For more information contact: Lourdes Sevilla at the Pan Valley Institute (559) 222-7678. A full Festival schedule will be made available in April.

To register for workshops contact: Terry Maestas at (559) 438-6745 or at bizclub@earthlink.net

6:00pm
Festival Kick-Off, An Evening Celebration
• A public reception—food, exhibits, and live music

• A sneak preview of festival highlights. Opening night features include The Twin Tower Songs Project coordinated by Juan Felipe Herrera from the Chicano and Latin American Studies Department at CSU-Fresno and playwright and director Rodrigo Duarte-Clark. The Twin Tower Songs Performance is a live theater collaboration composed of multi-lingual songs, poems, music and stories based on Valley residents' experiences of 9/11.
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11:00am
La Guelaguetza, Oaxacan dance and music
• The "Guelaguetza", recognized for its beautiful dances, also called "Fiestas de los Lunes del Cerro" (Monday Fiestas of the Hill) is a popular celebration from the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Guelaguetza is a word of Zapotec origin that signifies gift or offering. It is a ceremony of brotherhood, peace and solidarity. The custom of giving has been practiced since ancestral times in Oaxaca and is considered a symbol of social participation.
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1:00pm
Theater Matinee: Double Feature
• Tou Ger Xiong - Hmong rap, comedy and cultural presentation. Tou Ger Xiong is the first nationally acclaimed Hmong American comedian, rap artist, and storyteller. He travels nationally to present his message of hope and optimism to people from all walks of life. He has been called the Hmong version of Chris Rock, Jim Carey, and Snoop Dogg all stir-fried into one.

• "Mountain People of Laos", a play presented by the Asian Advancement Association and InterACT. A cast of Hmong actors portrays the struggles and hardship encountered during the Hmong journey from Laos to Thailand to the Central Valley. Action, romance, humor and struggles collide -educating and entertain audiences of all ages and cultures.
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4:30pm
"The Mosaic Voices", a poetry and spoken word performance
• Mosaic Voices assembles 15 poets from the central San Joaquin Valley into one colorful and diverse performance. This performance includes sketches of the earth, the Valley, the mountains, the city, and the diversity of people who live in these places. Poems, music, and stories illuminate the different sounds and walks of life in the Central Valley.
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7:00pm
"Promise of a Love Song," Feature Evening Performance
• Promise of a Love Song wraps three theaters, three cultures, and three stories of love into a musical play presented by The Exchange Project. The Exchange Project is a collaborative project of three nationally acclaimed theater companies: Junebug Productions, an African American theater company of New Orleans, LA, Teatro Pregones, a Puerto Rican theater ensemble of the Bronx, NY, and Roadside Theater, an Appalachian theater ensemble from Whitesburg, KY.
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9:00am - 11:00pm: Booths, exhibits, food and live performances Outdoor presentations include:

10:00am
Music Exchange and Jam Workshop
• Musicians from the musical play Promise of a Love Song and local musicians will meet on the outdoor stage to discover how their rhythms and music illuminate the strengths, struggles, similarities and differences of their diverse cultures. Ron Short, composer and musician with Roadside Theater, an Appalachian theater ensemble, Desmar Guevara, composer and musician with Pregones Theater, a Puerto Rican Theater ensemble, and Jeremy Hofer, a Fresno-based musician, join together to lead this musical exchange.
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3:30pm
Lakhaun Bassac, A Cambodian Opera
• Lakhaun Bassac, or the Cambodian folk opera, is a peasant form of live entertainment traditionally played for outdoor festivals in Cambodia. The opera is composed of Cambodian traditional music, dance, and dialogue between characters dressed in intricately detailed costumes. The story depicts the love, conflict, and comedy between Cambodian royal families and supernatural figures. The Khmer Society of Fresno's Lakhaun Bassac is the first established Cambodian opera group in the West Coast.
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5:30pm
Paradise Band and Tou Ger Xiong
• Nationally recognized Hmong comedian and rap artist and storyteller Tour Ger Xiong performs and opens for Hmong pop rock band, Paradise. Hailing from Fresno, CA, Paradise has a large following and has released several CD's and music videos that have appeared on MTV.
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9:30pm
Outdoor Musical Jam & Dance Party
• Musicians from the musical play Promise of a Love Song and local musicians will join together again on the outdoor stage to discover how their rhythms and music illuminate the strengths, struggles, similarities and differences of their diverse cultures.
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Immigrant Film Series: Times TBA

• Echando Raíces/Taking Root, directed by J.T. Takagi/Produced by The American Friends Service Committee. Echando Raices tells the stories of immigrant communities and their struggle for human rights. Stories and reflections of refugees and immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Cambodia and Laos are combined with scenes of community life and struggle.
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• Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America, Directed by Taggart Siegel/Produced by Jim McSilver, T. Siegel. Director Taggart Siegel spent 17 years chronicling the life of Paja Thao and his family from the mountains of Laos to the heartland of American. This poignant film shows a shaman's struggles to maintain his ancient traditions as his children embrace American culture.
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• Blossoms of Fire, Directed/Produced by Maureen Gosling and Ellen Osborne. Director Maureen Gosling presents a dazzling, whirling dance of a film that celebrates the extraordinary lives of the Istmus Zapotec women of southern Oaxaca, Mexico. The strong work ethic and fierce independent streak of the Istmus women is rooted in their culture and has greatly contributed to the region's progressive politics and unusual tolerance of alternative gender roles.
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• Bread and Roses, Directed by Ken Loach. From acclaimed director Ken Loach comes the gripping story of a group of immigrant workers who take a stand against the million dollar corporations who employ them. Newly arrived illegal immigrant Maya (Pilar Padilla) has just joined her sister on the job as a janitor in a downtown LA office building. Appalled at the work conditions and unfair labor practices, she teams up with Sam (Adrian Brody), a labor organizer, to fight their ruthless employer. This movie is presented/sponsored by Community Alliance for a Fair Economy. Organizers will ask for a donation to cover costs.
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7:00pm
"Esperanza y Luz," Feature Theater Performance by Teatro Inmigrante
• Agustin Lira, former founder of the El Teatro Campesino along with Luis Valdez, directs a new play about the journey of two immigrant women, Esperanza Y Luz, and the circumstances that led them to traverse the dangerous U.S.-Mexican border, and subsequently their lives once in the U.S. Teatro Inmigrante strives to educate the public about immigrant issues today -especially in light of the recent World Trade Center terrorist attacks. The performing group is composed of people who share the common experience as immigrants in this country, whether they are first, second, or third generation. A one-act skit, by The Ernesto Torchia Workshop will open for Esperanza y Luz.
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*Pre-registration required: contact Terry Maestas at 559-438-6745 or at bizclub@earthlink.net

*Stories into Plays: Sharing Theater Techniques and Styles, April 27, 10:00am, The Second Space Theater
Story, whether drawn from the literary or oral tradition, is a basic building block of drama. Learn how two veteran ensembles use story to create original plays, and explore the dramatic possibilities of your own stories.
Rosalba Rolon, Artistic Director of Pregones Theater, a Puerto Rican theater ensemble of the Bronx, New York, and Dudley Cocke, Artistic Director of Roadside Theater, an Appalachian theater ensemble from Whitesburg, Kentucky will lead this workshop and discussion.
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*Teatro Traditions, with Ernesto Torchia, April 27th, 2:00pm at The Second Space Theater
Join in an interactive theater workshop with Ernesto Torchia, internationally known professional theater teacher, director and actor of film, radio and television. For Torchia, "The Theater is life. In an integral form: the actor and the Persona are the same thing, two faces of the same coin," says Torchia, who will visit Fresno to impart two weeks of theater classes before and during the Tamejavi Festival.
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*Story Circles: A methodology for communication, community building and creativity, Tower Lobby
Junebug Productions, an African American theater ensemble based in New Orleans, uses the story circle as a key instrument for a wide range of purposes that rely on deep communication, exchange between diverse groups, and creativity. John O'Neal, Artistic Director of Junebug Productions, and Theresa Holden, Producer for The Exchange Project and member of the Junebug staff, will share this particular story circle process.
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Ethnic Media Forum: Exploring Content & Participation, April 27th, 11:00am, place TBA
Organized by: Pacific News Service's New California Media. Professionals from Spanish language, Hmong, Oaxacan and other ethnic media will join on a panel to discuss the issues, concerns, and trends facing the media in the increasingly diverse state of California. Content in reporting on multi-cultural communities and using media as a tool for civic participation will be explored.
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Braceros: Testimonies Familiares de una Exerienca Migrante, April 28th, time and place TBA
Organized by: Luis Magaña, Rural Economic Alternatives Project, Leonel Flores, Coalicion por los Derechos de los Inmigrantres del Valle de San Joaquin, and Myrna Martinez Nateras and Lourdes Sevilla, Pan Valley Institute. The Bracero program was established from 1940 to 1964 to bring workers, particularly from Mexico, to supply the depleted work force in the U.S. during World War II. These workers had to return to Mexico after the contract was completed. This experience affected many Mexican families in different ways. In some cases the women never saw their husband again, in other cases the children of Braceros grew seeing their parents only three or four months out of a year. This platica will gather families of ex-braceros to give testimonies of the way they lived the Bracero experience and the impact it had in their family relations.
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The Immigrant Path Towards Civic Participation, April 27, time and place TBA
Organized by: Nayamin Martinez, Frente Indigena Oaxaqueño Binacional, Myrna Martinez Nateras and Lordes Sevilla, Pan Valley Institute. Civic participation is the relationship people establish with political, economic, and social institutions to guarantee the exercise of democracy. It is the space in which citizenry exercises its rights and responsibilities to society as a whole. It is a space in which individuals organize to build communities, estates, or nations. For immigrant communities civic participation presents particular challenges in part because it requires a process of learning new political systems, cultures, and values. This plática will bring together researchers, practitioners, and individuals that live, study, and organize to form spaces for civic, political, and cultural expression.
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Making Our Place: A Gender Perspective on Immigration, April 28th, time and place TBA
Organized by: Nayamin Martinez, Frente Indigena Oaxaqueno Binacional, Myrna Martinez Nateras and Lourdes Sevilla, Pan Valley Institute. In the past males dominated immigration patterns into the U.S.; particularly from Mexico. The presence of women in many cases had been as family companions and not as economic agents. This situation changed dramatically in the late sixties when more women head of household started coming in search of economic opportunities to support their families. This platica will address migration as a social phenomena from a gender perspective.
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Immigrant Women Weaving Cultures, Photographs by Saundra Sturdevant
The photo exhibit "Immigrant Women Weaving Cultures," is the result of an educational experience that a group of Latina, indigenous Mexican and Hmong women have been involved for over two years. Their mission has been "To provide immigrant and refugee women with the opportunity to raise their voices and those of their communities in the process of deciding what is best for them." This process has enabled the women to support each other in building independence and initiative to take action toward solving their problems.
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The Immigrants, a photo exhibit, place TBA
Traditional Oaxacan clothing exhibit, place TBA

or language translation in Spanish and Hmong please contact the Pan Valley Institute (559) 222-7678

To Register for Workshops Contact Terry Maestas at (559) 438-6745 or at bizclub@earthlink.net