National Hispanic Heritage Month Comes to Colorado State University – Fiesta Sept. 14 Starts Celebration

Colorado State University will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a variety of events Sept. 15 -Oct. 15 to commemorate Hispanic contributions to the community and country.

The month-long Hispanic Heritage celebration will begin Sept. 14 with the Kick- off Fiesta at Colorado State’s Lory Student Center Plaza. The event will run from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and will include Latin American poetry readings and student presentations from the Latino Greek Council.

Other events to be held at Colorado State include:

– Sept. 27 – The 5th annual Evening of Music, Dance and Fashion will be held from 7-9 p.m. in the Lory Student Center Theatre. The event is sponsored by Friends of the Library and El Centro.

"This fun and entertaining event is a way for us to educate and

raise awareness regarding the Latino world," said Rich Salas assistant director of El Centro Student Services at Colorado State.

Baila Conmigo International dance group will perform several modern and traditional Latin dances. The fashion show, A La Moda -or In Style, will highlight the latest fashion trends featuring many local high school and college Latinas. The event will conclude with a performance by a special guest. The event is free and open to the public.

– Sept. 27 – The first production of Samuel Beckett’s work for a Hispanic audience "Catastrophe" will be at 1:30 p.m. in room 230 of the Lory Student Center on the university campus. The play also will be featured at 8 p.m. Sept. 27-30 in the Studio Theatre at the University Center for the Arts, 1400 Remington St. in Fort Collins.

Tickets are $11 for the public and $7 for Colorado State students and may be purchased through the Campus Box Office at the Lory Student Center, by phone at (970) 491-4TIX, or online at www.csutix.com.

The play has been translated into Spanish by Colorado State Professor Jose Luis Suarez-Garcia and will be staged as two back to back presentations: one in English and one in Spanish, under the direction of Eric Prince, Beckett scholar and Colorado State theatre professor.

"Catastrophe" also is sponsored by Colorado State’s seventh annual Diversity Conference, "Diversity in the 21st Century: National and Global Dimensions," which will be held Sept. 25-27.

– Oct. 9 – Tres Vidas will be held from 7-9 p.m. Oct. 9 at the Lory Student Center Theatre on the university campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Tres Vidas celebrates the life, times and work of three significant Latin and South American Women: painter Frida Kahlo of Mexico, peasant activist Rufina Amaya of El Salvador and poet Alfonsina Storni of Argentina. With storylines including Kahlo’s dramatic and passionate relationship with painter Diego Rivera, Amaya’s astounding singular survival of the massacre at El Mozote and Storni’s life-long challenges as Argentina’s first great feminist poet, Tres Vidas presents dramatic situations and a connection to audiences across all gender and ethnic spectrums.

"Tres Vidas is a dazzling show not to be missed. It is based on the lives of three, very important Latin American women," said Salas.

For information regarding Tres Vidas visit the Web at www.core-ensemble.cc.

In September 1968, Congress authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to proclaim National Hispanic Heritage Week. In 1988, twenty years later, this celebration was expanded into a month long celebration of culture and traditions of U.S. residents who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

For a complete list of events to be held at Colorado State and throughout Northern Colorado visit www.fcgov.com/humanrights/heritage.php.

For more information about the events at Colorado State, contact Salas or Lupe Salazar at El Centro Student Services at (970) 491-5722.

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