An Evening with Julia Alvarez

Julia Alvarez, the acclaimed author of In the Time of the Butterflies and many other literary works, will be a guest at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice on November 15, 2010. Alvarez will take us on a journey told through stories – her own life story and those she created through her characters. Four of these characters are the Mirabal sisters – sisters, although fictionalized by Alvarez, who lived real lives in the Dominican Republic under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Three of these sisters, known as the “butterflies,” were members of the underground plot to oust the dictator and were brutally murdered on his orders. The United Nations later designated November 25, the date the sisters were assassinated, as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The sister who lived chose to share her sisters’ stories of courage, conviction and compassion.

Eveoke Dance Theatre has created Las Mariposas,* a dance theater production inspired by Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies. Using magical realism, modern dance and text from the novel, Eveoke’s Las Mariposas enters the story through the eyes and the heart of the surviving sister. Eveoke will share some moving excerpts from Las Mariposas.  

The evening should be rich and inspiring as stories will be told through language and dance. An overriding theme of the evening will be the issue of social justice for all, whether it is achieved through storytelling, dance, activism, education or sustainable farming.

There will be a book signing and dessert reception after the talk and performance and books will be available for purchase. 

Please join us!  RSVP by November 5 to Catherine Kineavy at culturalworker@cox.net

Co-sponsored by Eveoke Dance Theatre and The Cultural Worker. 

Also supporting this event:  USD’s Departments of English, Languages and Literatures, Sociology and Theology & Religious Studies; Community Service-Learning, International Center and Women’s Center. This event is part of International Education Week.

Julia Alvarez’s visit to San Diego was also made possible by:

International Museum of Human Rights at San Diego
Gracia Molina de Pick
San Diego City College International Book Fair
San Diego County Commission on the Status of Women (Commissioner Laura Castaneda, Commissioner Fanny Miller, Commissioner Debbie Comstock, Commissioner Roxy Rae Walnum, Commissioner Jennifer Johnson, Commissioner Olivia Puentes-Reynolds, Commissioner Rachel Cano, Commissioner Jenni Prisk, Commissioner Darlene Davies, and Commissioner Amalia Solorzano)
San Diego Writer’s Ink
So Say We All
Voices of Women
A.C.h.A (Association of Chicana Activists), SDSU
Center for Latin American Studies, SDSU
Department of Africana Studies, SDSU
Department of Chicana & Chicano Studies, SDSU
Department of English & Comparative Literature, SDSU
Department of Women’s Studies, SDSU
Intercultural Relations/Cross-Cultural Center, SDSU
Master of Arts in Liberal Arts & Sciences, SDSU.

Photo Credit: Fotografía (photographer): Robert Inoa; Dirección de arte (art designer): Norca Amézquita; Estilismo (stylist): Sócrates Mckinney; Peinado y maquillaje (hair and makeup): Gyro Make Up Studio

*Inspired by IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES by Julia Alvarez
Copyright © 1994 by Julia Alvarez.  All rights reserved.