‘New Works For a New World’ includes video excerpts of three plays featured by New
WORLD Theater’s summer playlab program in 1996. ‘The Bodies Between Us,’ a solo performance by lê thi
diem thúy, explores the politics of ‘mixed race’ and generational links through the female body. The piece is
a reflection upon relationships with a tradition and racial and ethnic backgrounds as the legacy inherited from
ancestors, and what would be given, in turn, to future generations born in the wake of diasporic and migration
movements. ‘Chicomoztoc/Mimixcoa--Cloud Serpents,’ by Elvira Colorado and Hortencia Colorado, from
Coatlicue Theater Company, is a work-in-progress that discusses the metaphorical relationship between
railroad tracks and a family history marked by migration. ‘Las Colorado’ explain the piece as being ‘a
journey through dreams, stories, time and memory, across mountains and deserts, retracing the footsteps of
the ancestors, traveling back to Chicomoztoc (the place of our origin), searching, digging up and gathering
stories that have been buried through centuries of shame and denial in our family, but which connect us to our
past and identity. Some stories/secrets remain buried, and they are also part of who we are.’ ‘The Return of
Elijah, The African,’ by Sekou Sundiata, interweaves spoken word with jazz singers and band. Music and
poetry recount together the origins of slavery, as well as the evils of master-slave dynamics of oppression.
‘New Works For a New World’ constitutes a complex canvas that encompasses the power of diverse
languages: the language of the body, the language in translation, the language of music, and the
transformative sound of meaningful voices. 

For more documentation of Coatlicue Theater Company's work please see their Artist Profile