Photos by Courtney Pedroza
Rap artist and slam poet Bocafloja performed a live concert at the Herberger Theater Center on Thursday evening to bring people of color together and unify them under music.
“The issues that I talk about in my music transcend the language barrier because the issues are relevant in several communities at the same time,” Bocafloja said. “There’s other ways to communicate besides language.”
The concert was part of the Arizona State University series called “Performance in the Borderlands,” which attempts to bring a new approach to theater.
“Each of these (events) is provocative, and they use the theater in a different way. It’s more of a free-flowing event,” said Dick Bowers, president and CEO of the Herberger Theater Center. “There are too many barriers between different types of people. It’s about taking down artificial social barriers so people can understand and enjoy one another’s company.”
The theatrical setup of the “Performance in the Borderlands” series enables the audience to engage with both the performers and the topics in ways traditional theater doesn’t allow.
“Our events always work in unique spaces with local, as well as national artists,” producing director Mary Stephens said. “We have the most dynamic event coming out of ASU using performance as a social tool.”
The Bocafloja concert met this standard and was extremely interactive. Bocafloja brought the audience onto the stage, where they formed a circle around him and danced to the music. Bright red lights shone down on the stage.
“[Performing] is a liberating experience. It’s one of the few times where I feel 100% empowered and emancipated,” Bocafloja said. “I really enjoy the way I engage with the audience, and how relevant words can be.”
The purpose of this audience engagement is to draw the attention of new audiences.
“[It] can bring people into the theater who’ve never been in here, maybe never felt comfortable to come in,” Bowers said.
Bocafloja supports the alternative theater goals of “Performance in the Borderlands.”
“It’s really important that journalism pays attention to all the types of cultural production that is not part of the models you can find everywhere,” Bocafloja said.
Bocafloja comes from Mexico City and performed the majority of his concert in Spanish. His music and poetry is not only original, but has also proved to be successful in impacting audiences, DREAMer and audience member Dulce Juarez said.
“He’s a very conscious, very inspirational activist,” Juarez said. “I’m an activist myself, so his music inspires me. He’s real, conscious, and his music has a message of social justice. He gives a voice to those issues and he brings it out in the real hip hop movement.”
Bocafloja remains humble about his impact. However, his support has been growing over the past 15 years, and Bocafloja believes he is “in the right path.”
“The community by itself is going to tell you in the future if it was worth it or not,” he said.
Contact the reporter at jilliancarapella@yahoo.com
