The fall of 2011 saw an explosion of Latino festivals, dances, dramas, comedies, and improv performances in Phoenix. And at a time when funding for the arts is declining and support for the local Latino community is hardly widespread, hundreds of artists came together to celebrate — and to fight.
The result of performances by Teatro Bravo and Israel Jimenez, Ernesto Moncada, Andrés Alcalá, New Carpa, James E. Garcia, Alberto Rios, Michele Ceballos, and Zarco Guerrero (to name a few), Phoenix-based Celebración Artística de las Américas (or CALA Alliance) may wind up a six-week biannual festival of Latino-focused arts programming. If so, it will be a loud celebration of Latino culture and a new branding for a community injured by Arizona Senate Bill 1070. Despite the legislation, the Valley's performing artists aren't going anywhere. And we're all the stronger for it.