margaret Toye. 12 Nov. 2004.

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“Hable con ella” (film screening)

Spanish Program, Wilfrid Laurier University. Organized in conjunction with the Women’s Studies Film Series and Professor Margaret Toye. 23 March 2003.

 

Canciones y ritmos (performances of poetry and music)

A live and interactive performance of well-known Spanish language songs and poetry readings with the participation of a ten-member band (of which I was a member) and other invited musicians from Hamilton and Toronto, as well as students and professors from the joint Spanish programs of Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo. Paul Martin Centre, Wilfrid Laurier University, Kitchener, Waterloo. 5 Nov. 2002.

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COLLABORATIONS

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2018-2019

Invited by the Consulate General of Uruguay in Toronto to speak and participate in the series on Uruguayan women poets hosted by "Inspirad@s” organized by the Spanish Centre Cultural Centre in Toronto, and in association with the Hispanic-Canadian Heritage Council and the Consulate. Virtual talks by Argentine writer Juan Fernando García on four Uruguayan women poets:

·  El modernismo uruguayo: Delmira Agustini y Juana de Ibarbourou

·  La generación del 45: Idea Vilariño en el centro de la escena.

·  Un universo particular: la obra de Marosa di Giorgio.·  Decir en presente: Ida Vitale y Circe Maia​

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Tango en el Río de la Plata [Tango in the River Plate] November 28, 2017
In conjunction with the Consulates of Argentina and Uruguay, and CERLAC, organized the special celebration of the 100th year anniversary of the world’s most famous tango with a fictional recreation of events leading its composition by Uruguayan composer Gerardo Matos Rodríguez, in a film directed by Rosario Infantozzi, “La Cumparsita” (2002); it also included a focus on the 25 years ’mark since the passing of Argentina’s new tango composer, Astor Piazzolla, in a film screening of a biographical documentary directed by Pablo Rho (2016). Sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, and the Centre for Research in Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC), student engagement and community links were forged, included the participation of student volunteers from the Spanish Program/DLLL. The event had more than 50 attendees from GTA communities, York University, as well as media and consular representatives.
Segments of the event were aired on OMNI Television’s Canada Latino program in December 2017 and in February 2018, and are available at the YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/R6XjrWvfq5w Saturday, February 17th at noon, Sunday, February 18 at 8:30 am and Monday, February 19 at 8:30 8 am. https://youtu.be/zn4h6D9Wwzs Produced by Osvaldo Mesquita: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3bCTSW55LZvp6-NnisCSoQ 

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Toronto 2015 Pan Am / Parapan Am Poet-Tree Project at York University, 2015
Created and curated on site and online installations of poetry from the 41 countries represented in the Toronto 2015 Games. The Poet-Tree 2015 four-part event, related to the 2015 Pan Am / Parapan Am Games as an IGNITE community partner, was a timely way to engage with university students and youth (secondary school) and the community in dialogue about Pan American cultural topics relevant to them as they witness current global, national and local questions that shape the world in which they live and their future. Taking as a starting point the intercultural representation of poems and poet’s names written by Canadian youth and poets from the 41 Pan American countries celebrated excellence in sport and a collective spirit of the culture of each place, the Poet-Tree 2015 event highlighted this connection across the Americas to the Toronto 2015 PanAm / Parapan Am Games, calling attention to arts, culture and identity are celebrated through the values of “joy, results, accountability, collaboration and results” as key objectives of the 2015 Games. (Jan. - Aug. 2015)