Fundraiser for Latins on Ice!

Hola, mi nombre es Sabrín Diehl and I am a performing artist that believes laughter is the last hope we have on this dying planet.

 

I am from Miami, FL and four years ago, I moved to Minneapolis, MN and faced the biggest culture shock of my life. Miami being a sort of Latine euphoric bubble, I feel I grew up in a city that is not a part of the United States. Moving to Minneapolis made me experience this country and all it's whiteness for the first time. Suddenly, I was being treated differently (not in a nice way) and I was very, very cold...Why did nobody else also just happen to speak Spanish the way everyone I grew up with in Miami did? Why was the only neighborhood that reminded me of home considered "dangerous"? And why, for the love of La Virgen Maria, was my hair turning into icicles every time I stepped out of my deliciously humid shower?

 

I had many questions and many near-frost bite experiences. I had moved up north to go to school. Although forever grateful for my education as a Latinx first-generation American, I felt extremely disconnected from everything I was being taught. I got extremely depressed...But managing to keep a little sunlight of hope in my Latine heart, I began to find my community in the Land of Lakes.

 

 

Photographed by John Gebretatose

Fulfilling my Guatemalan-immigrant mothers dream, I graduate college with a theater degree the year the pandemic hit...The year that every theater in town closed. Forever desperate for mi comunidad, I began to brainstorm how in the world we would keep theater alive that winter. That's when the idea of Latins on Ice, an originally devised sketch comedy play, was born.

 

The name Latins on Ice is inspired by the comedy group Latins Anonymous. In the 90s, a group of four Latin actors decided they had had enough of the Hollywood Latin stereotypes and they wrote a play poking fun at absolutely everything. This is what comedy does. It makes the unlivable just a tad bit livable.

 

Personally, I believe this below zero weather is unlivable. People of color suffer from Vitamin D deficiency in this country. That, on top of surviving hate crimes, makes life in this country pretty depressing. Yet, we go on...Echamos pa'lante (a saying in Spanish that inspires our communities to always keep moving forward, despite the pain).

 

 

Photographed by Maxwell Collyard

 

I had to discover canon Latin plays like Latins Anonymous for myself because they were not taught to me in school. I never saw myself in any of the stories I read while studying theater at one of the best universities in this country. I never saw myself in American media growing up. My idea of what the "best version of me" was actually the "whitest version of me."

 

Representation in the media saves lives. Latin people are still, to this day, extremely lacking in representation. It's consequences are quite literally deadly... https://www.npr.org/2021/09/21/1039494354/government-report-media-hispanic-latinos

 

This play is not only for Latin people but for all communities in this country that are constantly made to feel invisible. It is past time to fund a space that is fully dedicated to bringing nuestras communidades together to be real and funny about our common challenges.

 

 

Photographed by Maxwell Collyard

The money you donate will go towards a vital healing medicine: Laughter. Even if you can simply donate a dollar, it shall make our comedic falls on the ice rink just a bit warmer (of course none of us know how to ice skate...we are Latinx...). More specifically, it shall go towards paying for our actors, writers, director, props, sound system, photographer, stage manager, and anything else we will need to keep us warm.

 

Our performance will take place at the family rink of the U.S. Pond Hockey Championship that will be happening on top of the frozen Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, MN.

We will have three shows...

11am & 2pm on January 29th

11am on January 30th (with a Live Stream option)

 

I would like to express a huge gratitude to our presenters: The Great Northern, Teatro del Pueblo, and U.S. Pond Hockey . None of this would be possible if you all did not believe in this idea.

 

If you would like to follow us on our journey, with videos and photos of us, follow us on Instagram! @latins.on.ice https://www.instagram.com/tv/CWXASOZD0-B/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

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LATINS ON ICE

By: Sabrín Diehl & Latin Ensemble

PROJECT DESCRIPTION / SYNOPSIS:

Five local Latin performers try to make the best out of a Minnesota winter.

They try their hands (or feet, rather) at ice skating….Will they be the first ever LATINS ON ICE? Fact Check: Who knows? Latin history isn’t taught in schools! After failed attempts at ice skating, they resort to their usual tropical devices and set up Latinidad on the frozen lake. More comfortable in this feigned natural habitat with blow-up palm trees, beach balls & sombreros, the Latins throw down colorful beach towels and share their Minnesota experiences. The stories are comedic, tragic, explosive! Will the Latins assimilate to this cold and uncertain terrain? Or will they infuse Minnesota with Tropicalidad - ON ICE!? ? Porque no los dos? Come create heat with us as we celebrate the passion of Latin people echando pa’lante (making it happen) en the Minnesota tundra!

Directed by John Gebretatose. Written and performed by Sabrín Diehl, Xochi de la Luna, Alex Barreto Hathaway, Antonio Rios-Luna, and Isabella Dunsieth. Produced by Sabrín Diehl. Presented by The Great Northern, U.S. Pond Hockey, and Teatro del Pueblo.