“TrashBata” Program NOTES
Earth Day On The Mile at Sparkle on Stage
Saturday, April 22 2023
next stop:
the Uniondale Library
October 15, 2023
at 2pm
The problem of plastic is overwhelming.
The purpose of “TrashBata” is simply to make you think about this problem in our lives.
I don't have the answer, only lots of questions:
What is going on? How did it get so bad? How can we fix it?
Most of the plastic that you see in “TrashBata” was collected by Bárbara's students at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York City.
Stick around for the Q&A after this show!
PARTS
0. Soundscape / Paisaje de Sonido
Underwater / Debajo del Agua
Confusingly Beautiful /Belleza Misteriosa
Naked Nature / Naturaleza Desnuda
Plastic Waves / Olas de Plástico
Old Voices / Voces Antiguas
Written On The Water / Escrito En El Agua
Joy / Alegrias
CREDITS
All poetry, lyrics, compositions, choreography, sound and video design, sound and video editing
Bárbara Martínez
"Confusingly Beautiful" ("Sun & Rain")
recorded live on vinyl by Adrián Alvarado, Santi Debriano, Engin Gunaydin and Bárbara Martínez
Flamenco Recordings from the 1930s and 1940s
Singers/Cantaoras - Carmen Amaya, La Perla de Cadiz, La Niña de los Peines, Niña de la Puebla, Manuel Valencia
Guitarrists/Guitarristas - Manolo de Badajoz, Melchor de Marchena, Carlos Montoya, Sabicas
"Escrito En El Agua"
composed and recorded by flamenco guitarist Alfredo Lagos
Live flamenco voice and guitar
Juan Pedro Jimenez
MANY THANKS ALSO TO:
Sally Lesser - design/creation of water dress "bata de cola" & plastic shawl/mantón
Linda Griggs - trash bata collaboration/consultation
Engin Gunaydin - drum solo/sound mixing
Alejandro Durán, Noel Guevara, Justin Hofman, Dimistris Vetsikas
Magda Ehlers & Adrien Jakta - underwater videographers
Christian Kruger - lighting design consulting
Felix Vasquez - stage design consulting
A very special thank you to New York Foundation for the Arts and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council for their support of the launch of this project and for everything they do every day in the name of ART!
Lyrics
CONFUSINGLY BEAUTIFUL / SUN AND RAIN
Confusingly beautiful, ooh!
Don't know what it is
that grabs me so
Each time I think I know
the opposite seems as true
Don't know a thing
just how little I understand
Confusingly beautiful
Breathtaking
I don't comprehend
It's ok to be lost ok
It's ok to be lost and free
No path is right
No path is wrong
Quietly they perch
looking sideways
Come and go
Disappear
Confusingly beautiful
Breathtaking
I don't comprehend
It's ok to be lost ok
It's ok to be lost and free
No path is right
No path is wrong
Confusingly beautiful, ooh!
Don't know what it is
that grabs me so
NAKED NATURE / NATURALEZA DESNUDA
La naturaleza desnuda
Libre, dulce, fresca y cruda
Naturaleza desnuda
Es ilusión el plástico
Lo ves, lo ves
Pero no es verdad
Está, pero, no está
Y nunca desaparecerá
Oh nature, naked nature
Free, sweet, fresh and raw
nature, naked nature
And plastic is an illusion
It’s there, but it’s not there
It’s there and not there at all
It won’t ever disappear
WRITTEN ON THE WATER / ESCRITO EN EL AGUA
I thought I could close my eyes so I wouldn't have to see
I thought I could cover my ears so I didn’t have to hear
Ay, pensaba que nada más tenía que cerrarme los ojos
pensaba que nada más tenía que taparme los oídos
Pero cómo?
Si ya estaba en el aire
Y debajo de mis pies
But it was in the air
And under my feet
And all around me
And it was even in my dreams somehow
ABOUT BÁRBARA MARTÍNEZ
Bárbara Martínez grew up performing in New York City. Originally from Venezuela, she comes from a lineage of iconic Argentine tango singers. For more than 20 years she has worked as a dancer and singer with numerous flamenco dance companies and world music ensembles, and danced with the Metropolitan Opera, where she also sang as a child.
Bárbara’s experience with experimental theater began with the off-broadway Bárbara’s experience with experimental theater began with the off-broadway company Mabou Mines at age 12 and continued into work as an actor, dancer and choreographer in several plays written and directed by her mother, Amelia Arenas
In 2010, Bárbara launched her eclectic musical project to Carnegie Hall/Weill in a solo concert to a sold out house and today co-leads a project called ALBA Musik that is releasing an album called "Dawn" on June 18, 2023.
Bárbara is an Honors graduate of Brown University (BA 1998) and is pursuing a Masters in Songwriting at Berklee College of Music. Bárbara teaches music at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School.
AFTER thoughts
Feel free to photograph any of the objects in the performance area after the show
If anything you saw in “TrashBata” today or later tonight or tomorrow or the next day makes you think about plastic, please make note of it and consider posting that thought anywhere on a platform where you can share it with the world. Sometimes art can cause ripple effects.
If you ever feel inclined to do so please tag: #TRASHBATA
After the launch of “TrashBata” in 2021, there have been 4 more viewings, all of which came about by word of mouth. There is no commercial campaign or booking agent or team of publicists working to promote this performance piece. If you would like to help bring this program schools to a particular school, public library, museum, gallery, outdoor space or venue, please email BARBARITAOLE@GMAIL.COM with your thoughts.
Is ONE (1) thing that you could do differently in your daily life to help reduce plastic waste?
In the last performance of “TrashBata”, the event began with a panel discussion at the start of which each guest was given a plastic bottle of water. Single-use plastic is on automatic pilot in every area of our lives.
paintings by clemente ettrick
“TrashBata” and “Clemente’s Palette” are making incredible things happen together!
