Writer, Director & Choreographer Yara Travieso (2005 Winner in Dance) Composer & Librettist Sam Crawford Scenic Designer Brookhart Jonquil Lighting Designer Seth Reiser Assistant Director/Cinematography, Liz Charky Costume Designer Ingrid Travieso Performers Ava Roxanne Young (2003 Winner in Dance) Ranger Stephen Kaiser Man Abel Berenguer Shadow Figure Kassi Abreu (2002 Winner in Dance) Musicians Vocals Daniela Amaro (2016 Winner in Voice) Vocals Kelley Kessell (2012 Winner in Theater and Voice & U.S. Presidental Scholar in the Arts) Guitar & Vocals Liz de Lise Percussion Nabedi Osorio Piano Steph Taylor Production Team Director of Alumni and Public Programs Esther Park Producer, Production Manager Jane Thayer Alumni Programs Manager Joey Butler Live Film Technical Director Brandon Dumlao, Subculture Filmworks IT Support Michael Rahaman and Claudio Sampaio Stage Managers Chelsea Cosio and Denisse Cedeño Production Assistant Aston Brooks Music and lyrics by Sam Crawford, with additional material from the American folk song “Darlin’ Cory” and “El trío y el ciclón” by El Trío Matamoros. Award-winning illustration by Ryan Hartley Smith (2002 Winner in Visual Arts). Special thanks to Jason Fitzroy Jeffers. Director Yara Travieso also thanks YoungArts for creating a community that allows young people to imagine what is possible, then gives them the tools to create that imagined possibility. El Ciclón is dedicated to Mandra and Rucho. El Ciclón was commissioned and produced by the National YoungArts Foundation.

SYNOPSIS

El Ciclón is a wild neo-feminist mythology trapped inside a 1950s B-movie psychological thriller with singing, dancing, and just enough alligators. Ava’s car is stranded amidst the marshy waters, while the radio reports of a looming tornado about to hit the area. The only people nearby are a suspicious park ranger and a lone man seemingly drowning in the seething swamp waters. El Ciclón sets the stage for protagonist, Ava, who finds herself in a precarious situation facing an impossible moral decision. Travieso’s new magical-tropicalist production is an ode to her home, the wet South, and a reflection on the exhausting struggle women face when they are expected to save those who continuously oppress them.

Set in the middle of Downtown Miami where the live film is projected two stories high, the production transformed the YoungArts outdoor plaza into a South Florida swamp. El Ciclón invites audiences to experience a film and a live theatrical performance at once in the open air, amidst a twinkling cityscape.

CREDITS

Writer, Director, Choreographer Yara Travieso
Composer, Librettist Sam Crawford
Scenic Designer Brookhart Jonquil
Lighting Designer Seth Reiser
Assistant Director/Cinematography, Liz Charky
Costume Designer Ingrid Travieso
Starring:
Ava, Roxanne Young
Ranger, Stephen Kaiser
Man, Abel Berenguer
Storm, Kassi Abreu
Band:
“The Avaglades” Vocals Daniela Amaro, Vocals Kelley Kessell, Guitar, Vocals Liz de Lise, Percussion Nabedi Osorio, Piano Steph Taylor
Production Team: Director of Alumni and Public Programs, Esther Park, Producer, Production Manager, Jane Thayer, Alumni Programs Manager, Joey Butler, Live Film Technical Director Brandon Dumlao, Subculture Filmworks, IT Support Michael Rahaman and Claudio Sampaio, Stage Managers, Chelsea Cosio and Denisse Cedeño, Production Assistant, Aston Brooks

El Ciclón was commissioned and produced by the National YoungArts Foundation.

BOOKING INQUIRIES

For inquiries to present El Ciclón’s official stage premiere, please contact studio@yaratravieso.com