Mexico City-born, Montreal-based artist Carlos Rivera premieres his latest multidisciplinary work Rosa as part of the 6th RUTAS International Performing Arts Festival, founded by the award-winning Aluna Theatre. Rosa tells the story of a peasant Indigenous woman from Ixtacamaxtitlan in the highlands of Puebla State, who escapes her abusive husband and in-laws with her six young children. Carrying them on her back, she navigates valleys and mountains and confronts immense obstacles along the way. After three punishing weeks, she finally arrives in Mexico City . . . only to encounter her greatest struggle yet: severe discrimination, which will force her to make a life-altering decision that affects not only her and her children, but also future generations of their family.
Rosa uses a unique blend of movement, theatre, video, and documentary to tell its powerful story, which draws inspiration from two sources. The first is Rivera’s paternal grandmother, Rosa Islas Lopez, who faced profound trauma when she was forced to leave her community, and in the process lose her language and much of her cultural identity. Yet in the midst of this loss, she found the strength to create a better life for her children. The second inspiration is Rivera’s own experience of unexpectedly moving to Canada: “Emigrating to Canada was something that I never thought about. It just happened. And it has been difficult. The part that most affected me is that I lost part of my identity in the process of emigrating. But also I gained another aspect of myself.”
So for Rivera, Rosa is both a tribute to his grandmother and something greater: a reflection on the universal struggles of migration and the resilience of those who live through it. “The fact that we as humans immigrate is part of our nature. It’s part of an animal nature,” Rivera explains. And the inevitably resulting balance of trauma and transformation is the heart of Rosa: the pain of displacement and leaving behind one’s roots . . . and the opportunity for renewal, for “when we immigrate, there is the possibility to transform, adapt, and change.”
One of the most striking aspects of Rosa is Rivera’s use of multiple media— theatre, video, and documentary elements, plus movement — to tell the story. In our media-saturated world, Rivera prioritizes integrating diverse real-world forms of storytelling: “We’re exposed to so much information from the media every day—through videos, the phone, through social media. For me, some of those streams, like video, needed to be included in my piece. Because I thought, ‘That’s a voice, an ancestral voice, a voice that happened maybe 100 years ago. That could be represented’.” Amplifying the point, he explains that “different landscapes can be expressed through the different media voices”. And by weaving together these different media, he connects past to present, blending ancestral stories with contemporary realities of displacement.
Central to Rosa is the role of the female body and its connection to the land—a concept that is rooted in Indigenous matriarchal traditions. Rivera highlights the importance of honouring this energy in his work: “For Indigenous people, Mother Earth is the most important element. The role of a woman is to bring life, to keep life, and to care about life — but also to care about the land.” Rosa honours that energy, which his grandmother channelled to transform her life and the life of all their descendants.
Rivera initially considered performing the role of Rosa himself, but felt that the portrayal required the authenticity of a female perspective and female lived experience in this narrative of survival and resilience. He ultimately entrusted the solo role to his cousin Patricia Rivera, an accomplished performer who “understands really well how to connect with that deep energy that is able to transform everything and anything in front of you.”
And while Rosa addresses the harsh realities of discrimination and violence, Rivera consciously chooses to highlight the blessings of survival. “I don’t want to portray that violence in the piece. I know it happened. But there is also the other part, the joy. The beauty of being female, the beauty of carrying that female energy,” he explains. Focusing on joy is an important way to subvert the common narrative of suffering, and to embrace renewal in a different perspective on the immigrant experience: “Cover yourself with the land… transform yourself through this journey of cleansing, and give yourself another opportunity to recharge your energy.”
The Indigenous struggles depicted in Rosa resonate across the Americas, and Rivera hopes the work will spark important conversations, particularly in our Canadian context. “Displacement is something that is still happening every day. Displacements from the land, from the culture, from the language,” he notes. Given this fact, he will be delighted if Rosa encourages audiences to reflect on their own personal and national histories of immigration and displacement: “This is a piece to reflect on what your role is in relation to Indigenous people and First Nations from this land.”
For Rivera, bringing Rosa to the stage has been a deeply satisfying personal and collaborative journey. It has been rewarding to work with people he loves and admires, including his cousin Patricia and longtime collaborator Francisco Carrera, who is the sound and music composer for the piece. “To be able to work with Patricia and Francisco is something very important for me and for the piece,” Rivera shares. And yet the path has not been without challenges. As an independent artist and producer, Rivera has had to navigate significant funding and logistical difficulties . . . though these obstacles have also helped him to grow, both personally and professionally.
As Rosa prepares to premiere at the RUTAS Festival, Rivera is excited to share the work with Toronto audiences. “To go back to Toronto, the city that I emigrated to a long time ago, is very significant,” he smiles. And Rivera hopes that Rosa will resonate with the growing Latin American community in Toronto, offering a space for them to see themselves reflected on stage. “I think it’s important to have pieces where people reflect… the colour of their skins, the stories, the issues, but also, again, the joy—the joy of being from the Americas.”
Rosa is on stage at Factory Theatre October 4 – 6, 2024. It is performed in Spanish with English surtitles, runs 60 minutes and is recommended for audiences 15 years of age and older. A talkback with Carlos Rivera follows the performance on Sunday October 6th. Reserve tickets on factorytheatre.ca.
© Arpita Ghosal, Sesaya Arts Magazine, 2024
