Waves of Tears / Winds of Hope - A Solo Performance
About this Event
WAVES OF TEARS / WINDS OF HOPE
This is a tour-de-force performance delivered by award-winning, world-renowned solo performer Antonio Rocha. Drawing from rich oral traditions and his extensive training in the performing arts, Antonio has developed a powerful solo stage show devoted to exploring the often-invisible connections between here and there, between past and present, and between individual and collective memory.
The performance tells two stories. The first is that of the Malaga, a 183-ton brig built in Brunswick, Maine, in 1832 that eventually made its way to Brazil, where Antonio is from. There, it fell into the hands of an infamous trafficker who used the vessel to transport enslaved Africans to Brazil. The story comes to life partly through the perspective of the ship itself.
Intertwined with this story is that of Pedro Tovookan Parris, a boy who was enslaved and trafficked from East Africa to Brazil aboard another brig, The Porpoise, also built in Brunswick by the same shipyard owner, Joseph Badger. Once in Brazil, Pedro gained his freedom through the intervention of American Consul George William Gordon and eventually came to live in Maine, where he remained until his death in 1860.
Using verbal narrative, raw mime, singing, and live cello accompaniment, Antonio tells this compelling story in 70 minutes—but its impact will live in your minds long afterward.
A must-see performance.
Note: The performance will be followed by a talkback with the performer.
This performance is presented by The Third Place in partnership with Maine MILL, Bates MLK Day Committee, Bates Africana Studies, Bates History Department and Bates Music Department.
Funding provided by the Maine Semiquencentennial Commission
About Antonio Rocha
Antonio Rocha (pronounced haw-sha), originally from Brazil, began his career in the performing arts in 1985. In 1988 he received a Partners of the Americas grant to come to the USA to perform and deepen his mime skills with Mime Master Tony Montanaro. Since then he has earned a Summa Cum Laude Theater BA from USM (University of Southern Maine) and studied with Master Marcel Marceau. Mr. Rocha’s unique and award winning solo fusion of mime and storytelling with mesmerizing voices and sound effects has been performed from Singapore to South Africa and many places in between, including 20 countries on 6 continents as well as in 44 US states. Some of the venues include The Singapore Festival of the Arts, Wolf Trap, The National Storytelling Festival, The Kennedy Center, The Smithsonian Institution, The National Geographic, The Tales of Graz in Austria, Dunya Festival, The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, Cave Run Storytelling Festival as well as thousands of school performances. Antonio Rocha also loves to teach his craft and often facilitates workshops, not only for performers, but for those who want to incorporate storytelling into their business presentations and classroom.
A two time TEDx speaker, Mr. Rocha is a proud recipient of the coveted Circle of Excellence Award by the National Storytelling Network, and most recently the 2024 Maine Arts Commission Fellowship for the Performing Arts.
Agenda
🕑: 05:30 PM - 07:00 PM
Waves of Tears/ Windos of Hope Performance
🕑: 07:00 PM - 07:30 PM
Audience Talk Back
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
