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Herbert Siguenza likened sitting in his Chicano theater history class to taking a course on the Apollo moon landings – except the professor is also one of the astronauts.
Siguenza, a co-founder of the Chicano theater troupe Culture Clash, has written and performed for 40 of the genre’s 60 years of existence.
That’s why when the working artist saw the San Diego City College faculty opening for Chicano Dramatic Arts, Siguenza said to himself, “hey, that’s me. I’m the guy.”
The dramatic arts course, listed as CHIC 250 in the City College class schedule this fall, explores the history of Chicano theater and is the first of its kind on campus.
Contemporary Chicano theater is known to have started in 1965 through Luis Valdez’ Teatro Campesino as a way to organize farm workers to form unions, Siguenza told his class on its first day.
According to Siguenza, in the 1980s Valdez took a young Siguenza and his theater friends, who formed Culture Clash, under his wing for a year. They performed in small towns, cultural centers and junior colleges across California.
“I think what I bring to the classroom is firsthand experience in Chicano history, theater, theater history,” the Chicano artist told City Times, “because I am part of that history.”
David Ramirez, a newly retired counselor and professor from Southwestern College, first saw Culture Clash at its Los Angeles premiere around 1989.
When Ramirez saw the class fit into his schedule, he enrolled.
“I’ve always been interested in images of Latinos in film and television and theater,” Ramirez said. “And then to see that Herbert was teaching the course was a big plus to pull me in.”
Biology student Leilani Carrillo, a former high school theater student, appreciated that the class incorporates her own Chicano identity into theater.
“Playwrights … (have) always been a passion of mine,” Carrillo said, “so seeing that this is a part of the curriculum and also part of being able to transfer, I was also very inspired, because of my culture, to take this class.”
Among his credits, Siguenza earned two roles in Disney’s 2017 Oscar-winning animated film Coco, voicing the parts of Tio Oscar and Tio Felipe.
Siguenza avoids the label of “academic,” instead approaching the course as a director, actor and playwright.
The Chicano theater professor promises to incorporate script readings and analyzing plays in his curriculum to give students a feel for the art form.
“Chicano theater is very fun to do,” Siguenza said to his class, “You have to feel it, you have to hear it in order to understand it.”
Chicano Dramatic Arts, which is held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:45-2:10 p.m., has 20 open seats out of 40 available, as of publication time. To enroll in this and other classes, visit the City College class schedule.
Update, August 21, 4:40 p.m.: A link to the Spanish version of this story was added.
Update, August 22, 10:30 a.m.: The updated reference to this translated article was changed to read in Spanish.
Update, August 22, 4:05, p.m.: An infobox featuring open City College courses was added.
