The Latino Theater’s production of “Perre De Nadia” has been canceled abruptly due to border agents refusing to allow Director Marta Carrasco and members of her production team to board a flight to Los Angeles…
Coming from Columbia. The company says they were treated badly by US Immigration officers, humiliated and saddened by the experience, and by the time the ordeal was over 5 hours later, they were good and ready to return home…
An official statement from TheLATC.Org
“Due to extraordinary circumstances out of the Latino Theater Company’s control, we regretfully have to cancel our presentation of Perra da Nadie at the Los Angeles Theatre Center.”
All tickets will be refunded. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
In Perra de Nadie (Nobody’s Bitch) a non-dialogue dance theatre piece, internationally celebrated performance artist Marta Carrasco, was set to return to Latino Theater Company with her new performance.
Marta Carrasco is a world-renown stage creator, performer, dancer, choreographer and theater teacher of the contemporary scene. The topics she deals with are close to the darkness and imperfection of the human being.
Carrasco took to SOCIAL MEDIA to share what she and her production team went through, which according to her words included interrogation, intimidation, and blatant racism!
“To clarify everyone’s questions, we are fine. It was a very bad experience, exhausting and very sad.
Marta and 3 gentlemen who accompany her on this tour, flew from Barcelona with an overlay in Seattle where we were denied access to enter the country. Without knowing why they took us to a secluded room, they warned us from touching our phones, they took our passports. Security cameras looked to the ground, the atmosphere was hostile, especially in the first hours when they took us each to different rooms to question us. The made several rounds of questions. Later they tell us that all the documentation was correct but that the Visa that the American Embassy authorized us to be able to work in Los Angeles was not valid. (That statement was a lie according to the American Embassy here in Barcelona).
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Our people gave the Invitation letter where it is explained that the theatre hired us for such price, passports for all etc., and to send us the corresponding visas.
We went with all the documentation, contracts, phones, address of the theatre, where we are staying, etc. After more than 5 hours of interrogation, they grant us 1 call. They make us tell them the information of the person and they call them without our presence.
They made us sign a document agreeing to the reason of Deportation and they tell us “if you don’t sign, you will not be allowed to enter the U.S for 5 years”. They started looking for a flight for us and in a very humiliating way, our dance company of 4 were accompanied, like criminals by 5 Immigration officers all the way to the Airplane door.
This is sadly what happened. The didn’t want to give us access to board to Los Angeles. We are good and already at home.
Please understand that the cancellation is was out of the control of us and the Latino Theater Co.”
Ironically. the Latino Theater Company’s next announced show, opening Oct. 24, is Aliens, Immigrants & Other Evildoers — a sci-fi “Latino noir” satire of anti-immigrant hysteria.
Aliens, Immigrants is continuously updated by writer/performer Jose Torres-Tama who will be including this incident in his performance at the LATC.
Clearly an Escher-like case of art imitating life imitating art imitating life.
