TEatro De La Vida

Roots & Practice

Under the creative vision of Yoli, we draw on the Mesoamerican tradition of “Xochitl In, Cuicatl” as a speculative, indigenous-futurist performance structure.

Inspired by Yoli’s Abuela and re-indigenizing journey, this practice is rooted in somatic forms of expression and Mexican-Indigenous traditions. Teatro De La Vida, imagines the role of performance where the roads of ancestral arts and healing practices meet performance art and experimental theatre.

We come together with our ancestral roots and wisdoms across many diasporas, piecing together our stories to heal the wounds and disconnection from Land and roots we have inherited.

“Xochitl, In Cuicatl” is a Nahuatl concept meaning “Flower and Song”/ “Flor y Canto”. “Xochitl, In Cuicatl” refers to the composing and performing of “song-poems” and refers more broadly to creative, artistic, and metaphorical expressions such as singing, poetry, music, painting/writing, etc. Drawing on this tradition, this practice comes to performance art as metaphor in motion.

“Flor y Canto” are expressions that authentically present (rather than represent) and embody teotl (to the Nahuatl, teotl is an omnipresent and animating dynamic force). Flor y Canto is “performed” by a ritually prepared heart (also known as a teotlized heart) and, conversely, to earn a “teotlized heart” requires that one participate in “Flor y Canto”; doing so allows one to move in balance with teotl.