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May 27, 2010 Suburban Journals By Shannon Philpott |
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WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT
As a child, Cecilia Nadal, born into a family of multiple cultures, said she saw the world as her playground. As an adult, she realized that the world was flawed with racial segmentation, and she has devoted her career to bringing cultures together to play in an environment of cultural acceptance.
Nadal, the founder of Gitana Productions, an arts and education organization that has engaged diverse cultures through music, dance and drama in St. Louis, said her primary goal is to increase cross-cultural collaboration.
Her work has brought global groups together with the St. Louis community and led to Nadal's nomination as the 2010 Suburban Journals Woman of Achievement in cultural enrichment.
Nadal is one of 10 women who is honored at the annual Women of Achievement luncheon, sponsored the Suburban Journals, the Ladue News and KMOX-AM (1120) on May 18 at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton.
A graduate of St. Louis University, Nadal said when she first arrived in St. Louis, she was shocked at the racial segmentation that existed.
"I was troubled by that," Nadal said.
She set out to make a change. After teaching at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park for five years, Nadal decided to work with poverty programs. In 1984, she founded Productive Futures, Inc., an employment company providing training for applicants entering private sector work.
Her love of the arts and a chance meeting with Danny Clark, a member of the St. Louis Black Reperatory Theatre, led to the creation of Gitana Productions.
"The theater allows us to open our minds and hearts," Nadal said. "We decided to use theater, music and dance as a basis for bringing people together."
Nadal said that each show is designed to showcase divergence and a fusion of cultures.
"The magic is that we have incredible diversity," Nadal said.
To obtain this divergence, Nadal traveled to Beijing in 2000 to convince the China National Orchestra to perform with local African American youth at Powell Symphony Hall. The cross-cultural performance brought more than 2,000 people to the symphony hall, with an audience of one-third Asian, one-third white American and one-third African American.
Since then, Nadal has produced the play "Complacency of Silence: Darfur" and included St. Louis community organizations and youth groups as well as a speakers conference that brought refugees from Sudan to speak about their experiences. Nadal also integrated local Afghan women in her most recent play, "My Heart is Always Shaking: Afghan Women Refugees in St. Louis," and conducted a communitywide campaign to uncover the stories behind each woman's escape from Afghanistan.
"We always have a local component with our national shows," Nadal said. "It's been an incredible integration."
In 2008, Gitana Productions launched the Global Education through the Arts program, a community project in south St. Louis focused on African Americans and immigrant youth. The 16-week program teaches music, dance and drama to at-risk youth and provides them with an opportunity to be in a stage production.
"It is so rewarding to see the kids on stage, working together and learning from each other," Nadal said.
Through these performances, Nadal said that she has had the opportunity to bring diverse people together through the arts and carry out her passion for cross-cultural collaboration.
Suburban Journals ©May 2010
"Purpose-driven volunteerism is in the DNA of women across the spectrum of cultures, economics and nationality," Nadal said. "By creating a feminine model of social development through volunteerism, we all become makers of the quilt that warms the soul, body and spirit and transforms the world."
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