This year's 11 day CASA Festival kicks-off next Tuesday, 16 July, with its opening night gala hosted at Dalston's Arcola Theatre.

This is the 10th incarnation of London's largest celebration of Latin American arts, and this year will be spread over 11 days, closing on July 27.

Welcoming a wide array of exciting international artists from countries including Mexico, The Dominican Republic, and Brazil, as well as UK-based Latin American creatives, CASA festival 2019 presents a diverse programme of performances, screenings and workshops embracing cross-cultural themes steeped in heartfelt history, and tackling topical subjects such as immigration and gender identity and the breaking down of language barriers.

The programme will see fearless creatives bring everything from the bold and unapologetic to the gentle and powerful to the London stage.

Alongside the rich arts on show, there will also be Q&As with film directors, a 'CASA creates' session, a pop-up bar at Rio Cinema, coming together to give audiences a taste of the passion and vibrancy of Latin America.

You'll find full details of this year's CASA schedule on the festival's website.

This year's programme is the first under the creative leadership of Artistic Director Cordelia Grierson, expanding CASA's focus from theatre to multi-disciplinary arts, branching out to include art, film, dance and music.

Speaking ahead of the festival, Cordelia said ...

"Each strand of our programming contains some amazing shows, they come from different places and tackle different themes, tell different stories.

There's an interesting mix of experimental and more traditional work which goes along with a slightly cheesy quote: we have something for everyone.

And it's true!"

Spanning across three East London partner venues - The Arcola, The Rio Cinema and Dalton East Curve Garden - will allow CASA the space to maximise its creative potential as it shifts from solely a theatre festival to a multi- disciplinary arts experience.

With performances ranging from dance from Argentina, theatre from Mexico, puppetry from Chile and film from Venezuela, CASA aims to cater for all tastes as the festival warmly welcomes audiences of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds.

Cordelia herself holds an incredibly strong passion for creating a space for Latin American artists in the UK capital, with her personal connection to Latin American culture held close to her heart, having lived in Mexico City for a number of her formative years.

She added ...

"Guests are encouraged to 'spend the night with us' - see a show but also eat some Latin food; chance upon some live music; enjoy some mezcal at our mezcal bar and also to meet the artists - because they'll all be there hanging out after the show.

Audiences are invited to join our community for the evening, for the weekend, or for a whole festival with the opportunity experience a fantastic slice of what

the Latin American arts scene has to offer."

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