Grand Performances (GP) concludes National Poetry Month with author, poet and performer Mayda Del Valle. Launching the non-profit’s Artist Takeover series, Del Valle will be featured live on GP’s Instagram account for one hour and will lead a discussion entitled “Quilting Fragments: Nostalgia, Saudade and Facing Memory.” GP’s audience will be able to participate in a writing workshop, ask questions, and witness a powerful poetry reading from Del Valle herself.
An accomplished visionary, Del Valle was the youngest poet and first Latina to both garner the National Poetry Slam Champion title in 2001 and be named as one of America’s Young Innovators in the Arts and Sciences by the Smithsonian Magazine. Selected by Oprah as one of 20 women for the first-ever “O Power List,” she has performed at venues across the world, including the White House in May of 2009, by invitation of President Obama and the First Lady. She was also a contributing writer and original cast member of the Tony Award-winning, “Def Poetry Jam on Broadway,” and appeared on six episodes of HBO’s “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry.”
As the child of Puerto Rican migrants, Del Valle’s work explores themes of healing, transformation and the recovery of ancestral memory in the modern-day diaspora rooted in the aesthetics of Hip Hop and the urban Latino experience. She seeks to challenge traditional Western approaches to performance by creating a communal participatory space where audiences are invited to journey into their own cultural narratives and mythologies.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maydadelvalle/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mayda.a.delvalle
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mayda1
Website: https://www.maydadelvalle.com/