PachaMAMAS

PachaMAMAS is a performance art installation ritual of female bodies embracing the divine qualities in nature’s Earth, Fire and Water

PachaMAMAS is an evening honoring the divine in CELEBRATION of WOMEN, MOTHERS, ART & THE NATURAL WORLD

A trilogy performance that embraces nature's divine elements represented by female bodies through a ritualistic mesmerizing atmosphere with live soundscape.

Presented by GoPra Performance

Directed, Created & Presented by GoPra Performance

Artistic Director: Lazaro Godoy

Executive Director: Carlota Pradera

GoPra Advisor, design support: Jesse Sánchez (Henosis Hospitality)

Co-Producer: Casa Fe (Copperbridge Arts Initiative)

Collaborating artists and performers:

Catalina Arenas (Creative Stage Productions) Water element performance

Jennifer Veltre - Fire element performance

Carlota Pradera - Earth element performance

Virginia Reid - Vocalist , Cheloist and performer

Michael Gil (Luyanó Band) - Musician, instrumentalist, live composition and performer

Evening's break down:

Reception: 7pm-8pm

Donna, Spirit & Beyond, will lead the opening ceremony through breath, sound and movement.

Sound Healing with Michael Gil

8pm-9pm - Live performance

9pm-10pm - DJ music for the occasion

Available for purchase: Food/drinks and female artisanal vendors

( Spirit&Beyond and Huentelican Jewelry)

(video-art and images for sale on view along the evening)

PachaMAMAS' creation international collaborating artists to date:

Laia Vancells

Elske Seidel

BIOS

GoPra Performance is an interdisciplinary performance and arts Company of international scope, experience and drive based in Miami, FL. GoPra creates visual scenarios charged by theatrical movement languages embracing diverse body types and abilities to allow fuller risk-taking expressive embodiments by cross-disciplinary collaborating artists. Perpetual Mobility (The Practice), a workshop guided experience, and Healing Oasis International Center for the Arts are GoPra’s main developing pillars and artistic adventures today beyond the Company's ongoing Creations.

Lazaro Godoy from Pinar del Río, Cuba, received YoungArts Foundation's first prize award for his solo choreography performance (1996) and is a Juilliard School graduate (2000). His international dance credits include Bern Ballett, Festival de la Cite Foundation, ProArt, Projekttheater, International Solo Dance Festival, Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theater, Hanina Contemporary Art Gallery, and Movement Research at The Judson Church, NYC.

While working in Miami, FL, Lazaro has received numerous commissions to create, produce and present with the following organizations: Tigertail Productions (On. Stage Black Box), ScreenDance Miami, Bakehouse Art Complex, The Bridge Miami, Miami Theater Center- SandBox Black Box Artistic Residencies, (2014, 2016 and 2017), Miami Light Project, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, National YoungArts Foundation, Perez Art Museum Miami, Coral Gables Museum, Inkub8-Wynwood, Miami Performance International Festival, CCEMiami, and Florida International University.

Lazaro has also commissioned artists and collectives from diverse backgrounds, converging styles, ethnicities, cultures, and disciplines to participate in his creations. To date, 25 full-length works ranging from theater to dance on film, installation, and visual art encompass his artistic portfolio. The collaborations include partnerships with musicians, poets, writers, painters, designers, and performance artists. The impetus for the work finds intention and inspiration from everyday life. The natural world is a springboard for creating art driven by spontaneity, environmental consciousness, and the fragility of people and nature.

Carlota Pradera from Spain, EU, holds a BA in performance and choreography from Florida International University (2009). She studied ballet, contemporary techniques, improvisation and contact improvisation across EU and in USA. She enjoyed and was pushed outside of the box by Rui Horta’s and Ramon Oller’s independent choreographic workshops in Spain, EU. Pradera has worked with several Miami based choreographers (2002-2009) and created her own projects peformed at Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Ella Cisneros Foundation, Miami Art Museum and more (2002-2010) and under Pradera & Collaborators with live performances at Inkub8, Miami Light Project and more (2011-2013). Pradera has been guiding movement workshops for diverse communities 2001-present for GodoyPradera Projects & Programs, Arts for Learning, Shake-a-Leg, Miami Book Fair, Wynwood Art Fair (Lotus House Miami), FAENA, Tigertail Productions, CCEMiami and more.

GodoyPradera was born end 2013 through creation Bare Bones (MTC) and GoPra Performance was formally established in 2021.

Copperbridge Foundation (CBF) is a Miami-based 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization with a mission to promote cultural and educational exchange through the medium of artistic expression.

The foundation was formed to serve the public by building a cultural ‘bridge’ to unite people through all forms of art including Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Dance, and Architecture.

CBF creates platforms for creating, exhibiting, and interpreting artworks from a broad range of Caribbean, African, North and South American cultures with a special emphasis on Cuba. Through educational travel programs, Copperbridge fosters dialogue through the arts.

Catalina Arenas is a Colombian actress, writer and entertainer. She graduated from UNIVERSIDAD DE ANTIOQUIA with a bachelor's degree in Dramatic Arts. Founder of the theater company CREATIVE STAGE PRODUCTIONS (Miami - 2017), with which she has produced theatrical shows and entertainment for kids. Catalina has stood out for developing educational and corporate campaigns with emphasis on the performing arts.

As an actress, she has been part of recognized theater groups in the cities of Medellin and Miami. Author of the theatrical plays: Sexo Especial, Casados, El último suspiro de la ballena, A Fuego Lento, among others, and the chapbooks: De puertas para adentro, Murmullos del Camino, and Vulvatorio.

Jennifer Veltre has been creating since a very young age. Her first love for dance began at 11 years old. Jennifer graduated from the New World School of the Arts and The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Beyond dance, Jennifer has a degree in Graphic Design, Anthropology, Sociology and a Masters in Occupational Therapy. Jennifer brings her love for dance, movement and the visual arts to her position as a pediatric therapist where she works with children and families with special needs. Growing up in Miami has provided a landscape of varied cultures which has colored her personality. Jennifer’s spiritual growth as a person and as a mother in the last 6 years has been the most magnificent and expansive experience. You will see this evolution of Jennifer through her character. Jennifer combines aspects of nature, sensuality, afro-undulations, rumba spirit and the feminine warrior to her movement expression.

Virginia Reid comes from Cuban-Jamaican descent and her love for music started at a very young age . She was first a self taught vocalist and then at the age of 15 she took piano and cello lessons with Alain Orbiz. She graduated from the Academy of Arts and Minds high school, where she studied Renaissance and baroque music with professor Izaskun Cruz Nuñez. At that time, she also did community service hours at a Hindu temple and it was there where she met Mayapuris-a kirtan gypsy group that sings ancient Sanskrit mantras. There is where she found her inspiration and a great passion of healing people through sound by infusing her smooth vocals with Eastern music. Later, she attended New World school of music and participated in Alberto Bade’s Miami-Dade symphonic orchestra. Today, she is a mother of two beautiful souls and music voyager always learning something new.

Michael Gil Arango is a Miami based Cuban American multi-instrumentalist, composer, certified teaching artist, Registered Behavior Technician, Zen practitioner and Brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt under Andre Gusmao (UFC veteran and Renzo Gracie black belt). Michael studied guitar and graduated from Felix Varela School of Music, Havana Cuba under the guidance of Barima Gort and Mayra Cruz. His music career has mostly been dedicated to composing and playing music for theater, documentaries, contemporary dance, sound healing, yoga, PhD Clinial Health Psychologist taks and conferences, and storytelling. Michael has been devoted to play and learn about ancestral musical instruments such as the Australian didgeridoo, Afro-Brazilian berimbau, African Kalimba, Jaw harps, Nigerian talking drum, Afro-Cuban batá drums among others. These instruments are not only incorporated in Michael’s past and present music projects such as ‘Luyano Band’ (Miami FL 2011-2017) and ‘DJ ma non troppo” (Miami FL 2017- now), but they are the subject of presentations and educational programs in which Michael’s passion for music and teaching leads to history, geography, ethnomusicology, global awareness, and arts integration. For a decade, Michael has been a cultural ambassador throughout music. He has worked with South Florida organizations and institutions such as, Musicall, Fundarte, Artefactus Cultural Project, Fundación Cuatro Gatos, Anti Heroes Project, Miami International Book Fair, Conecta Miami Arts Inc., Miami Dade College, Arts for Learning, Sikan Afro-Cuban Dance Project, All Kids Included and Florida Children Theater. He has been impacting the South Florida community from after school programs, juvenile and delinquency prevention programs to families in arts festivals. He has performed in prestigious institutions such as: the Havana Museum of Fine Arts; the Plaza de Armas in Zacatecas Mexico, Puerta de Tierra Campeche, Mexico; Miami Dade County Auditorium, Adrienne Arsht Center, CCEM, MOCA North Miami, MDC, Miami Children Theater, Museum of Science and Discovery of Fort Lauderdale, Florida International University, Art Basel, Historic Asolo Theater at The Ringling among others. He also has collaborated with international medicine music musicians Jesus Hihalgo and Giselle world.