Desiree T. Castro -PROYECTO LATINA -JULY

MONDAY, JULY 21 PROYECTO LATINA FEATURES Desiree T. Castro at
7pm @ Radio Arte, 1401 W. 18th Street on the corner of 18th and Blue Island.

Proyecto Latina is a monthly open mic bringing together the best emerging and established Latinas in the arts and is collaboration between Tianguis Bookstore, Teatro Luna and MARIPOSA ATOMICA INK.

Desiree T. Castro will be sharing some excerpts from her current project entitled, " The Cabrona Chronicles." The project explores vital turning points in women's lives. So many times I have heard: "I wasn't always like this," which prompted the exploration of the moments of transformation. What are the turning points that triggered daughters to avenge their families, wives to leave their husbands, timid girls to have fist fights, students to discipline teachers, and grandmothers to mumble in their sleep," Te estoy viendo cabrona."

Desiree's younger sister, Ginger Gallardo will be accompanying the readings with musical selections that she has written, as she has contributed to the development of "The Cabrona Chronicles."

DESIREE T. CASTRO is an actress, writer, arts-educator, dancer and mother. She was recently seen in Teatro Luna's hit play, "MACHOS," where she assumed 'Diego' as her alter-ego and was one of the collaborative writers for the play. Soon after, she wrote a Solo piece on motherhood that was featured in Teatro Luna's SOLO-TU play. Since 2004, she has been a Company Member of the renowned Barrel of Monkeys Theatre Company where she performs throughout the city in Chicago Public Schools and at the Neo-Futurarium in the ensemble's critically acclaimed on-going production, "That's Weird Grandma!" Passionate about the potential of art in society beyond her own work on stage, Castro has worked with over 2,000 school children teaching creative writing, dance and theatre with Barrel of Monkeys, Department of Children Home & Aide Society, Lifeline Theatre, Redmoon Theater, Little Village Community Development Corporation and Northeastern's Chicago Teacher's Center. Desiree has found that writing about the most embarrassing, lets-not-talk-about-it, and 'that's not important' moments, are the most liberating. We don't realize the weight of silence until we speak. Aside from her current writing projects, Desiree is also pursuing a BA in Public Policy at DePaul University and lives everyday as a balancing act between raising her 2 year old son, working, school and squeezing in the art and tacos to maintain her sanity as she envies people who sleep more than 6 hrs a night. Jerks.