Stages, Sights & Sounds: Paige Hernandez
Paige in Full
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Hip-hop theatre for our generation . . . dynamic, personal, intense . . . and fondly nostalgic.
—Couch Sessions
Presented by the Chicago Humanities Festival in association with MCA Stage
Writer and performer Paige Hernandez performs her unique 21st-century not-so-fairy-tale about Everygirl’s search for acceptance, meaning, and that one true love. Using the language of hip-hop—dance, rhymes, and beats—Hernandez retraces her life growing up in Baltimore, recounting the joys, losses, and big bad wolves (heartless young men). Hernandez’s flowing language pays homage, with humor and tough honesty, to her mixed racial heritage of African American, Cuban, and Chinese descents. Embodying more than a dozen characters, she reveals the perpetual absurdity and the universal struggles of adolescence.
- Recommended for ages 12 and up
Running time: 60 minutes
Stages, Sights, & Sounds
An annual global performance festival for children and families, Stages, Sights, & Sounds is part of Chicago Humanities Festival, a foundation which organizes an annual series of lectures, concerts, and films in Chicago. The festival's theme this year is fairy tales, and six companies from around the world are performing classic and re-imagined versions to delight children and adults alike. The festival runs May 7–19, 2013, at various venues in Chicago.
About the Artist
Paige Hernandez is a multifaceted artist who is known for her innovative fusion of poetry, hip hop, dance, and education. Hernandez has performed on stages across the United States and her choreography has been seen all over the world. As a master teaching artist, Hernandez has reached over 10,000 students—from Pre-K through college—through residencies, workshops, and performances. She has been recognized by many organizations including the Wolftrap Foundation for Early Learning, and Arena Stage where she was awarded the Thomas Fichandler award for exceptional promise in theater education. Hernandez was also named a “classroom hero” by theHuffington Post.
She currently tours her children's show Havana Hop and her one woman show, Paige in Full: A B-girl’s Visual Mixtape, throughout the country.