Work celebrates influential Latin American womenFrida Kahlo, Alfonsina Storni and Rufina Amaya, three of Latin America’s most inspirational women, are the motivation for a revolutionary work of poetry, justice and surrealist art being performed at Marquette.

Agosin and her family moved to the United States shortly before a military coup spawned Augusto Pinochet’s bloody dictatorship in Chile. She remained one of the most outspoken voices against Pinochet in the United States and Latin America.

Her poetry, fiction and literary criticism have won Agosin several distinguishing awards such as the Letras de Oro Prize for Poetry and the Morgan Institute Prize for Achievement in Human Rights.

Marquette professor of Spanish, Germán Carrillo, professed his excitement about seeing a work by Agosin and witnessing the definitive authority in her writing voice.

“(Agosin) is a dynamic woman with an incredible ability to captivate an audience,” Carrillo said.

The lives of those profiled provide plenty of dynamic situations as well.

During her pain-filled and dramatic life, Mexican painter Kahlo’s stunning mixtures of native colors with sentiments of suffering gained her an international fame seldom experienced by a Latin American woman.

Her childhood contraction of polio and subsequent bus accident framed a life of physical pain. This, coupled with her two stormy marriages to painter Diego Rivera, were the subject of the recent feature film, “Frida.”

Likewise did the liberating feminist poetry of Storni blossom out of an Argentinian era where females were subjugated to their husbands, fathers and a rigorous structure of social mores and conventions.

Storni was the first Argentinian feminist author and her poetry, plays and novels remain some of the most vivid expressions of women’s struggles in Latin America and the world.

Carrillo, himself an admirer of Storni, noted that hers is an intricately coded poetry of expression that has influenced feminist authors of every caliber.

“She was a poet who knew best how to express love and passion,” Carrillo said.

And Amaya is the only known survivor of the brutal massacre at El Mozote in rural El Salvador. Her husband, four children and 1,000 other villagers were killed by the Salvadoran army during the country’s civil war in the 1980s. Her writings center on her experiences in El Salvador and promote peace and social justice throughout the world. Many familiar with issues of social justice will recognize Amaya from her numerous writings and protests regarding the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga.

Amaya’s life and “Tres Vidas” expression of her work should definitely draw an interest at Marquette, according to Marlene De La Cruz-Guzman, assistant dean for Multi-Cultural Programs.

She related that the peace and social justice issues that writer Agosin tackles fall right into line with the ideals of human compassion Marquette strives to instill.

Expressions of Kahlo’s paintings, Storni’s poetry and Amaya’s descriptions of El Mozote will all flow through lead actress Georgina Corbo. A Broadway and television veteran, Corbo has had featured roles in “Law and Order” and “New York Undercover.”

Corbo’s singing will be accompanied by the Core Ensemble, featuring music composed by Osvaldo Golijov, Orlando Garcia, Pablo Ortiz and Michael DeMurga.

The pieces encompass Salvadorean, Argentinian and Mexican folk music along with adaptations of vibrant tangos by Astor Piazzolla.

De La Cruz-Guzman said that as soon as she saw a sample of the performance, she did everything in her power to bring “Tres Vidas” to Marquette.

She defined the performance as “an opportunity for all students to experience the beauty and richness of the Latin American culture,” and stressed that in this dynamic work there is something with which every student can identify.

Carillo also said that “Tres Vidas” is the story “of three liberal and liberated women. It should be very good.”

The myriad of student groups sponsoring “Tres Vidas” include the Office of Student Development, RAICES (Latino Students Organization), Latin American Student Organization, Marquette Student Government, the Women’s Studies Program and the Department for the Performing Arts.

“Tres Vidas” will be held at 6:30 p.m. today in the Varsity Theatre.