Tranza

IRINA CONTRERAS is a Los Angeles-based interdisciplinary artist and educator whose projects engage language, site and distribution. She is an adjunct video instructor and lecturer at Otis College of Art and Design as well as a staff writer for make/shift Magazine and the former editor in chief for LOUDmouth Magazine. She is also a contributor to the recent anthology Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity. In November, she was a resident artist at PA 61 in Mexico City where she continued to hone in on her work and research around the politics of cultural travel, queer histories and immigration. These acts performed for the Tranza community were largely developed there.

Ballad of the Pocha is comprised of three short acts intended as simultaneous investigations of visible, invisible and forgotten migratory practices. The actions are tongue in cheek as they traverse the ritualistic/fetishistic/romantic and above all, absurd landscapes of “realness.” Ballad of the Pocha points to the duplicities of my own being, Echo Park and Little Joy as spaces of conflict, contention and over-indulgence. The night is a poetic, meditative, light but affirmative fuck-you to all the haterz and is dedicated to my late grandfather, “Pa” Jesus Ambriz Hernandez, the baddest pipefitting, car racing, gun owning, wide hip loving bandito Pacas may ever know…

Amitis Motevalli.
"Stupid Muslim Joke” is a performance which examines descriptive language, in particular that which is derogatory and how it molds non-dominant identities. It also looks at the rise of thisidentity shaping during times of war, violence and economic crisis, not only through the impact of perception by the dominant culture, but also the psychological and physical impact it has on those being described. The piece explores how we deflect and embrace this descriptive language due to either assimilation or lack of access to our own cultural communities/histories and change it’s impact.

NEZA also known as Emmanuelle J. Leal-Santillan, is a Xueer Xicano-Indígena writer, poet, activist and performer originally from the town of Villa Union in Durango, Mexico. He grew up in Las Vegas and currently resides in Los Angeles working with high school afterschool programs. His work addresses the marginal experiences of queer/joto/undocumented/indigena/chunti/immigrant communities. He is part of an upcoming xueer/jota collective along with Xuan Carlos Espinoza Cuellar and Yosimar Reyes called La MariColectiva. He can be reached at neza_ollin@yahoo.com.

Moments of Despair is a piece I was born into in November of 2006, it is mi poema de hierba buena, un pedacito de medicina, one which seeks to name the many momentos dolorosos people en la lucha often struggle through, it borrows from the collective daily struggle de nuestra gente, scenes of seemingly “everyday life” and uses them to re-energize our bodies as activistas, I take from my own experiences and choose to perform this piece as the night of April 30th yields un nuevo sol, a May Day sun.

BYRON

"Swallow your pride" is an experiment struggling to be free. Given the restricting constructs of what art is, or who gets labeled as an artist, questions "performance art" and "pride." Through anger, dance, loud-in-your-face-music, and a little bit of fun, this piece begs to look at queer identity beyond "pride" and its marriage with exploitative corporations, while fucking with performance art by doing it with disregard for the sanctity of its art form.

No Mexicans, No Chinese, No Blacks: Legitimacy in Los Angeles.
In a city strategically built to exclude, marginalize, and exploit people of color communities, various "subcultures" have historically struggled to survive and thrive in an inhospitable environment. Through this narrative, Byron will tell the story of growing up as an immigrant in Koreatown and traversing the expanse Angelinos call home. More importantly Byron will challenge the current trend of claiming legitimacy over neighborhoods in Los Angeles, not only by those who are alien and foreign to this urban sprawl, but by the descendants of folks who were never supposed to live nor own land in this city.

Milton Nimatuj
I am: Chapin (Gualtemalteco). Cakchiquel. Mariposa (queer). Immigrant. vegan@. sarcastic. moody. a humyn being. I like velvet. I watch Captain Planet and I'm a wanna be planetier. I love plants.
I am in love with nature...with the planet...with the water, the soil, the air. we are all part of it but we have forgotten what that means. I am infatuated with what life is -but not satisfied with what is has been.
Through his dance and performance Milton connects both with the culture of his grandmother and his people, and with the fluidity of Milton's gender.

Xuanito

third world xueer/ista, mexican@, xingon/a!, activista, izquierdista, radical, proud GORDA! intelectuala, estudiante, poeta y puta. a xueer who believes in social justice, a pansexual jot@ que believes that poetry has the potential to revolutionize the world, cada palabra is a spark of consciousness, cada poema una transformacion profunda. A highly recognized poet and performer who dares to interrogate issues impacting our queer communities. his/her performance ranges from cabaret to slam poetry. Xuanito has performed at several venues such as universities, gay clubs, book stores, glbt centers, straight bars and art galleries. his/her vision is one of reclaiming art from and to the margins, dignifying our forms of expression and use laughter to fight oppression and exploitation and keeping the queer xueer.

"Xuanito will slap you with knowledge and truth, and leave you wanting more."

Midnight Radio

Midnight Radio is Neo-noir band whose sound is an eclectic mix of ska, shoe-gaze, rnb, rock and jazz genres. Driven by story and epic soundscapes Midnight Radio is always experimenting with form and content.