National Hispanic Heritage month is now and Celebrate Mexico Now (CMN) longstanding 18 years tradition remains unbreakable so their festival pushes on. CMN remains to be the first and only independent festival in New York City devoted to spotlighting contemporary Mexican artistry. Throughout October and November there will be a season of six free live and streaming events to celebrate.
CMN continues to celebrate the diversity of Mexican culture, this festival will explore contemporary dance, music, film, visual art, feminist history and arts business. Dance films will be featured in this program, created by prominent choreographers before this lockdown. Leaders of Mexican performance venues will discuss the struggles of persevering throughout the pandemic, we will hear from singer-songwriter Renee Goust with an in depth conversation involving the role of the Indigenous woman in Mexican history. While more events are still being announced, you can count on the screening of two short documentaries on elders within the community and a conversation with their directors.
We must thank Claudia Norman who founded CN Management in 2004 and for her award-winning curation and production. Over hundreds of native Mexican artists, sculptors, musicians, poets, chefs, filmmakers, actors, painters, and directors have been welcomed to perform at venues like The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, New York University, Columbia University from her hard work. Ms. Norman aims to present and preserve Mexican traditions which is why celebrating this year is vital while continuing to keep viewers safe. Due to COVID there will only be one in-person event which will still showcase ancient traditions and vibrant new ideas in Mexico’s vital arts including works from Mexican and Mexican-American creators with US artists who appreciate and embrace Mexican traditions. While this event will take place in New York thousand avid streams come from Canada, Europe, Central and South America.
While we all very much miss the live experience, the silver lining of an online festival is the opportunity to expand our audience beyond New York City. It was important to us to continue presenting this festival even under extreme duress and a closed border. First and foremost, we must make sure that this vital cultural interchange continues in a way that prioritizes the safety of our participants and audiences.
Claudia Norman
Come help bring CMN to life, celebrating and supporting NYC and Mexican families during Hispanic Heritage month.
All 2021 Celebrate Mexico Now events will be streamed free via the festival’s website at MexicoNowFestival.org and Facebook Live. The films Yolik (Despacio) and Tote/Abuelo will be available to view through October 31; all other programming will be fully available after the premiere date.
The complete Celebrate Mexico Now schedule follows below.
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