Artist teaches ways to cha cha

Chicana to focus on Latino culture experiences

By Maria Vega, On-Line Forty-Niner

Tuesday, October 13, 1998

It is especially important for young Chicanos and Latinos to hear from authors and writers because young people are shaping their own identity, said Maria Elena Fernandez, a Chicana performance artist.

Fernandez is performing her latest work, "My First Lesson in Becoming a Cha Cha: An Encounter with Torch Singer Virginia Lopez," today at 11 a.m. in LA3-110.

Not only is it important to influence young Chicanos, but it is also beneficial to let other groups know about the culture's experiences and how Chicanos shape their identities, Fernandez said.

"We were a part of the U.S. before it was the U.S.," Fernandez said.

Cha Cha is a term used to describe a fashionable, popular, yet flashy Chicana or Latina party girl often associated with big hair, short skirts and heavy make-up. Although the term was more in style in the 1980s, Fernandez said the word is still well known, especially among Chicanos and Latinos.

Today's performance is part two in a three-part series, written and performed by Fernandez. The performance is part of the Cultural Studies Colloquia, sponsored by Cal State Long Beach's Chicano and Latino studies department.

Fernandez has an undergraduate degree in Chicano studies from Yale and a master's degree in history from UCLA. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she teaches Chicano literature at Cal State Northridge, is a poet and also works as a freelance writer.