Photo art by Nick T. Spark

NIGHTWIND

Is he a terrorist? A harrowing true story of arrest and torture.

WITH MUSIC BY ENZO FINA Of MUSICÀNTICA

Saturday, July 8

5:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Forum at All Saints Church

132 N Euclid Ave, Pasadena, 91101 - (626) 796-1172

Evening opens with a brief liturgy and light supper at 5:00pm. Following the performance of Nightwind, Hector Aristizabal will lead the audience in a creative workshop session.

For reservations and for more information, please call Ruby Gallegos at 626.583.2734.

Nightwing - is a performance based on Hector Aristizábal's true story of being arrested and tortured by the US-supported military in Colombia. After his release, he witnessed the killings of many of his friends. In exile in the United States, his taxes fund the war in Iraq including torture at Abu Ghraib and the continued bloodshed in his country. When Aristizábal's brother was abducted and killed by the paramilitary, his own rage and desire for violent revenge was awakened–what he calls "the terrorist within." Inspired by his own young children, he finds ways to re-channel this terroristic energy into constructive action.

Short Bios:

Hector Aristizábal (performer, workshop leader) has more than twenty years experience in theatre as a director, actor, and drama teacher with both children and adults of diverse cultures, in California and internationally as well as sixteen years experience in psychotherapeutic work with individuals, families, organizations and communities, now utilizing Theatre of The Oppressed techniques, council circle, traditional myths and stories. He has developed this work mostly with youth at risk as the clinical director of Cityscape, an art therapy program at the Community Counseling Center of Los Angeles, as well as at the Program for Torture Victims, the Hospice of Pasadena, and working with incarcerated youth with the Youth Authority. He is a co-founder of Center for Theatre of the Oppressed/Applied Theater Arts-LA, Colombian Peace Project, Colombian Children's Peace Fund.

Enzo Fina (musician) is a co-founder and principal in Musicàntica, which tours programs of Southern Italian music and folklore to schools throughout the U.S. He plays a variety of instruments–some traditional, some invented and built of recycled materials. He works as musician-in-residence at Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles.

More about Nightwing:

The performance began as an improvisation performed in June 2004 in observance of United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Developed more formally since then, it has been presented by REDCAT (the theatre underneath Disney Hall in Los Angeles) and at other venues including Claremont-McKenna College, Claremont, CA; Theatre of NOTE, Hollywood, CA; Human Rights Committee of United Teachers of Los Angeles; 11th International Conference of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed; Delphi Games in Delphi, Greece; California State Summer School for the Arts, Valencia, CA.

More about Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed:

Theatre of the Oppressed (TO), developed by Brazilian artist and activist Augusto Boal, uses the techniques of theatre to create dialogue and encourage creative thinking and action about economic and social problems. His desire was to transform performance from a monologue presented by artists to a passive audience of spectators to a dialogue in which audience members become"spect-actors"--invited to choose the issues to be explored and then to intervene directly with their own words and actions during a performance. His Image Theatre techniques invite participants to express emotions and represent situations through physical gesture. Boal was arrested under Brazil's military dictatorship in 1971, tortured and "encouraged" to go into exile. During his years in Europe, Boal met people who struggled with internalized oppression rather than direct repression by a military government and began to adapt his ideas to address these different needs. After the fall of the military dictatorship in 1985, Boal was able to return home where he has continued to develop techniques that are used by teachers, therapists, community organizers, grassroots lobbyists taking issues to their legislators, and many others.

Hector Aristizabal is a native from Medellin Colombia and currently lives in Pasadena CA. Hector's commitment to the human rights work forced him to leave his country in 1989 due to death threats. Hector holds an MA degree in Psychology from Colombia and a degree as a Marriage Family Therapist from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena. He is also a theater director and actor and a practitioner of the techniques known as Theater of the Oppressed, developed by Brazilian Augusto Boal. Hector has worked with “youth at risk” in several capacities as a therapist, as an artist and as a community organizer. As an artist Hector has been the recipient of several grants from Los Angeles' Cultural Affairs Department, California Arts Council and many others, to develop original theater work with special constituencies. He is currently the clinical director and co-founder of CITYSCAPE, an Art Therapy program and works as a consultant for several organizations in the Los Angeles area. Hector has also traveled extensively offering workshops both within the United States as well as other countries such as: Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Jamaica, Cuba, India, Greece, Costa Rica, Israel and Palestine.

He is part of the board of directors of PTV The Program For Tortured Victims, located in Los Angeles and the oldest program of its kind in the US. Web Site: www.ptvla.org

Hector is part of TASSC, The Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition located in Washington DC. Web site: www.tassc.org

Hector is also a member of “The Colombia Peace Project,” which aims to educate Americans on the U.S. role in war torn Colombia and build up grassroots solidarity with the millions of Colombians who support a peaceful, negotiated solution to the conflict.

During the last 10 years Hector's main work and interest has been on the use of Theater of The Oppressed techniques, traditional myths and story telling as a way to combine theater, drumming, and dance with psychotherapy in the creation of “modern rituals” as a way to address the healing needs of many of our communities. He develops this work mostly with youth at risk as the co-founder of an Art centered Therapy program called Cityscape, The Victims of Torture Program where he is in charge of “The healing Club,” and the California Youth Authority offering programs in conflict transcendence, parenting skills and life affirming group processes.

In 2001 Hector participated in the creation of “The Center for the Theater of the Oppressed and Applied Theater Arts of Los Angeles,” - CTO-ATA-LA – dedicated to the development and application of the techniques inspired by Brazilian theater activist, Augusto Boal.

A few words on Theater of The Oppressed (TO)

MY work with TO and other techniques, tries to stimulates personal and social transformation through experiential, body-centered learning. Invites people towards a greater sense of consciousness and healing on both an individual and community level. Guides people through the process of finding and liberating their own inner wisdom. TO also facilitates honest, compassionate dialogue that allows for profound sharing and mutual learning. Empowers people to take action in their own lives as well as their immediate communities towards a more just and joyous world. Addresses diverse and multi-cultural needs and approaches. Builds community by creating a safe container with a playful and celebratory atmosphere. It's "original" in the sense of "going back to the origins" and for that uses drumming, story telling, chanting and ritual work.

I believe that one's deepest knowing exists within oneself. Trusting this, I invite people through the process of finding and liberating their own inner wisdom as well as sharing and learning from each other through compassionate dialogue. From my own experience as an exile, I believe that in order for true change to happen in our increasingly complex world, we cannot separate the personal from the political -- therapy from social justice. I view the body, mind, spirit, and the planet as inextricably linked. One approach without the others is not sufficient. Inner work and outer work are both necessary.

I also recognize that many different approaches are useful in addressing the needs of our diverse and "multi-cultural" world. Different people, different issues, even different moments call for different methods. With that in mind, I'm continuously exploring new tools and techniques that help people go “where they always needed to go but couldn’t on their own.” Based in my theater experience, and my training in Psychodrama, Playback Theater, as well as Theater of The Oppressed, my approaches are gentle and supportive yet frequently fast and powerful. They also are extremely playful and celebratory.