Butterfly: Una Transformacion. Q&A with La Espiritista

1. Is this the debut of the show?
Yes! This is the debut of Butterfly: Una Transformacion and I am super excited. This performance is based off of the spiritual framework of my upcoming book of poetic prayers. In this book I name the four phases of transformation: Release, Renewal, Retreat, and Rebirth.

2. What was your inspiration for the show?
Well it is a pre-release show, so the upcoming release of my book in August is one reason ?
Another reason is around accessibility and different learning styles. As an Author and multi-dimensional artist, I love to translate my written word to performance. I am committed to presentation in different ways because not everyone learns and absorbs information in the same way. Some people can keep up with the words written down, others need the words spoken to them, some don’t need words at all, and so on! It is a different experience to just read my poems than hear them being performed. I collaborated with illustrator Nur Shojai to create stunning water-color illustrations for my book. These water-colored illustrations add another layer of interpreting my message. I am super inspired to gift people with my books concepts in an entirely different way than just reading it through this show.

3. What can we expect to see in the show?
You can expect to see the book essentially come alive! There will be 4 other QTPOC artists sharing the stage with me and we will each perform our interpretation to the phases of transformation. We will each embody our own form of expression in the ways that feel most natural to us. We will form bridges. Sexuality. Sensuality. Spirituality will all spring to life.
There will be Poetry, Music, and Dancing! I may even transform through stunning outfits throughout the night ?
Really, if anything, I can promise that folks can expect to see inspiration, healing, and awakening taking place.

4. What were some of the challenges with writing this show?
Since the show is based off the spiritual framework in the book, it wasn’t actually too difficult to write. I think the more challenging part was the creation of the book itself. The butterfly is a huge symbol that signifies transformation. How can we even attempt to confine a being whose whole purpose in existing is to expand?

It’s great to have a vision and it is also important to know how to break it down into a way that brings perspective into what you have experienced, what you are currently experiencing, and what needs to be experienced next to have it manifest. Nature is super expansive, and it is also contained through the seasons we experience each and every year. Once I realized that, the spiritual framework for transformation became really apparent. Release. Renewal. Retreat. Rebirth. They don’t always have to be in that clean-cut order either, I mean our seasons haven’t actually been following that specific order for a while because of Climate Change and Global Warming, but they do exist.

5. What were some of the things you learned during the creation/writing process?
I am a firm believer in life-long learning. There has been so much I have taken away from my creative/writing process for this project that I know I will be integrating for a lifetime. One lesson I am deep in learning is forgiveness and letting go that which is no longer aligned.
Forgiveness in making mistakes and then taking accountability for them.
Forgiveness in not amounting to other’s expectations and choosing my joy.
Forgiveness in the limitations I possess and learning how to celebrate my sacred gifts.
Letting go of scarcity mentality and leaning into the abundance which the earth so generously gives.
Letting go of harmful relationship dynamics passed through unhealed generational trauma and cultivating families which are enriching, thriving, and reciprocal.
Letting go of weighing my worth through capitalistic lens and instead weighing it through my own internal wisdom.
These are a few of the lifelong lessons I have learned and will commit to learning for the rest of my time in this physical plane.

6. What do you hope people will learn from this project?
I hope that they learn that we are never done learning. I hope that they can take away some of the lessons I have and am continuing to integrate mentioned in the previous question. I hope that they are able to trust their own selves more and remember that everything is always in process.
Everything is always in flux, cycling, spiraling out of control and that we are not meant to know everything. That it is okay and sometimes things are meant to die, fall apart, and be completely destroyed, so there can be space for a radical metamorphosis to take place which can truly serve your life as well as the collective.

Check out La Espiritista’s website and Facebook for more information!

Catch La Espiritista’s pre-release show, Butterfly: Una Transformacion on Friday, May 17 and Saturday, May 18, 2019 at Gay City: Seattle’s LGBTQ Center. Click here to purchase tickets.