AIS Grantee Highlight: Motus Theater
During the first instated quarantine in Colorado, businesses and nonprofits were taxed with the sudden need for innovative ways to stay connected, while also staying safe.
AIS Grantee Motus Theater faced this challenge during the already-difficult process of producing a show. The show depended much on the consistency and collaboration of all their participants, with a deeper understanding of empathy everyone required to keep in order to follow conversations of open-mindedness and perspective.
Below, Motus Theater reflects with on this time and how they took responsive measures in order to keep these stories as immersive as ever over a virtual platform.
We thank Motus Theater for sharing their experience and keeping members of their community safe in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A New Take on the AIS Project “Sanctuary Sundays”
Written by Rita Valente-Quinn, Motus Theater Producing Director.
For the final installment of the Sanctuary Sundays Project, Motus planned a live performance in Denver, entitled Women of Resolution: Colorado Legislators Read the Stories of Immigrants in Sanctuary.
In this performance, Colorado Legislators would step into the shoes of Araceli Velasquez, Ingrid Encalada-Latorre, Rosa Sabido, and Sandra Lopez - four Colorado women who sought sanctuary in churches to protect their families’ separation through deportation.
There was a date - April 5th; there was a venue - the Studio Loft at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. We had our four legislators confirmed to read - Colorado State House Representatives Leslie Herod, Barbara McLachlan, Serena Gonzales-Gutierres, and Senator Kerry Donovan.
Then, less than a month before the performance, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the whole state to shelter in place to protect ourselves and each other. Like many theater companies across Colorado, we had to cancel our lineup… but that couldn’t prevent this event from happening!
This post is about how, in just three weeks, the Motus team turned a live performance into a powerful virtual event that reached over 200 the day it was presented, and 100 after the recording was released on YouTube.
3 Weeks Before the Show
Once it was clear that we would not be able to present a live performance, the team weighed the risks of putting together a virtual performance, since we knew very little about how to work with platforms such as Zoom.
All our team members have previously used Zoom for meetings, and we had attended webinars, but that was the extent of our experience. But now the question was: How do we turn this virtual platform into our stage meant for conducting meaningful engagement with our audience? How do we convey, in a powerfully and aesthetically rigorous way, the stories of Araceli, Ingrid, Rosa, and Sandra?
These were among the questions we relentlessly considered in our daily team Zoom calls.
Photo by Art Figel. An attendee’s view of Women of Resolution, from the Homes of Colorado Legislators.
Before we committed to the idea of “going virtual” with the performance, we had to confirm that our participating legislators would be willing to go virtual themselves. And thankfully, they were! From this confirmation, we moved full-steam ahead to figure out how to bring Women of Resolution to the screens across Colorado.
It was at this point Kirsten Wilson (Motus’ Artistic Director), Torrie Eberhard (Motus’ Strategic Communications & Project Manager), and Kiara Chávez (Motus’ Community Development & Marketing Coordinator), threw themselves into deep research to understand how to best utilize Zoom to satisfy the needs of this performance.
2 Weeks Before the Show
All collateral — including the event pages on Motus’ website and Facebook — was updated and circulating virtually.
Tania Chairez (Motus’ Outreach & Education Director) and Laura Peniche (Motus’ UndocuMonologist, CIRC staff member, and a leader in the sanctuary movement) worked together to reach out to sanctuary movement and immigrant-serving organizations to help Motus reach as many people as possible with our performance.
Our friends at the Studio Loft (our original location) helped us promote virtual performance through their social channels. Kiara and I worked on sending personal invitations to our most committed donors, enlisting the board to help us make phone calls to check in and invite them to attend the performance.
As Kirsten, Kiara, and Torrie learned more about Zoom, ideas started to simmer and the performance started taking shape. We also became aware of the new possibilities that a virtual performance provided.
For instance, Rosa Sabido, who is in sanctuary, was able to join the performance, co-host the presentation and participate in a Q&A afterwards. Previously, this would have never been possible!
Even singer Elisa García, who was visiting her family in Uruguay when the pandemic pinned airplanes to the ground, was now scheduled to provide live music from her parent’s home. Renowned slam-poet, Dominique Christina, would deliver her poetic response from her home in Denver.
Photo by Kiara Chavez. Screenshot of the pre-performance meeting with (top to bottom, left to right) Kirsten Wilson, Senator Kerry Donovan, Rosa Sabido, Rep. Serena Gonzalez-Gutierrez, Katie Larson, Rep. Barbara McLachlan, Laura Peniche, Rep. Leslie Herod, and Torrie Eberhard.
While all the preparations for the performance were underway, my head was spinning when attempting to push out Motus’ application for the Paycheck Protection Program, while also compiling what other resources were available to Motus that supported the organization during the pandemic.
1 Week Before the Show
This was the week of testing and meetings. Kirsten spent long hours meeting with Rosa Sabido, each of the legislators, and Elisa. They worked together to test internet connections and ensure image(s) and sound would be up to standards; they went through the flow of the event, and they practiced-practiced-practiced!
The Motus team, along with advisors and volunteers, ran various online rehearsals.
Some setbacks came into play during these rehearsals: At one of the tests, Elisa’s internet was very unstable, and we agreed that she would not be able to join the performance.
Fortunately, we were lucky to have Teresita Lozano. Teresita teaches music and she had all the gear necessary to capture her beautiful voice with high quality, allowing us to schedule her instead.
She is a beautiful acapella singer and monologist for the SALSA Lotería Project, who had previously moved to West Virginia. But now with open spots in the performance and ability to connect online, the performance was able to continue as planned.
The day before the final event, we took to final touches, including preparing the slideshow that attendees would see when they log into the presentation.
Photo by Michael Ensminger. Rep. Leslie Herod reading the story of Araceli Velasquez in Motus’ performance of Women of Resolution at eTown in 2018.
On her experience of reading Rosa Sabido’s story, Rep. Barbara McLachlan said:
This event changed my life. I have read stories, and I had met Rosa, but seeing her story as one of hundreds made me realize the gravity of it all. Thank you so much for the invitation to read with you. Friends of mine who listened in felt the same way; you touched so many people in so many parts of the state. Thank you!
Senator Kerry Donovan, reflecting about the importance understanding perspectives of sanctuary leaders in her role as a legislator, said:
As an elected official, it is my job to lift other people's voices - this is a critical function of our democracy. Being able to read someone else's words, share their story, their dreams, their fears, that is powerful. When issues become hyper-political and drown in rhetoric, it is even more important to find the humans - the caring mom, the hardworking niece, the funny uncle, the struggling friend - within the issue, and make sure to not forget the person in the policy.
The event presented a steep learning curve for our team. Now, with the knowledge that we garnered, we’re presenting new performances in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
These performances amplify the stories of undocumented and formerly incarcerated leaders — some of who are most impacted by the pandemic — so that their voices, their challenges, and their contributions to our community are not forgotten in the middle of this crisis.
Subscribe to Motus’ newsletter or visit our event calendar at motustheater.org to learn more about our upcoming programs.
See more about Women of Resolution -
Video Compilation: https://vimeo.com/423727215
Dominique Christina’s Poetic Response: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-51FjBi7CDg&t=7s
How Can I Get Involved?
If you enjoy the efforts of Motus Theater, support and get involved by following the steps below:
Host a Zoom Women of Resolution Reading event with your friends and family using Motus Theater “Host Your Own” Toolkit.
Purchase a toolkit or download for free at www.shoeboxstories.org/host-your-own-reading. Contact Kiara Chávez for more information about how to host a Zoom Women of Resolution Reading event at kiara@motustheater.org
2. Listen & Share Motus Theater’s UndocuAmerica Series podcast:
In the Shoebox Stories podcast, prominent Americans such as Gloria Steinem, John Lithgow, chef and humanitarian José Andrés, and Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors read the stories of Motus’ UndocuMonologists, followed by a guided conversation. Each episode ends with musical responses by Grammy Award-winning musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma, Arturo O’Farrill, and Ozomatli. Listen at shoeboxstories.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
In the Motus Monologues podcast, UndocuMonologists read their own stories followed by musical responses by award-winning musicians. Listen at https://www.motustheater.org/motus-monologues-podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
3. Visit our website to subscribe to our newsletter and check out upcoming events.
4. Engage & share on social media, visit and follow Motus Theater and Shoebox Stories pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
About Arts in Society
Since 2016, Arts in Society has been funding individuals, grants, schools and government entities, with two-year grant awards of up to $50,000 per project. In addition to funding, grantees receive training, professional development, and marketing/social media support.
Funding is offered to projects in Colorado that are working collaboratively and utilizing the arts as an integral element for promoting social justice and community welfare.
Arts in Society is funded through a cohort of Colorado funders. 2019 funding partners include Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, Hemera Foundation, and Colorado Creative Industries . Funds and support are administered via RedLine Contemporary Art Center in Denver.