Lisa A. Frias
ARTIST STATEMENT
“Artists are the radical voice of civilization.” - Paul Robeson
As a dancer, writer, actor, and musician, my performance work reflects my experiences as a middle school teacher, mental health worker, and a single mom. It also embodies my passionate commitment to story as salvation, and a deep interest in the disquieting wounds and remarkable resilience of the human spirit. Layering metaphor, truth telling, and memory within text, movement, and song, my work explores humans’ efforts to feel, deal, and heal, and the ways art can be a vehicle for this journey. It asks: What does it take someone to arrive in this moment? What are the unseen battles? And, What is needed, using art as a tool, to create the alchemy necessary to change the chapters of suffering and injustice, both personal and global, into ones of balance?
A recurring theme in my work is the understanding that while gratitude is critical, it is often hard won. Trauma, loss, abuse, and inequity carve out the challenges and obstacles of human existence. Paradoxically, those who have struggled greatly often have the keenest sense of gratitude. It is in this shared journey that human connection and compassion emerge. My own wounds not only have yielded levels of appreciation I didn’t know possible, but also they have pushed me deeper into my artistic expression.
While never shying away from the sobering reality and vulnerable truths of modern existence, I also know that humor has a critical role. In Bus Bucket (hyperlink), a piece chronicling the struggles and redemption of a terrified new mother working graveyard shift in a New age cafe, I relay the comical experience of informing my neighbors I’d be giving birth at home in my house next door, and my request that they not call the police when they hear me screaming my head off. The piece shifts from prosaic moments of vegetable chopping, baby soothing, and hard -boiled egg peeling, to frantic ranting, sprinting back and forth across the room, and praying. Juxtaposing panic with composure, underscores the most human of experiences: the effort to keep one’s shit together, despite the universe’s best efforts to always have the last laugh.
What drives my characterizations is a compassionate desire to remind the audience they are not alone, and this is reinforced not only through the lens of a transparent narrative, but also through evocative movement phrases, songs, and recurring props. Aprons, food, and music appear consistently throughout Bus Bucket, conjuring the familiar, and welcoming people in. In this piece I share secrets: the fears, shame, and dreams of single motherhood. Secrets are an essential component of the storytelling that interests me most. When we tell the truth, things move. Toward healing and justice. Toward gratitude.
SHORTENED ARTIST STATEMENT 3RD Revision
As a dancer, writer, actor, and musician, my art reflects my experiences as a middle school teacher, mental health worker, and a single mom. It also embodies my passionate commitment to story as salvation, and a deep interest in the disquieting wounds and remarkable resilience of the human spirit. My work explores our efforts to feel, deal, and heal, and how art can be a vehicle for this journey. What does it take someone to arrive in this moment? What are the unseen battles?
While not shying away from life’s sobering truths, I also know humor is critical. Bus Bucket chronicles the struggles and redemption of a new mother working graveyard shift in a New Age café. I relay the comedy of telling my neighbors I’d be giving birth in my house next door, and my request that they don’t call the police when they hear me screaming my head off. From the baby soothing and hard-boiled egg peeling, to frantic ranting, sprinting, and praying, the most human of experiences is underscored: the effort to keep one’s shit together.
I’m driven by my desire to remind the audience they are not alone, and reinforce it through narrative, movement, songs, and props. Aprons, food, and music appear consistently throughout Bus Bucket, conjuring the familiar. I share secrets: the fears, shame, and dreams of single motherhood, because secrets are an essential component of the storytelling that interests me most. When we tell the truth, things move. Toward healing and justice. Toward gratitude.
BIO
Lisa Frias is a performer born in Lynn, Massachusetts. She was kicked out of ballet class at age six, for refusing to stop dancing, and never sitting down. Her defiant artistic passion has carried her through years of devotion to dance, theater, and music, as well as her concurrent life experiences as a single mother, mental health worker, middle school teacher, Lucumi priest, and activist.
After that first expulsion, Frias bounced back to study myriad dance styles, focusing on Afro Brazilian and Afro Cuban dance, training in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil with Mestre King, and performing with the award winning companies Fogo Na Roupa, Aguas Da Bahia, and Arenas Dance. She co-directed her own company, As Pernas Com Alma, with Tammy Ryan. Frias has benefitted greatly from the welcome, cultural pride, and diverse community building exemplified in the Ethnic Dance communities of the Bay area and beyond; these principles continue to inform her work today. After years of immersing herself in a variety of dance disciplines, she has served as co-director with Theresa Matelli, of the Pollicita Middle School Dance Department for the past fourteen years, and is a choreographer for the acclaimed company The Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women.
Frias began her theater training in Colorado, performing with several street theater troupes, delivering scathing political commentary and protest. They addressed issues ranging from the U.S.’ nefarious involvement in Central America to the attacks on low- income women’s reproductive rights. After moving to San Francisco she joined Rhodessa Jones’ The Medea Project, and has been a core member and principal actor, dancer, and musician in the company for fifteen years. Frias performed with them at the National Summit on HIV and Viral Hepatitis in Washington D.C. in 2012, and participated in the collaboration with Planned Parenthood, Birthright?, presented at Brava Theater in 2014. In 2001 Frias completed her MA thesis in Creative Arts Education with a workshop and performance series entitled Just Mama: the Joys, Struggles, and Redemption of Single Motherhood, which included free childcare for all participants. Other credits include directing Mercy Buckets for the San Francisco Fringe Festival, and recurring roles in Antonio’s Closet’s award winning films, including Mercado de Lágrimas, and Masacre. From 1990 to 1995 Frias co-directed the underground warehouse theater space, Diesel Cathedral. She has also co-produced the Pollicita Performance Festival since 2006, bringing in dozens of professional Bay Area artists to perform and facilitate workshops for seven hundred middle school youth annually.
Frias trained in Theater of the Oppressed methodology with Julian Boal, and has also studied with Margo Hall, Erika Chong Shuch, Octavio Solis, and Justin Chin. She is an accomplished singer and musician, proficient in guitar, piano, percussion, and voice, and has busked across Europe and the U.S. She created original music for plays including Mud, and Mud Angel produced by Theatre Ground Up at The Marsh. She is presently pursuing her MFA at CIIS, and continues to never stop dancing.
SHORTENED NARRATIVE BIO 2ND REVISION
Lisa Frias is a performer born in Lynn, Massachusetts. She was kicked out of ballet class at age six, for refusing to stop dancing. Her defiant artistic passion has carried her through years of devotion to dance, theater, and music, as well as her experiences as a single mother, mental health worker, middle school teacher, Lucumi priest, and activist.
After that first expulsion, Frias bounced back to study Afro Brazilian and Afro Cuban dance, and perform with award winning companies Fogo Na Roupa, Aguas Da Bahia, and Arenas Dance, and co-direct her own company, As Pernas Com Alma. She has been co-director of the Pollicita Middle School Dance Department for the past fourteen years.
Frias began her drama training in Colorado, performing street theater. Once in San Francisco she joined Rhodessa Jones’ The Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women, and has been a core member and principal actor, dancer, choreographer, and musician for fifteen years. In 2001 Frias completed her MA in Creative Arts Education with a workshop and performance series entitled Just Mama: the Joys, Struggles, and Redemption of Single Motherhood, which included free childcare for all participants. Other credits include directing Mercy Buckets for the San Francisco Fringe Festival, creating original music for plays produced by Theatre Ground Up at The Marsh, and recurring roles in Antonio’s Closet’s films. She has trained with numerous Bay Area directors and in Theatre of the Oppressed methodology.
She is presently pursuing her MFA at CIIS, and continues to never stop dancing