#PickoftheWeek | Dancing Monarchs Migrate into Queens Theatre – QEDC

#PickoftheWeek | Dancing Monarchs Migrate into Queens Theatre

BY QEDC It's In Queens

One of nature’s most stunning curiosities is the annual migration of the Monarch butterfly between Mexico and the United States. Not only do they fill the sky, they travel fast and far – averaging 50-100 miles a day for several months — and they do it twice a year.

The Calpulli Mexican Dance Company is based in Queens, but it celebrates and promotes Mexican and Mexican-American culture. Members travel around North America, sharing their art.

The troupe returns to a familiar place this weekend, Queens Theatre, to present Monarcas, a two-story piece about the contributions and sacrifices of Mexican immigrants in the United States. Told entirely through dance and music, the first one, Company E, commemorates U.S Armed Forces soldiers who served a country that embraced and rejected them in the early 1900s. The second, Viñedos, celebrates laborers who became vineyard owners and proud makers of California wine.

Tickets run from $27 to $37, and shows are on Saturday, May 27, at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, May 28, at 3 pm.

Founded in 2003, Calpulli offers a Christmas special at Queens Theatre every year, in addition to other performances. The nonprofit won a National Endowment for the Arts award in 2015. (“Calpulli” means “family” and “big house” in the Aztec language Nahuatl.)

Queens Theatre is located inside Flushing Meadows Corona Park at 14 United Nations Ave. S. A few free parking lots are nearby. The closest subway station is the Mets-Willets Point stop on the 7 line.