“As They Say in Theatre,” with Javier Vilalta

This week's episode was actually recorded a few weeks back with the wonderful Javier Vilalta!
Javi was so great giving me some insight into his directing of the recently sold out show, “The House of Bernarda Alba,” that wrapped up October.1st at Sage Theatre. It was Javi’s second time directing this play, but this time with an all 2SLGBTQIA cast. We talked about the relevance of the play (originally written in 1936) to today's current climate and how it is still a lightning rod for communities that feel oppressed and stigmatised.
We also get to hear about Javi’s experience being born and raised in Mexico City to now living in Calgary. And when Javi isn’t directing or working on creative projects, he also loves to travel, to not only see the world, but to have a deeper understanding of the different cultures and communities around us.

IG: @javivilalta
@8rojo_
Twitter: @javivilalta
@8rojo
www.8rojo.com

Bio:
Javier is a Mexican-Canadian visual performance creator, stage director, movement coach, and translator. He resides in Calgary, where he attended the University of Calgary’s Fine Arts department. As a stage director, he has collaborated with companies such as Theatre Calgary (Gross Indecency), Sage Theatre (Scorched), Downstage (Lighting the Way), Lunchbox Theatre (Stage One and Two), The Shakespeare Company (Bard in the Yard), StoryBook (The Smartest Girl in the World), and Arts Commons (Mei-Mei’s Dream).

In 2005 he co-founded, along with Black artist Norma Lewis, the visual performance ensemble 8ROJO. With this group, he has devised five interdisciplinary creations; with which he has travelled around Canada and as far afield as Mexico, Czech Republic, Sweden, France, Taiwan and UK. With 8ROJO, he was awarded the ‘Innovation in Performance’ award at the 2016 STOFF Festival in Stockholm, Sweden; and he was a finalist for a 2021 Off West End Award in London, UK for Outstanding Production.

He has translated the texts ‘100 Love Poems and a Song of Despair’ by Pablo Neruda and Federico García Lorca’s ‘Rural Trilogy’. He translated and adapted the Mexican modern opera Anjou: The Musical Horror Tale for Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS.

Since 2010, he has assessed and developed educational sessions based on body mechanics, movement for the stage and visuals in motion; which he has shared with artists around the world