Venezuelan takes his migrant experience to theater in the US

NEW YORK (AP) — The best inspiration can be yourself. This is what Venezuelan singer and dancer Miggel Anggelo believes, who based his new dance and theater play on his own history as an immigrant in the United States.

The result is “English with an Accent”, a “performance” piece created by this composer and countertenor and performed alongside 10 dancers that will be performed on April 1 in Washington and in November at the Lincoln Center in New York.

“It's my story, but at the same time history is universal. It could be anyone's story. For example, 80% of the dancers (in the play) are immigrants,” said Angelo, whose real name is Miguel Angelo Pinto Martínez.

In his show, the 49-year-old artist plays a caterpillar that arrives in New York and questions his own identity and his possibilities of becoming a butterfly. The story parallels the lives of immigrants who have to work hard, but can succeed in a new country.

In “English with an Accent”, Anggelo sings in English, at the same time as he dances, intermingles with the rest of the dancers and thus shows the history of the caterpillar and the obstacles it encounters along the way. Presented by the Washington Performing Arts, the play will be shown at the GALA Hispanic Theatre in the US capital.

“I did classical ballet, but I always say 'why is there no text in ballet? Someday I'm going to do something that has to do with dance, but I'm going to text it and I'm going to put music on it, '” said the artist.

Angelo was born in Valencia, Venezuela and since childhood he wanted to be an artist. As a young man, he auditioned for a set of the Broadway musical “Pinocchio” that came to Venezuela and got the lead role. That's where he started singing.

After going through several theater companies in Caracas, he went to Germany, taking advantage of the fact that his grandfather was German. There he received a scholarship to take singing lessons in Cologne, and in the late 1990s, while on vacation in Venezuela, he auditioned for “Fama El Musical” with which he toured for more than two years throughout Latin America.

The tour ended in Argentina and Anggelo stayed there for four years, until in 2001 the so-called “playpen” arrived in the country, or restriction of cash withdrawal due to a severe crisis, and returned to Venezuela. But his dream was to work in the United States.

In 2002 he arrived in this country on a tourist visa and later obtained an artist's visa, focusing his career on theater and singing, as well as being a cultural attaché, under the auspices of the State Department, on two tours of Russia. In addition, he released two musical albums: “Where will be Matisse” (2012) and “La Casa Azul” (2015).

“English with an Accent” was born as Angelo's third musical album and ended up becoming the story of immigration that the Venezuelan, together with the Mexican Jaime Lozano, captured in a hybrid dance and theater play. Lozano co-wrote the music and lyrics for the “performance”, as well as taking over the musical direction.

The show is of special importance to Angelo because he has just received US citizenship.

“('English with an Accent') represents my struggle for security, happiness, and self-esteem,” said the artist, “and to discover that in the United States I can now call this country 'my home'.”