NEW LONDON, Conn. — The Hispanic Alliance of Southeastern Connecticut's mission is to advance Hispanic contributions to the Southeastern Connecticut community and beyond.
"We have very structured and specific, clearly identified well, designed intentional programs," explained Maria Amparo Cruz-Saco with Hispanic Alliance of Southeastern Connecticut.
This includes the organization's many Art and Culture programs created to embrace and share their diverse Hispanic heritage with the community.
"We're very diverse, and it goes back to our history, so Arts and Culture give us that opportunity to share that; The folklore, our identity," explained Lina Agudelo, Executive Director.
The Hispanic Alliance "Act 1, Act Tú" bilingual theatre is one of the Arts and Culture programs recently launched in the summer of 2022 in collaboration with Chestnut Street Playhouse in Norwich.
The play, Hispanick Zone, was written by a Hispanic author and performed by bilingual students. Producers and Directors said it was designed to create an accessible unique, and rewarding experience for English and Spanish-speaking actors and audiences.
"It surprises me that it took this long for someone to pose the question 'what if we had it in Spanish or what if we had it in a bilingual way so that more people can not only participate in it by acting, but people can participate and come see it, and see something they might recognize in themselves," said Karli Swanson, Director, of "Act 1, Act Tú."
Marisabel Huarca, producer for "Act 1, Act Tú," agreed. "Theater is not just something simple; it's many things. It's passion, being able to work, discipline, and working together."
While the arts and culture programs are ongoing, directors and organizers stressed their work to make a difference through the arts will not stop.
"What's important here is that you make a stronger community, open the door for the Latin X community to come in, and have other people coming in to see their culture. Which is fantastic," said Swanson.
Raquel Harrington is the race and culture reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at rharrington@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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