IMPERIAL SILENCE: UNA ÓPERA MUERTA / A DEAD OPERA IN FOUR ACTS
Directed by John Jota Leaños
October 23—25, 2009

 Imperial Silence, a multimedia performance, journeys to the ‘other’ side to illustrate cultural taboos around silence, death, and dissent in the satirical Mexican and Chicano tradition of Days of the Dead. This hybrid performance fuses dark humored animation with Mexican folklore dance, Mariachi music, hip-hop, bossa nova and blues, conceived and created by director/librettist John Jota Leaños, composer Cristóbal Martinez and the Mariachi ensemble Los Cuatro Vientos. The live/dead performance includes a live DJ, stage actors, folk dancers, and Mariachi singers who interact with projected animations.