Sex, shoes and curves

UTPA Theatre Department prepares for new season

Note: This article originally appeared in the Feb. 27, 2014 issue of The Pan American. The Pan American was the student newspaper at my former university, The University of Texas - Pan American, where I got into writing. Ultimately, TPA was shut down as a result of a merger with neighboring university to make way for The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley and the new student publication did not transfer anything from TPA. Here's one of my articles for them that was saved thanks to the miracle of Google Docs.

With the spring semester in full swing, the UTPA Theatre Department is set to premiere its three productions that will play throughout the semester: Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Real Women Have Curves, and Twelve Dancing Princesses.

Tom Grabowski, the UTPA theatre director, called the lineup an interesting one and explained the range of genres this semester is intended to keep the upcoming season fresh and different from the previous season. Last semester's group included the horror productions The Woman in Black and Diner of the Dead.

“We always try to attract an audience by presenting works that we know we need to do because our students and audience members need to be exposed to them,” said the 57-year-old Illinois native, who began teaching at Pan American University in 1981. “Each play this semester is different, Liaisons’ is a period piece drama that is very involved, due to all the costumes and sets we’ll need. The other plays are lighter and not as technically elaborate.”

Les Liaisons Dangereuses, or Dangerous Liaisons, is an adaptation of the 1985 stage play based on the 18th-century novel of the same name. It tells the story of two noblemen and ex-lovers who seduce and humiliate others as a form of entertainment. The UTPA version is scheduled to run from Feb. 26 through March 2.

Real Women Have Curves is a coming-of-age tale set in 1987 Los Angeles and revolves around five women working at a sewing factory. Themes in the production range from body image to feminism. The show runs April 23-27.

Luis Moreno, a senior majoring in theater performance, is in the starring role of The Vicomte de Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

“The role is a challenge because the character is a sadistic pig,” the 24-year-old theater performance major said. “It’s our job to show that audiences that, no matter how disgusting, misogynistic, or evil our characters are, these guys are relatable.”

His co-star, Gina Marie, admits to enjoying her role as The Marquise de Merteuil, calling it a change of pace from other performances she’s done.

“In the past, I’ve played older, gentler characters,” the Pharr native said. “These guys aren’t conventional heroes and its indicative of how strong our season is.”

Marie is also performing in Real Women Have Curves.

The final production of the semester will be Twelve Dancing Princesses, from the Theatre for Young Audiences Program, an initiative that airs plays aimed at younger audiences. This production is an adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale The Shoes that were Danced to Pieces.

The story is that of a king who challenges a prince to solve the mystery of where and how his 12 daughters sneak off to every night. If he succeeds, the prince wins the hand of the princess of his choice. However, if he fails, the prince will be decapitated.

“There are no beheadings here. This adaptation will be a bit cleaner than a normal Brothers Grimm tale,” Brian Warren, the play’s director, said. “We’re also having some moments of comedy, like the inclusion of a reluctant executioner who’s not a fan of his job.”

As the title implies, Twelve Dancing Princesses will feature a dance number for each princess. The genre of dances includes salsa, irish step dancing, country and more.

This adaptation will feature student actors from Warren’s Children’s Theater Workshop class, which will also double as their final. Child actors will be featured in the production as well.

“We’re always interested in allowing children to see the joy of theater and how beneficial it can be for them,” said the 52-year-old Iowa native, who has been at the University since 2002. “By performing with adults, and vice versa, everyone gets to see how the process of theater is done. It’s exciting.”

Twelve Dancing Princesses will run May 1-4. More information can be found on the University Theatre website.

‘Unrealistic Expectations’

UTPA students, faculty discuss body image issues

Note: This article originally appeared in the Feb. 27, 2014 issue of The Pan American. The Pan American was the student newspaper at my former university, The University of Texas - Pan American, where I got into writing. Ultimately, TPA was shut down as a result of a merger with neighboring university to make way for The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley and the new student publication did not transfer anything from TPA. Here's one of my articles for them that was saved thanks to the miracle of Google Docs.

Kevin Galaviz, a senior writing tutor at the UTPA Writing Center, tries not to worry about his appearance, but finds it hard to do so.

“I’m always paranoid about what people think of me. I’m always thinking that someone I’m walking by is judging me, so I just avoid eye contact most of the time when I’m in public,” the 24-year-old Georgia native said. “But, whenever I’m walking in public, and I hear someone I passed laugh, then I worry they’re laughing at me.”

According to Galaviz, this behavior started in 1996, when he was 16. That was the time his stepfather verbally abused him by calling him “obese.”

“My stepfather would always abuse me psychologically, and I never put much thought into my body until he called me that,” the English major said. “It’s something that scarred me back then, and now I have all these negative, self-conscious thoughts about myself.”

The following year, Galaviz was diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a mental disorder in which someone exhibits obsessive behavior about his or her appearance, according to the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School’s Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Related Disorders Program.

According to Kristin Croyle, a UTPA psychology professor, people suffering from this disorder can develop a severe preoccupation with their body image. Croyle said these people often feel so depressed and hopeless about their bodies that they may go to drastic measures to fix them, such as developing eating disorders.

The eating disorder website Something Fishy reports that an estimated 8 million Americans suffer from an eating disorder. One in 10 people diagnosed is male.

“People who are strongly affected by body image issues don’t talk about it because they’re embarrassed,” said Croyle, the vice provost for undergraduate education. “If you feel ugly or ashamed about something, it’s hard to talk about it. They’re not allowing themselves to see their self-worth because they’re only focusing on one negative thing about themselves. The only people that can know if something is wrong are close friends and family members.”

According to non-profit organization Do Something, 58 percent of college-age women feel pressured to be a certain weight. UTPA junior Regina Perez thinks about her weight, and is bothered by the fact that she may lose her fit, 5-foot-3 physique.

“I’m worried about getting old and gaining weight, and losing the shape and energy I already have,” the 20-year-old studio art and philosophy double major said. “I have to constantly remind myself that I shouldn’t have to worry about my body because that’s not important.”

Low self-esteem, negative influences from other people, or traumatizing childhood events can lead to dissatisfaction with appearance, according to the Cleveland Clinic website.

Croyle, a graduate of the University of Montana who has been at UTPA since 2002, explained that people with body image issues can be hard on themselves due to “unrealistic expectations” they set.

“People can be incredibly unrealistic about themselves, they can care more about how they look like than other people do,” she said. “Everyone feels this way, but sometimes, people can acknowledge they have flaws and live with it because they also acknowledge that they have several strengths. If they can’t see that, and this negativity starts to dominate them, that’s when people should be concerned.”

SEEKING HELP

Croyle recommends that people look for warning signs that individuals suffering from BDD face. These include a drastic change of mood, becoming more self-conscious about one’s looks, and displaying socially avoidant behaviors, such as not wanting to go out in public, according to the Cleveland Clinic website.

Galaviz also said that coming out as gay four years ago added to his stress. According to a 2012 article by the UK-based LGBT news outlet Pink News, 48 percent of gay men would sacrifice a year or more of their lives in exchange for a perfect body.

“People in the LGBT community...can be so judgemental,” he said. “There’s always those preconceived notions about how gay men have perfect bodies, or how gay men need to be placed in a certain category, like ‘bears’ (a large, hairy gay men),  ‘twinks’ (a young, thin gay man) etc. I feel as if I had to box myself into one of those categories when I first came out, and I didn’t like that.”

In a study by Brown University, more than 74 percent of women stated that they thought about their weight or appearance “all the time” or “frequently.” 46 percent of the men surveyed responded the same way.

UTPA counselor Kim Nguyen-Finn isn’t surprised that many people suffering from body-image disorders are college students. According to the clinical therapist, college is a transformative time for them.

“For many young adults, college is a time of self-discovery,” the San Antonio native said. “College marks a certain point in their life where they realize that they need to know who they are and who they want to be for the rest of their lives.”

According to Nguyen-Finn, men also face pressure regarding their image. However, as a 2012 article from The Examiner explained, a stigma surrounding men with body image disorders exists because these issues are usually categorized as a female problem. This causes men to be less likely to report or admit the issue, creating fewer precedents for treatment of males.

Nguyen-Finn acknowledges that treatment can be difficult, but recommends people do what they can to stick with it.

“Body image issues aren't something where all of the sudden you wake up one day and you’re cured,” she said. “It’s not like a light switch that suddenly makes you see clearly. It’s more like a dimmer switch, one that’s turned slowly, that takes a while to get there. There will be some drawbacks and moments where you feel as if you’ve failed, but the best course of action is to stay on track and keep at it. It does get better.”

Galaviz sought out counseling last semester due to stress brought on by BDD as well as family issues and an increase in his workload at school. He said he is now focusing on improving himself.

“I just felt overwhelmed by everything and realized that I was just making myself depressed,” he said. “I realized that no one was fighting for me, so I had to do it myself. I don’t want to live up to anyone’s standards anymore. I want to create my own.”

The UTPA Counseling and Psychological Services is located in Room 109 in the University Center. Counseling is free for all students.

International connection

UTPA art exhibit celebrates Black History Month

Note: This article originally appeared in the Feb. 6, 2014 issue of The Pan American. The Pan American was the student newspaper at my former university, The University of Texas - Pan American, where I got into writing. Ultimately, TPA was shut down as a result of a merger with neighboring university to make way for The University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley and the new student publication did not transfer anything from TPA. Here's one of my articles for them that was saved thanks to the miracle of Google Docs.

Adorned in frames made of bamboo and cane sugar sticks are artworks from visiting artist Ava Tomlinson, whose exhibition, “From Jamaica West Indies to New York City,” is part of UTPA’s Black History Month Celebration. Black History Month is a national event founded by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History in 1976 to commemorate African-American history.

Tomlinson, a teaching artist from Brooklyn, has her artwork displayed in the Fine Arts Gallery of the UTPA Visual Arts Building, located on 2412 S. Closner Blvd. It went up Jan. 6 and the exhibit lasts through Feb. 14.

Her exhibit consists of 18 paintings depicting slices of “everyday existence,” whose subjects include portrayals of the countryside of Jamaica, where her parents come from, and the urban landscape of her home state of New York.

Tomlinson, of Jamaican descent, explained that the paintings capture the experience of being an immigrant - being part of a new home, yet feeling disconnected.

“My work is about looking in from outside, being in a different country,” the alumna from Pratt Institute, located in N.Y., said. “Many people with American citizenship are also immigrants at the same time, an interesting combination that allows for an exchange of cultures that lets the paintings tell that story.”

An example of Tomlinson’s message is the painting “Looking into the Subway Window: Looking Out,” which depicts the view of the city from a New York subway train window while also showing a reflection of the inside of the train.  

The artist thinks that having her exhibit in the Rio Grande Valley makes sense since it incorporates the idea of people trying to fit into their home away from home.

“In this Hispanic-dominated area, all of the food, music and surroundings are influenced by the Mexican roots of the citizens,” said Tomlinson, who is visiting Texas for the first time. “It’s like how we all move away from home, but never quite leave it. We carry home with us all the time, even as we get so many different exposures to other cultures. It’s ironic, because even as you leave home, you still have your culture with you, and it grows stronger."

During her stay which began Jan. 31, Tomlinson hosted a workshop and lecture Feb. 4 at the Visual Arts Building, a day after having visited art professor Philip Field’s Imaging and Illustration class. According to senior Hilda Castillo, a student in that class, Tomlinson discussed how emotion plays a part in art, drawing the McAllen native to visit the exhibit afterward.

“It’s beautiful, and her use of colors is inspiring,” Castillo said of the artwork. “During her talk, (Ava) talked about how paintings can serve as a memory for the artist, and I can see all of her emotions on display in her exhibit, while it also shows the diversity of world and an appreciation for other cultures.”

Castillo, a 33-year-old-biology-major, says she is now inspired to go back to painting, something she stopped doing after finishing her fine arts minor last year.

CONNECTION AS ART

UTPA professor of art Lorenzo Pace, a friend of Tomlinson's, personally invited her to exhibit in the Valley after seeing her work. Pace, who visited West Africa during the winter break, recognized the importance of getting people exposed to the ideas found in Tomlinson’s latest works.

Several of the works depict everyday experiences, from a father pushing his child in a shopping cart to attendees cheering at a sporting event. For Pace, these small moments are the same as the ones he saw in Africa, and sees locally on a daily basis. The 70-year-old Alabama native believes seeing people from other nations and different cultures who share identical traits helps reinforce the “human connection.”

“It’s vital in telling the story of the African experience to others who may be unfamiliar with it,” the Illinois State alum said. “You don’t get to see Jamaican artists, let alone their influences, down here. It’s a way to connect all of our cultures together to see how we’re all the same.”

Tomlinson hopes that people who visit her exhibit will find something that speaks to them.

“Art is a connection for others to see how one expresses themselves, or the world through someone else’s eyes,” she said. “It opens a door for others, both visually and creatively.”