|
[Nighttime:]
[Girl
sitting in living room, waiting for Grandmother to come back in.
She has promised the girl [MINERVA] that she was going to
show her something very special.
The girl is very excited and has no idea what it could
be.]
[As
MINERVA waits she shouts off stage, continuing their
conversation.]
MINERVA:
It’s just everyone else is doing papers on their countries and
where their families came from, and it’s just so… boring.
I want something exciting.
[The
audience here’s a muffled reply from off stage.]
MINERVA:
Mom says I should just do a basic report… I told her I was
going to ask you…
[Voice
trails off]
[Grandma
ESTELA enters the room, hiding something behind her back]
ESTELA:
And what did she say about that?
MINERVA:
She didn’t say much… tu sabes.
ESTELA:
To be expected. Your mother was never particularly happy about… well, you
will see.
[Grandma
holds up an elaborate dress [insert brief description].
[MINERVA’s
jaw drops at the beauty of it and she jumps up from the couch to
take it and hold it in front of her.
ESTELA is beaming.]
MINERVA:
What? Where?
ESTELA:
Ready for a story or did you just come to talk?
MINERVA:
No, no, what story?
ESTELA:
Because I really don’t mind just listening about your
project, or your boyfriend…
MINERVA:
Abuela! What
story?
ESTELA:
Fine, mijita, but you must never tell your mother, I’ve
told you this.
MINERVA:
Tell me!
ESTELA:
Promise.
MINERVA:
I do, I do!
ESTELA:
Do you think you can handle a little bit of an exciting
story about your grandmother?
[MINERVA,
still holding the dress tight to her, settles back into the
couch, leaning forward in expectation.]
ESTELA:
That dress, mi amor, is just one of many, many I wore as
I danced my way around the world.
MINERVA:
[MINERVA laughs] Without stopping, like for the guinness
book or something?
ESTELA:
Not exactly, Minerva.
I was touring with the dance company I was—
MINERVA:
You were a dancer!
ESTELA:
The way you say that, Minerva, it sounds so different
from what I did!
[ESTELA laughs] Yo era una profesional.
Like your generation’s Riverdance, I suppose… but
better, of course. [ESTELA
winks at MINERVA.]
MINERVA:
What kind of dance?
Where did you travel?
Why didn’t I know this?
ESTELA:
Your dear madre, I do love her very much you know, is a bit more
conservative— okay, a lot more conservative— than I ever
was. She frowns upon my past life, which I am very proud of.
She feels women shouldn’t, how does she say… “Put
themselves out there like that.”
Whatever that
is. She got that
from your grandfather, I swear.
MINERVA:
No wonder my mother always looks nervous when I come to
see you.
ESTELA:
She’s always been terrified that there’s more of me
in you than her… and she’s right.
[ESTELA leans forward and strokes MINERVA’s cheek.]
I started when I was 17.
Now, I’d been dancing since I was still in the womb,
mind you, and training since I was 7, but at 17 I decided that
would be what I did. Just
dance. Romantic,
no?
MINERVA:
It’s beautiful, so free a life.
ESTELA:
Yes, that is what I thought too… it wasn’t, but
we’ll get to that. Work
is work, mi amor. So
at 17 I auditioned for the most famous dance troop in Columbia
for [funky, hip dance troop name].
MINERVA:
What was the audition, Abuelita?
Did you have to dance for them the first day?
ESTELA:
Oh yes, it was an honor to even be allowed to audition,
most people never were allowed.
I wasn’t even allowed to sit and talk with anyone
first, I came into a silent room with nine people.
MINERVA:
What did you pick to dance to?
[While
ESTELA speaks, MINERVA begins to slip into the dress, listening,
but slowly walking toward the front of the stage.]
ESTELA:
Pick? Ah,
were it that easy! I
was told what to dance to, as I walked in.
In those days we weren’t given any time to prepare, you
were lucky to be there and you should be ready.
So I walked in and music started playing.
A man with a thick mustache, I will never forget, and a
deep, dark beard, called out
[From
off stage a male voice shouts (Pick the song) at the same time
as ESTELA says it.]
[MINERVA
is now YOUNG ESTELA. The
music starts and YOUNG ESTELA begins to dance, slow, maybe even
nervously shy at first, but very quickly losing herself to the
dance, stunning her audience and winning the audition.]
[Song
ends, and YOUNG ESTELA begins walking backwards toward the
couch, her symbolic transformation back into MINERVA.
ESTELA is speaking like she'd been telling the story of
the dance all the time. MINERVA
slips out of the dress and sits back on the couch.]
ESTELA:
And so, that next day, if you believe it, I was in a big,
rickety bus bumping over old dirt roads on my way to a boat that
would take me to Cuba.
MINERVA:
CUBA! What
did your mother say? She
let you go?
ESTELA:
She said the same thing your mother would if you did the
same, but I never had to hear her say it because I didn’t stay
long enough. I went
home, packed my bags, went into the kitchen, kissed her on the
forehead and said, “Goodbye, I am going dancing… in Cuba.”
[MINERVA
laughs in disbelief.]
ESTELA:
And ran out the door… actually I kind of danced and
ran. [ESTELA smiles for a moment, lost in the memory of a
crazier time, a wilder youth.]
Yes, can you see now why your mother is terrified of you
knowing my stories? She
sees you have mi espiritu, mija.
MINERVA:
I don’t think I’d have the guts!
[ESTELA
leans forward, suddenly very serious.]
ESTELA:
You do.
[ESTELA
leans back and continues talking.]
ESTELA:
But as far as guts go, I thought I would heave all mine
up on that boat. The
seas were rough and the captain drunk, as near as I could tell.
And I had never been on a ship before, let alone that
rickety bucket of rotting wood and bolts we took.
I thought I’d never see land again.
But I did, and when we arrived, I thought I would be able
to recover in the hotel… but I was told we were performing
that night.
MINERVA:
The day you got there?
How could they do that?
ESTELA:
They knew I wouldn’t quit.
Dancing with [troop] was too much of an honor.
And plus, we had none of these crazy unions you have
today. We worked or
we starved. I
cried.
MINERVA:
You? I’ve
never seen you shed a tear, even when…
[MINERVA
looks away suddenly, catching herself.]
ESTELA:
[smiling sadly] Even when your Grandfather passed, I
know. Your mother
never forgave me for not crying that day.
But no, I did cry in Cuba.
I thought I’d made a terrible mistake, sold my soul and
was already paying. I
never thought I’d survive.
But Raul… lord, Raul.
[MINERVA
leans so far off the couch she bumps to the floor.]
MINERVA:
Raul? Who’s
Raul… wait a minute… dancing isn’t the only reason Mom
doesn’t want me hearing this, I see.
Tell me you’re not going where I think you’re
going…
ESTELA:
What, your old abuela couldn’t love a young man, feel
passion for—
MINERVA:
Oh no! Stop!
[Laughing] I
can’t think of you like that!
[ESTELA
stands and walks offstage for a moment, and, again walks back
with something behind her back.]
ESTELA:
Can you think of yourself like that, mijita?
MINERVA:
Well, yes…
ESTELA:
Good, I will tell my story and you will think of that.
[She smiles] Who
are you thinking of?
MINERVA:
Grandma!
[ESTELA
hands another beautiful gown to MINERVA and sits. MINERVA begins putting it on.]
ESTELA: Anyway,
Raul held my shoulders and guided me to a chair in the back of
theater and spoke, so softly that I expected to melt right there
and never be able stand again, let alone dance.
His voice was like the very essences of boleros, like
sweetness and strength mixed together into whispers and he said,
[MINERVA
is standing and RAUL enters stage right.
MINERVA sits in a single chair facing the audience and
RAUL leans over her from behind and begins speaking.]
RAUL:
Tonight you will dance like it is your first and last
dance ever, like you are nothing but beauty and dance, grace and
love, purity and danger all at once with boundless energy and
endless peace. And
you will dance like this forever, even when you are not dancing,
when you think, when you sleep, when you walk, and still more
when you dance. You
have that ability, I saw that at the audition, we all did, and I
know you can do it. You are dance, and tonight you must. Always.
[RAUL lifts YOUNG ESTELA from the chair
with a spin, and she spins to the center of the stage.
The music starts, and the whole troop begins the dance to
MI TIERRA. RAUL and
YOUNG ESTELA should not dance together alone in this, but only
with the troop for this dance.]
[Fade
back to living room. YOUNG ESTELA/MINERVA collapses hard on the
couch after the dance just as ESTELA says:]
ESTELA:
I collapsed off stage the second the last beat played.
But I had danced the best I had ever danced.
I don’t know what it was, adrenaline or fear or
something else, but I had never danced like I did that day.
I woke up in my bed, still wearing that costume [points
to MINERVA], having no idea who put me there.
MINERVA:
Still?
ESTELA:
No, I have an idea now. [ESTELA smiles.]
The next morning we were off again, bus to the boat to a
Volkswagon bus to COLUMBIA. This was another bumpy, sickening ride.
MINERVA:
You must have gotten used to it after a while.
ESTELA:
No, you never get used to speeding over roads that feel
like they’d been combed with pitchforks and pitted by comets.
I never thought any of the men would find me attractive
with the amount I threw up on those trips.
The man with the mustache told me it was good for my
figure.
MINERVA:
He said what?
ESTELA:
Don’t worry, mijita, he was slapped for it. [ESTELA
winks.] Of course,
then I threw up again. That
night we again had to perform as soon as we arrived.
MINERVA:
How could you do it two nights in a row?
They should have planned the travel a bit better, so that
you could have rested.
ESTELA:
I told you, dear child, this was not a comfort job.
[ESTELA
disappears off stage again, and brings MINERVA another dress.
ESTELA sits again and MINERVA changes into the new
dress.]
ESTELA:
But apparently that night, not everyone was tired anyway,
because something happened that I would never have expected.
The man with the thick black mustache, Manuel, tried
something somewhere I never thought he would.
MINERVA:
The back of the Volkswagen?
ESTELA:
No, that I would have expected from him.
Very fast I discovered that he was not a good person, and
that he seemed to have ill designs on every woman in the troop.
I knew every time he spoke to me, he was merely trying
to… I’Minerva sure you know.
MINERVA:
Are we talking what I think we’re talking, abuela?
ESTELA:
I can’t imagine we are not.
You did not expect your grandmother’s travels to be PG,
did you? But rather
than trying to corner me somewhere, which was what I had begun
to watch out for, he instead made his move during the dance.
[MINERVA
steps back to the front of the stage, where she is joined by the
troop. REBELIÓN
begins and the entire troop dances.
YOUNG ESTELA, RAUL and MANUEL begin the dance in very
different places, but as the song continues, MANUEL gets closer
and closer to YOUNG ESTELA until he is upon her, forcibly
twisting and turning her (still in dance choreography).
RAUL is forced to step in and separate them, ending the
dance with a standoff
between RAUL and MANUEL, YOUNG ESTELA standing right behind
RAUL.]
[YOUNG
ESTELA/MINERVA goes back to the couch, as the troop exits the
stage. ESTELA
continues talking.]
ESTELA:
That night Raul had to escort me back to my room.
He was too much of a gentleman to suggest staying with me
that night, but I found out later he slept outside my door.
MINERVA:
Why?
ESTELA:
Raul had humiliated Manuel publicly, by dancing him away
from me and taking me. Now
most people who saw the show thought it was part of the dance,
but Manuel knew different.
Raul was afraid he, a man of massive ego— like most
men— would come and try to reclaim his bruised ego by taking
me for himself. So
on the floor he slept, or at least stayed, until morning.
MINERVA:
Did anything happen?
ESTELA:
Raul told me later that he could have sworn he saw
someone lurking around the corner for a good hour, but the devil
never dared show his face.
So that next morning we were off for Mexico, and Manuel
said not a word to me the whole trip, not even to make fun of my
travel sickness. When we got to Mexico, I actually had a night
before our next show. I
went directly to bed in the hotel.
It was a very uneventful night, or so I thought.
It would become a turning point for my time with the
company.
MINERVA:
Why? Is this
the part where Raul appeared in your room? [MINERVA laughs.]
If so, I’m closing my ears.
ESTELA:
Mm-hmm. Aren’t
we getting bold with dear old abuela? No, this is not that part.
[ESTELA
leans forward and as she speaks the lights fade off the living
room and onto the stage where MANUEL is sneaking onto the stage. MANUEL has traveled deep into the jungle, Aztec country, in
search of a group he has heard of for a warrior ritual.
He walks and finds the group as ESTELA tells the story.]
ESTELA:
Manuel, left the hotel late that night, in search of a
group he had heard about, holdovers from a long ago tribe of
Warriors. These
were men who still performed the rituals of this ancient,
warring community, calling forth the warrior spirit to help them
in their lives. Manuel
wanted that warrior spirit.
But he did not find them.
MINERVA:
Did he get lost in the jungle?
That would be a happy ending.
[As
ESTELA speaks, on stage MANUEL is attacked by the professional
dancers, and they act out ESTELA’s voiceover.]
ESTELA:
Oh no, mijita, they found him.
They attacked him and brought him to the ritual.
They tried to beat him, but found him a harsh and rough
fighter. They were
impressed. Manuel
had a way of getting what he wanted, and apparently they too
fell to his… well, not his charm for sure, but whatever it was
that helped him get his way.
That night he joined them, calling out the warrior spirit
and capturing it. Getting all he thought he needed to attain his
new goal.
MINERVA:
Why would he need warrior spirit to win you?
ESTELA:
Manuel had no interest in “winning” me.
He just wanted to take me.
And to take me, he knew he’d have to take out Raul.
[Lights
all fade out for eerie lighting, then come up higher and reveal
professional dance troop. Warrior
dance ensues, culminating with MANUEL’s attaining of warrior
state.]
[Lights
fade back to living room.]
ESTELA:
And so he was warrior, Aztec spirit supposedly permeating
his soul… if he even had one.
MINERVA:
Did he come after you then?
ESTELA:
No. He came
after Raul. I was
merely the prize, Raul was the battle.
But first he waited, like a mountain lion stalking his
prey. We performed
in Mexico, and then back we were on that damn bus, bouncing and
swaying and swerving our way to BRAZIL[?].
MINERVA:
You’ve seen all the most beautiful countries, abuela!
I would love to do that.
ESTELA:
I’ve seen nothing, mijita.
I’ve seen one big blur of countries through eyes
exhausted from dancing and not sleeping.
These were not traveler’s vacations, this was a
whirlwind of work. [ESTELA
looks off.] But what fun, what crazy, hard working fun.
I did see so much, not so much of countries but of
audiences and dancers and stages and… I do miss those days.
Never did I feel completely healthy or rested because I
could give my body no rest, and yet still I long for those days.
I had all the freedom of bird with clipped wings, but I
still felt freer than ever.
It was a life I had chosen, a life of dance, of music, of
bringing happiness and thrills to others.
MINERVA:
How long did you dance for?
Did you have to stop to have my mother or did you keep
doing it?
ESTELA:
My dear, you skip ahead in the story.
We will get to that.
First we must arrive in Brazil, which we did.
And what a place that was.
Brazil was like a huge mixing bowl, and everything was in
there. There I had
time, two days, before the first performance, and as much as I
wanted to sleep, and really needed to, I couldn’t.
Instead I went out, explored, talked, laughed, drank and
danced.
MINERVA:
You drank?
ESTELA:
My, how you young people fixate.
Yes, you don’t think your grandmother can hold her
liquor? I bet I
could still drink any of your college friends under the table. And that’s just some of what I could do to your young
college boys!
MINERVA:
Abuela! [ESTELA laughs as MINERVA looks at her with some
shock, also laughing.] I
must keep my boyfriend away from you
[ESTELA
laughs. ESTELA gets
up and comes back with another dress.
MINERVA takes it and moves off stage.]
ESTELA:
But while I was out, something was happening.
Manuel was planning something, and no one knew.
For Brazil we had a particular number we would perform, a
very exciting one involving Capoera.
MINERVA:
[From offstage] What’s that?
ESTELA:
Capoera is a Brazilian fighting style, like Karate or one
of those other things with all the Asian men flipping around and
such. It is very
acrobatic so it was perfect for dancing as well.
[MINERVA
returns and moves toward the front of the stage, now YOUNG
ESTELA. Slowly the
rest of the dancers, last RAUL and MANUEL, come onto the stage.
The other dancers will remain on the sides as a crowd.
The lights fade off of ESTELA but she will narrate the
beginning. With
YOUNG ESTELA in the center, RAUL and MANUEL face off.
The music begins and the two men begin circling YOUNG
ESTELA.]
ESTELA:
Apparently Manuel hadn’t only been practicing it for
the dance. The
night of the performance I got on stage, but found the number I
had rehearsed had changed drastically.
You could feel the tension in the crowd, but it was not
the tension of fear and confusion I felt, there between the two
circling like angry beasts. Theirs was a tension of excitement, that they were in for a
great show. I knew
much more was about to happen.
Manuel had told the other dancers to stay off stage, that
him and Raul had a special dance planned with me, but Raul was
as surprised as I. Only
he controlled it much better.
[The
music really kicks in, and MANUEL grabs YOUNG ESTELA and pulls
her to him. He
overtly sniffs her hair and then grins at RAUL, as though
challenging him to reclaim his prize. YOUNG ESTELA tries to get away but he pulls her in again, she
kicks him in the shin and he smacks her to the ground.
The fight is on. RAUL attacks as soon as MANUEL hits her.
The two battle (dancing) to THE SONG.
At first MANUEL is winning, much more skilled in the
moves than RAUL, but soon RAUL has turned the tide.
Though twice it seems MANUEL may come back, RAUL defeats
him.]
[The
music ends and MANUEL raises himself from the floor. Lights stay on the scene.]
MANUEL:
Fine. Today
you have won your whore. But
I will take her back, and destroy you.
RAUL:
I have won nothing.
She is not a prize.
She is a dancer, one of the best in the troop, and she is
no one but her own. And
she will chose only who she
wants.
MANUEL:
So then why did you interfere?
RAUL:
Because she had not chosen you and you didn’t care.
I can not allow that in my company.
MANUEL:
Your company? Now you take my dancers?
I will have the dancers and the whore.
RAUL:
[Slaps MANUEL] You will have nothing. You
have given it up. I
am taking full control of the troop, for you can not be trusted.
MANUEL:
And the girl?
RAUL:
She can do however she wishes.
[The
other dancers cheer.]
[MANUEL
lunges at RAUL but the other dancers jump in and pull him
offstage, yelling threats but all to no avail.]
[YOUNG ESTELA and RAUL get closer to each
other, slowly at first, then embracing suddenly.
Lights stay on them, just lowering slightly.]
ESTELA:
[Offstage] That night I understood what part of the queasiness
and dis-ease had had been in my stomach, what part of the
lightheadedness I had felt was.
It wasn’t all because of bumpy roads and little sleep.
I had been falling and I hadn’t even known it, and the man
I’d fallen for had given me the choice I needed.
And I choose him.
[YOUNG
ESTELA and RAUL kiss and the lights fade off.
When lights come back up, ESTELA the Grandmother is
centerstage, by herself, wearing a beautiful, beautiful gown.
She stands there like a proud statue for a moment, then
music starts up, a flamenco [?] and she begins to dance by
herself. As she dances MINERVA, offstage, narrates for her.]
YOUNG
ESTELA: That night
we danced forever, held forever, kissed forever.
He was power and might and love all at once and he
destroyed me and rebuilt me with each kiss.
Manuel disappeared, his things left in his room, never to
be heard from again, the humiliation too much, and Raul and I
too disappeared, but into each other.
[As
ESTELA dances on stage, the other dancers begin to surround her,
slowly covering her from view of the audience, dancing in a line
facing the audience. After
a few moments they separate and MINERVA is there as YOUNG ESTELA
again, wearing the same dress ESTELA was wearing only moments
before. ESTELA
narrates as “Ojala que llueva café en el campo” begins and
the dancers start the dance.
While she narrates the dancers perform a dance with YOUNG
ESTELA and RAUL in the center.
The dance is incredible and exciting.
The two perform as a couple and as part of the troop, so
everyone is featured. When ESTELA narrates about her and RAUL there should be only
music, no words and the two should only be dancing together.
For the rest, everyone dances.]
ESTELA:
The next night we performed, the crowd huge and pulsating
with excitement. We
danced with an intensity I never thought existed, like I had all
the energy of the sun and moon rushing through my body.
We would be together for another two years, dancing and
loving. Then Raul
would go his way and I mine, that just being the say way of the
world, and each of us would make our own futures separate.
I would stop dancing for your grandfather have your
mother and be a mother. But
the future didn’t matter that night, only the moment, and in
that moment I was in love like I never, ever would be again.
A love that I would never truly lose.
A love I still feel today.
[The
dance kicks into full gear, an ultimate celebration occurring on
the stage with an incredible finale.
The finale leads into the bows.]
The End
© Copyright Christian De Matteo, March 2002, all
rights reserved. |
