Toronto will soon host scores of vibrant Latin and women performers, and some hot dancing boys, for Aluna Theatre’s international performing arts festival, Panamerican Routes.
Aluna Theatre is a not-for-profit organization focusing on performance work, and this is the second edition of their performing arts festival. “We did it the first time in 2012 and wanted to do it every year,” says artistic director Bea Pizano, “but when we realized how big the festival is, and how much planning it requires, we decided we could only do it every two years.”
The second edition will be nearly three times the size of the first, featuring stage performances, gallery exhibits, installations, concerts, master classes and a four-day conference on performance and human rights. It will include performers from Argentina, Mexico, Peru, the United States, Montreal and several acts from Toronto.
Pizano has had a great deal of difficulty finding queer performers in Latin America to include in the festival. “I haven’t yet found a company that openly defines itself as queer, like Buddies in Bad Times, but when you go as a new presenter, as we are, it’s very difficult,” she says.
Pizano was lucky enough to find a pair of attractive Argentine male dancers, named Diego and Ulises. While they don’t define themselves as queer, they perform a dance that tells the story of their close and complex relationship, the intimacy of which should have great appeal to a queer audience.
Panamerican Routes|Rutas Panamericanas Festival is Thurs, Feb 27–Sun, March 9 at Daniels Spectrum, 585 Dundas St E. alunatheatre.ca
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