NYC-Feature Story

Artistic Freedom
When I leave the theater, I’m soaring inside

By Christian Pimentel

The show started with a trance-like techno beat as smoke and colored lights bathed the audience. Suddenly, the lights went off and one light illuminated a man on a huge treadmill, running through a wall of boxes. On a side stage, several other performers were dancing as confetti rained down on them. One of the dancers pulled me onto the stage and I went loose and forgot who and where I was. I was elated.

Later, a clear pool was lowered from the ceiling onto the audience. Through the see-through floor of the pool, beautiful female dancers were visible. Everything happened so fast and at the end my heart was beating wildly. I left wanting to be part of the show. It was like the ultimate artistic orgasm.

I felt overwhelmed seeing this performance, called Fuerza Bruta (in English, “Brute Force”). I went along with my editor from New Youth Connections as part of my research for this story about my love for the arts.

Since a young age, I’ve loved the beauty and passion of all things art. It’s like magic; it captivates you and makes you think about things differently. It takes you to another world.

A Different Kind of Art

Growing up, I always wanted to be like the artists I love and worship. The artists I admired most challenged conventions, trying to make people understand life from a different perspective. They were painters and musicians like Andy Warhol, H.R. Giger, Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, David Bowie, Prince, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Madonna, Grace Jones—my list goes on and on. Like them, I want to change the world and make people feel they don’t have to be ashamed of themselves or go by what society says.

But seeing Fuerza Bruta, which is a different genre called physical theater, inspired me to make my expression more abstract and visceral. Unlike a play or musical with a specific story, physical theater is more formless. Adam Bricault, a press representative for the show, explained it this way: “Physical theater is usually nonverbal. It uses actions or physical activities to extract a feeling or emotion.”

I first saw physical theater several years ago, when my mother and aunt surprised me with tickets to a show called De La Guarda—created by Diqui James, who also made Fuerza Bruta. They thought it would be like any Broadway show. We were in for a shocking awakening.

An Unusual Circus

When we got to the theater, there were no chairs and it was dark in the auditorium. It was overcrowded and there were people standing all around. I felt claustrophobic. We looked up and saw men strapped to the ceiling wearing leather thongs and trying to pick people up from the audience. Then women started dancing. It was like a circus. An unusual circus.

As some performers started crawling onto people, my mother was afraid and tried to escape. One tried to embrace me, but my mother nervously pulled me away. The whole room was smoky and wet. People shrieked in curious fear.

I was getting vibes that the show was about people coming together and letting their fears go. To me, the performers represented the beauty of love, sexuality, liberation, and life. Many people who seemed intimidated at first ended up looking like they were inspired by the raw beauty of it—except for my mother and aunt, who were freaked out. But I was soaring inside. I wanted badly to be part of that world.

Create and Inspire

When I saw De La Guarda, I realized there was more to art than I thought. Art was not just painting on a canvas—it could be anything you wanted it to be. Right then and there my love for art increased.

After seeing De La Guarda and Fuerza Bruta and being inspired by my idols, I plan to try physical theater myself. I am going to study performing art in college, audition for plays, and join a band. Basically, I just want to do what artists do: create and inspire.

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