Week 7

This week, I was most taken with La Pocha Nostra's mission statement reading. Their structure is so defined and yet so unorganized. Seeing how their organization works from top to bottom was a very worthwhile experience. Their brand of performance art is one that I find more accessible than that of Bustamante or Fusco. I do have a couple of questions about Pocha, though. Who do they want in their audiences? Willing, fun people, clearly, but what ages do they target? Do they change the skeleton of their show based on where they are? Going beyond the "local ethnic kitsch" they require from the local venues they tour, how much does the show vary by location?

On a more concrete level, why did they move to be headquartered in San Francisco? I would think that LA would be closer to their target audience, considering they are rooted in a Mexican background, but San Francisco's art scene is more vibrant and alive with performance art.

Pocha Nostra represents a wide range of artistic expressions. Their show is just crazy enough to be endearing and the fact that they put so much trust in their audiences is thrilling. I must say, I do not usually like performance art, but the structure of the Pocha Nostra shows sound intriguing. This is audience participation to the extreme; Pocha literally puts the show in the audience's hands. I wonder why they chose to make such a drastic choice? What message are they trying to convey by having the audience create and dictate their performance experience?