A few days ago we had a chance to catch a glimpse of the work going into the dance numbers in “Learn to Be Latina“, opening at Milagro on May 2 (preview May 1). Now we bring you the first part of an interview with Chip Sherman, the man behind the moves.
Since his move to Portland, the young performer choreographer has been busy with different companies around town, but he took a few minutes to chat with our own Vicente Guzman-Orozco about his new hometown and the experience of working at Milagro on this irreverent, high energy “post-911 race farce/lesbian romantic comedy (with dance breaks).” Read on to learn more about Chip, and get your tickets today!
VG: It was fun to see you and the F.A.D. Girls in action. Can you talk a little about your background and experience, for those of us not fortunate enough to have caught you on stage yet?
from Eugene, where I lived since high school. I had been in various dance teams
and troupes, so I got training in Hip-Hop, African, Tap, Modern and Jazz dance,
and outside of that, I got involved with salsa and Latin Ballroom at a local
pizza joint, where after a dance lesson earlier in the evening, there was free
dance.
in 2011 here in Portland, for a show that toured in the Southwest. When we
returned I decided to stay here to work. And then I met Cassandra Schwanke when
she was starting her company Human Being Curious, hanging out and
doing some karaoke. After some liquid courage I asked what she was working on.
When she said “The Tempest”, I asked, “do you have your Caliban?” She said no,
and I replied, “Now you do!”
cheerleader and mentor, introducing me to Ty Boyce, co-founder of Post 5
Theater, and I got to become a company member, having worked with me and seeing
how dedicated I had been to the production (which I also choreographed). Then “Arabian
Nights” came around and I also had the opportunity to choreograph that. I got
cast in other stuff around town, and I have been working ever since!
approached me after seeing I had a dance background and had worked on “Arabian
Nights”. I was starting to get into this choreographer mode, in addition to
acting, and that’s when she put the hook in. And then she said, “you’d be
working with Tony Sonera”, and I had heard about him and Badass Theatre Company,
and all the press was coming out from “Invasion” then – [I thought,] “this is a guy I want to work
with, he’s doing some good ####! And this show… if you take Invasion, amp it
up, put some Latinas in it and the word “####”, and you’re going to have “Learn
to Be Latina”… oh, and you also will need a sock puppet, I guess.
starting with Olga. She brings this heart and love for the work that everyone
here produces. And you can tell that everyone on the staff here wants to be here! They’re
fulfilling their duties because they have a passion for those duties, which I
really respect.
life growing up in Eugene and around the country, I had never found people of
color to learn from or play off from, or just be around. That’s why I think Milagro
is such an important company in our town, because it produces straight-out bi-racial
plays, or just racial plays. Which I think is really cool. You have other
companies that are trying that, but it’s rare the company that tackles artists
of color’s or people of color’s issues. And so it is cool that there is just
not “a” black, but also a Latino voice that we can hear.
Next up we’ll hear more about the dance that awaits us in “Learn to Be Latina” to the sounds of ‘N Sync to Shakira and much more in between! Get your tickets today!