DOWNTOWN — The Tricklock Company welcomed artists from around the world to perform during the annual kickoff party for the Revolutions International Theatre Festival.
The kickoff took place on Saturday, March 7 at the FUSION Forum.
Tricklock, an internationally recognized theater company, reached out to artists from the United Kingdom, Uganda, Nigeria, Finland, Poland, Germany, Somalia, France and Australia, as well as many artists from companies throughout the United States.
Traveling around to find these performers, Tricklock also created their own performances as a way to engage with other festivals and capture people's attention who would be interested in performing in New Mexico.
At the event, Julie Hendren, the executive director for Tricklock, spoke about how the company exists year-round and hosts the only international theater festival in Albuquerque. She said Revolutions is self-curated and devoted to finding the best performers all around the world.
"When we go out and tour, we're showing the art that was created here, from the artist that lives here in Albuquerque," Tricklock's outreach coordinator Diana Delgado said. "What we're showing is what we're doing already."
Delgado showed her passion for Tricklock during one of the speeches at the festival. She wanted people to understand that Tricklock isn't like New York or Chicago theaters.
Tricklock shows different cultural performances created in New Mexico "that bring youth from Uganda and youth from Albuquerque that come together virtually and utilize technology to create a device for performance," Delgado said.
At the festival on Saturday, Tricklock welcomed Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis and Mayor Tim Keller. Both came to speak about their gratitude for the festival and the community around Albuquerque.
"In this city, we believe in Revolutions. We believe in our curated economy, and we believe in artists around Albuquerque and how they articulate it so well," Tim Keller said about the performances for the night.
A group from Uganda called Ndere opened up the festival. They performed their traditional dance, "a seamless combination of artistic creativity with the simplicity that takes African forms, materials, colors and construction to unprecedented heights," according to the website for Ndere Cultural Centre.
The group rallied the crowd with their shaking hips and the speed of the drummers and made endless smiles for the night. Saturday night's performance also gathered artists from Double Edge Theatre, AirDance New Mexico and Two Worlds Theatre. Tricklock wanted to show a sneak preview of a performance that will be coming up this month for the festival.
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Delgado said she's looking forward to Double Edge Theatre's performances, as well as the Reptilian Lounges that will happen every single Saturday.
"The mission is to connect with communities, to support new theater work and to show what Albuquerque is missing," according to Tricklock Company's website. "Tricklock's work is raw, new and ever-changing."
Cameron Ward is a freelance reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @xx_cameo_xx
