Aquí van algunos artículos donde han mencionado a nuestro Centro.
Chile vive en Arizona
Phoenix, AZ
Por Eduardo Bernal
La VozSeptiembre 3, 2008
Como la gran mayoría de aquellos que emigran de su país natal, la comunidad de chilenos en Arizona busca representar su país y su cultura, pero sobre todo compartir el amor a su terruño con la comunidad hispana en general. “Somos una minoría dentro una minoría…”, comenta Patricio Gutiérrez, encargado de prensa del Centro Cultural Chileno de Arizona y miembro del grupo folklórico Chile Danza y Canta “…y cada comunidad, ya sea peruana, colombiana, boliviana, brasilera o de cualquier país sudamericano, busca expresar la cultura de su país y formar un nexo entre comunidades hispanos en los Estados Unidos.” concluye Gutiérrez. Todo comenzó a mediados de la década de los 90 cuando un grupo de entusiastas por el folklore de su país, comienzan a realizar practicas de danzas típicas chilenas impulsados por el deseo expresar su raíces.
“La primera presentación con publico fue diferente, básica, no había conjunto musical en vivo, nuestros trajes típicos eran mas bien atípicos… estábamos comenzando” recuerda Gutiérrez, agrega que ahora es distinto, hay conjunto en vivo, cuerpo de baile y se han presentado por todo el estado. En los últimos años “Chile Danza y Canta”, ha contado entre sus participantes, músicos y bailarines como Cristian Valdivia, ex bailarín del Ballet Folclórico Nacional (BAFONA) y del Ballet Folclórico de Chile (BAFOCHI), así como Maribel Zúñiga de la agrupación de música folklórica Chacareros de Paine y Paola Hartley, bailarina principal del Ballet de Arizona.
El Centro Cultural Chileno de Arizona no es nacionalista. “El nacionalismo es para el deporte, después todos tenemos que trabajar” bromea Gutiérrez mientras comenta con dejos nostálgicos, que uno de los problemas con la comunidad hispana es el compromiso. “Varias veces organizamos eventos con escritores, con músicos, artistas, peñas folklóricas tratando de hacer eventos culturales que en los que participen todos, pero nada. La gente no aparece, no hay asistencia, y finalmente todo se aísla un cierto público. Eso nos ha pasado: nos aislamos por que no hay más participación de la comunidad. Gutiérrez explica que no son una organización con fines de lucro, es difícil para ellos el poder organizar eventos porque todos los gastos son costeados por la agrupación. “No existen los recursos económicos, lo que aportamos es de corazón y de nuestros bolsillos. Inclusive la pagina de Internet fue diseñada como trabajo comunitario por Andrea Del Valle, una joven estudiante de la preparatoria Mountain Pointe y cuyos padres son chilenos” expuso. En cuanto al número de chilenos en Arizona, Gutiérrez pudo mencionar que éste es un dato curioso porque el consulado de Chile menciona que solo existen alrededor de mil chilenos en Arizona; sin embargo, las posibilidades de que existan más residentes chilenos en Arizona son mayores, ya que algunos son naturalizados o son de segunda generación según Gutiérrez.
En la actual conformación de la agrupación, Gutiérrez se alegra de que en su grupo gente de otros antecedentes culturales se integre, y comenta que un estadounidense, novio de una de las bailarinas, forma parte de Chile Canta y Baila, hasta inclusive existe gente de Panamá en el plantel folklórico. “Hemos conocido mucha gente de varios países durante los años y hemos sentado buenas relaciones, conocemos a los padres del primer astronauta peruano, Carlos Noriega, que viven en Gilbert”. Este 18 de septiembre Chile celebra 198 años de independencia de España, y la agrupación “Chile Canta y Baila” realizará una serie de presentaciones programadas para este mes en diversos puntos de la ciudad. Entre os mas importantes se encuentra una que se realizará el dia 20 en el parque Tumbleweed Recreational Center de la ciudad de Chandler. “Los eventos tienen la característica de ser muy familiares, nos juntamos en el parque para celebrar nuestra independencia, hacemos carne a la parrilla, números musicales, conversamos con los asistentes, es algo muy intimo de lo que pueden participar los hispanos o no hispanos de nuestra comunidad.” Al mismo tiempo asegura que formarán parte del primer Festival Folklórico de Phoenix organizado por el Phoenix College y que se llevará a cabo como parte de la celebración de la Herencia Hispana durante el mes de septiembre. Para mas informaron sobre el Centro Cultural Chileno de Arizona y el grupo folklórico Chile Danza y Canta visite el portal de Internet www.chilenosarizona.com. contacte al reportero: edward.bernal@lavozpublishing.com
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Ethnic clubs keep cultures alive Polka dances, bocce ball, spicy adobo
Angela Cara Pancrazio
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 23, 2006 12:00 AM
Born, reared and married in Brooklyn, Joanne Motola remembers walking from one block to the next, knowing whose neighborhood she was in just from the smells of who was cooking what.
"You could tell what neighborhood you were in, whether you were in an Irish neighborhood, Italian neighborhood or a Jewish neighborhood, " says Motola, 62.
Had it not been for the Arizona American-Italian Club and a few Italian specialty food stores that stocked authentic ingredients, the Motola family members' Italian heritage could have evaporated quickly when they moved to the desert in 1971.
This may not be Joanne Motola's neighborhood in Brooklyn, John McMorrow's Irish community in Chicago, or Henrietta Nemecek's Polish neighborhood in Pittsburgh, but for just about every ethnic group, there is either a long-standing social club or one in the works.
Ethnic and cultural social clubs quench the nostalgia for the old neighborhood and extended family "back home."
Voices punctuated with familiar accents fill the clubs where people share a love for the food and music of their heritage.
It was Motola's mother who first led her to the American-Italian Club to play bingo.
"There was a gentleman in charge of selling the stuff that would raise money for scholarships, right then I felt like, 'Oh, I'm in Little Italy,' because his name was Tony, he had a gold chain and a little pinky ring.
"I think even without him speaking I would have known he was Italian and that he came from, I'm sure, back East some place. "So it just gave me a feeling of, 'Hey I'm really familiar with this, I feel like I'm at home.' "
Long history in state
Ethnic clubs have been part of the social fabric ever since the late 19th century. Early Mexicans were among the first to celebrate their heritage, with clubs and fraternal organizations named Sociedad Zaragoza and the Alianza Hispano-Americana.
Many of the early clubs began like the Pulaski Club did in 1939 in Henrietta Nemecek's backyard.
Nemecek, 83, was a teenager at the time and recalls her family combing through the phone book picking out anyone with a Polish-sounding last name and inviting them to their home. They set up card tables in the backyard, served Polish sausage and played their music. By the 1950s, they had built a place of their own for dinners and polka dancing. The Pulaski Club of Arizona still stands near 44th Street and McDowell Road.
"We speak Polish, sing in Polish, dance Polish," Nemecek says. "We have Mexican people, Italian, German people, everybody is welcome."
Decades later, Patricio Gutierrez's experience was similar to that of Polish-Americans. When Gutierrez first arrived from Chile to attend college here, he grew homesick for his family. "We got a group of Chileans together and said, 'We need to do something,' " Gutierrez, 48, says.
So the small group hosted house parties. Over time, they set up their non-profit Chilean Cultural Center. They don't have a place of their own yet. Last month, hundreds of Chileans from all over Arizona showed up at the Independence Day celebration in a Scottsdale park, emphasizing the need, Gutierrez says, for a permanent meeting place.
House parties and picnics were just as commonplace for the Filipino community and the Irish. Filipino club picnics for the Sampaguita Club remain a favorite for Philippine native Maria Concepcion Lyons. It's the one occasion she can cook adobo, a chicken dish sautéed in onions, garlic, soy sauce and vinegar.
John McMorrow grew up playing Irish music with his Irish-born parents in Chicago. His family moved to Phoenix when he was in grade school. McMorrow remembers clearing out most of the furniture in the house to dance. Several Irish clubs eventually merged into the Irish Foundation of Arizona.
"A lot of these clubs are here to help people transition, to fit in, to belong, and to feel that maybe they really are a part of something," McMorrow, 46, says. "It's something you never get away from, it's part of who you are."
Looking to survive Every Thursday evening, as soon as the floodlights light up the bronze Christopher Columbus, bocce balls begin rattling on the court behind the American-Italian Club. Many of the players are in their 80s, some in their 70s, a few in their 60s, fewer in their 50s, 40s and there's one 30-year-old, Bryan Krueger, who is not Italian-American but joined the club to play bocce ball. The membership is 800 strong now but the group worries about its future.
"I'm 63," says Gene Rossi, the club's president. "If half the people in the club are older than me and this past week I went to two funerals, does that mean anything to you?"
To try to appeal to the next generation at the club, Rossi has enlisted an entertainment manager. In order to survive, the social clubs pin their hopes on newer, younger members, like Joanne Motola's daughter Patti Gaydosz. Gaydosz, 36, was a baby when her family moved to Phoenix, so she didn't absorb her Italian-American heritage as her mother did. When she joined her mother and grandmother at the American-Italian Club's bingo games it was to spend more time with them.
"But at the same time there were all these Italian people, it was sort of like you feel a connection to your culture that I didn't even realize that I would feel," Gaydosz says. "It makes you feel like a sense of belonging."
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