A panel discussion and showing of the filmed opera examines experiences of the Oregon Latino community
By Lucie K. Scheuer for Ashland.news
In mid-June in Ashland, a series of small events took place that proved to be extremely important in shining a spotlight on the ongoing dilemmas many immigrant families face in the Rogue Valley and across the country. Misconceptions around the reasons people from Mexico and Central America cross the border were explored with a broader lens. All the awareness events were planned to celebrate the premiere of an incredibly moving and poignant filmed chamber opera, “Dreams Have No Borders,” presented at the Varsity Theatre over a weekend.
On a Friday, June 21, at El Tapatio Restaurant, a distinguished panel of guests and members of the Latino community offered their opinions on three major obstacles asylum seekers and immigrants have faced for decades: Endless wait times related to the immigration process, the dangers of trying to seek asylum, and the constant fear undocumented workers face on their way here and once they arrive, including blatant racism and fear of being sent back.
Members of the panel included: Teresa Cisneros, moderator, Southern Oregon Education Service District; John Almaguer, immigration attorney; Virginia Camberos, regional director of Unite Oregon; Alma Rosa Alvarez, orofessor of English at Southern Oregon University; and Alvaro Tellez, Aztec dancer (Teokalli). Tellez and his family demonstrated an Aztec tribal dance in all their regalia for the guests. It was short in duration but stunning in its presentation and can be viewed in the film.
Professor Alvarez was asked for her takeaway from the panel discussion. This is how she responded: “The panel was well-organized. Taking us from the cultural representation in the libretto/film to lived lives in the valley and finally to some of the immigration challenges was a good trajectory.
“For Latinx community members, hearing about the cultural aspects was probably the most important. Representation is important. Knowing that every hurdle and difficulty in the opera was taken from someone in the Rogue Valley made it even more compelling. Hopefully, this opera humanizes an experience that is often imagined as faceless and ‘other.’”
Alvarez says, for non-Latinx community members, the value of the panel and film was “probably learning about the discrimination Latinx people face in the valley and the arduous immigration process.”
The immigrants coming from Mexico and Central America are escaping from genocide by cartels, abject poverty and persecution. What is occurring in Mexico and in other Central American countries is no less than a holocaust. Reuters reports that in Mexico alone there could be up to 30,000 people murdered per year. Once peaceful communities have either been taken over or wiped out.
“Dreams Have No Borders” was produced by local nonprofit Anima Mundi Productions and based on the real-life stories of Latino immigrants in the Rogue Valley. The film features three Grammy-winning singers, the superbly matched Delgani String Quartet, the Teokalli Aztec Dancers, stage direction by Valerie Rachelle (Oregon Cabaret), and film direction by three-time Emmy award-winning filmmaker Jan Thompson.
Estelí Gomez, soprano, plays Marisol, a woman making a harrowing desert crossing with her baby to be reunited with her sister in the U.S. Gomez’s phrasing and voice control is impeccable, her instrument strong and expressive. Cecilia Duarte plays her sister Rosario, waiting in the states. She, too, establishes a strong vocal presence as a mezzo-soprano. She leaves plenty of room for her and Gomez’s voices to blend beautifully, even on some of the more difficult, atonal phrases. Additionally, David Morgan Sanchez, who plays a Honduran refugee Gabrielito, vocally projects a confident sense of deep masculinity, a desire to protect, and a majestic air. He has sung in many regional opera companies and at the Met.
Written by Rogue Valley composer Ethan Gans-Morse and librettist Tiziana Della-Rovere, the opera is a masterwork. It is a bright mosaic of ancestral Aztec and the Virgin of Guadalupe imagery, soul-stirring string and chamber music that vibrates with sad, but harmonic vocal sincerity and poetry brimming with pleas, endearment and hope. It reaches into your solar plexus and doesn’t let go.
Viewers who are not familiar with chamber opera might find the repetition of melodies a bit tedious at times, but most phrasing resolves as the contrapuntal notes reach their destination at the end of alternating musical phrases. The music might be described as a running musical narrative with harmonic lines that converge, crossover, sometimes disagree with one another, but more often taper off into the sweetest, melodic lines. Gans-Morse describes his score this way, “I think my music is sort of ‘tonally restless’ in the sense that it’s largely made up of minor and major harmonies but the ‘key’ changes constantly.”
Contained within “Dreams Have No Borders” are streams of heart-wrenching true stories, flowing into one. The opera tells you of its intentions. It is: “A story of murder/ A story of fear/ A story of courage and resurrection/ A story of deep hatred and profound love.” A young woman whose husband has been murdered by cartels makes the decision to take her baby and escape to the U.S. to reunite with her sister, accompanied by a brave Honduran who has lost his sister who shows up to be her guide as the three cross the treacherous vast western desert.
The opera is filled with colorful and cultural symbols and imagery. Often between flowing but sad lower keyed musical cadences, we are visually treated to fields of orange marigolds which, in Mexican tradition, are present to guide the spirits of the dead. The camera leads us back to an altar Marisol’s sister, Rosario, has set up in her home with perpetually burning candles, a picture of Marisol’s murdered husband and more flowers representing a connection between life and death. We are also treated to glimpses of the hummingbird, found in abundance in Mexico, believed to be the spirit of the Aztec Sun god Huitzilopochtli, who merges with the soul of the warrior.
Ultimately, Marisol must face the biggest challenge of her and her baby’s lives after she loses her rebozo, a shawl she has carried through generations and the loss of which could signify doom. This brings her to a gut-wrenching decision with a nail-biting scene worthy of Thorton Wilder’s story “The Bridge of San Luis Rey.”
For more information on the opera’s viewing, contact Anima Mundi Productions (541-833-3066).
On Sunday afternoon, June 23, a reception and artwork display were held at Art & Soul Ashland gallery on Ashland’s Main Street. Artwork painted by teens in the Forward Youth program and created especially for this event under the mentorship of Medford artist Adrian Chavez were on display. Students at Ashland High School were given the opportunity to create their own traditional artwork based on various images that have emerged from the Aztec and Mexican cultures.
Chavez offers a brief description of the works saying “All the pieces represent different aspects the students‘ love about their culture. Whether it be a memory of sharing warm cafe with family or setting up the offering table for Day of the Dead, each painting is a look into the pride of their culture.”
“Dreams Have No Borders” begins with the words: “If our story changes the heart of one person, then it’s worth telling.” It is capable of doing much more than that. It is a work that should be shown in schools, at festivals celebrating Hispanic and Latino heritages, in cinemas across the country, and especially to those who work in government and immigration. It isn’t just art; it teaches us about the resiliency of the human spirit. We need that now.
Ashland resident Lucie K. Scheuer is director and coordinator for two nonprofits in the Rogue Valley: Heart Rising Foundation (aiding Almeda Fire victims) and Uniting for Ukraine RV (aiding emigrating Ukrainian refugees). She is also a nonprofit development consultant, credentialed substance abuse/dual-diagnosis counselor and former copy editor and staff writer with the Los Angeles Times, where her work included features, reviews and a column on films in production. Email her at LucieScheuer19@gmail.com.