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Bus con Remos

El Bus con Remos is a hybrid creation that brings together theatre, music, dance, acrobatics, poetry, and literature. Ruiz’s original scripts are meant to entertain and educate the public.

Originally staged at the Sofia, Home of B Street Theater, in Sacramento, The Bus made its debut on December 16, 2022, during the Latin Cabaret hosted by Teatro Nagual. The inaugural journey transported 14 artists through Latin America and ended with the entire audience dancing on – and off-stage – for an ultimate Latin celebration of music and community. It was the first of its kind to be performed entirely in Spanish.

El Bus con Remos has journeyed through the Sacramento State University, and the Friday Kahlo celebration hosted by the Latino Cultural Arts Center in Sacramento. The July 8, 2023 event, celebrating Kahlo’s birth and death was staged at Wynn Park with a total of 22 artists: 8 female singers celebrating Frida, 8 musicians, 5 dancers, and the driver of the bus, Frida herself. A full-scale wardrobe was created for this show, all performers embodied the original artists for the occasion.

Ruiz is an independent writer of both fiction and nonfiction. Before embarking on her *Bus con Remos* journey, she freelanced for media outlets across the USA, Canada, Latin America, and Europe. She serves on the Board of Directors for Teatro Nagual and Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA).

Ruiz is the recipient of the José Martí National Silver Award in Journalism for Education and Immigration. She has written for the Associated Press, Impremedia (a Spanish-language newspaper chain in the USA), and the European magazine *ECOS*, based in Germany. In Canada, she contributed articles and photography to critical newspapers for the Canadian Olympic Committee. Additionally, she served as a Twitter expert for the prestigious newspaper *The Guardian* in the UK during the 2012 London Olympic Games.

On August 21, 2023, Ruiz was recognized as one of 40 artistic icons who have made a significant impact on Placer County’s arts and culture.

Raquel Ruiz

Raquel Ruiz, a Colombian-born, United States naturalized, and citizen of the world, created *El Bus con Remos* in October 2022 to transport audiences through the diverse artistic regions of Latin America and the world, showcasing its richness and versatility. Ruiz is a poet, writer, and journalist who grew up in a country steeped in Magical Realism, where reality and magic walk hand in hand.

While brainstorming a show for Teatro Nagual to stage at the Soa, Home of B Street Theater in Sacramento, her fingers typed simply: *Bus con Remos*. “What better way to travel than on a bus that could roll, fly, and navigate the oceans?” Ruiz thought.

*El Bus con Remos* is a hybrid creation that brings together theater, music, dance, acrobatics, poetry, and literature. Ruiz’s original scripts aim to entertain and educate audiences. The project debuted at the Soa, Home of B Street Theater, in Sacramento on December 16, 2022, during the *Latin Cabaret* hosted by Teatro Nagual. On its inaugural journey, 14 artists guided audiences through Latin America, ending with everyone dancing—both on and off stage—in a joyous Latin celebration of music and community. It was the first performance of its kind delivered entirely in Spanish.

www.raquelruiz.com

Lorena Rodríguez was part of the recent production of “WAITING FOR GODINEZ” in 2024 at Teatro Espejo in Sacramento, CA. Her debut was in JUST A PINCH” at the Matriarchy Theatre in 2023, also in Sacramento. She tasted the waters of theatrical performance on these productions and got hooked by the possibilities it birthed to incorporate her passions. Prior to her acting, Lorena used theater as a powerful instrument for peace-building and social transformation. She is a dancer, professor, and writer. She is grateful for the opportunity to become Frida and to collaborate and create with an incredible team of artists.

Lorena Rodríguez

Performer

Soprano Coloratura, Crisia Regalado, has been performing since she was 10 years old. In 2014, She founded her own pop electronic music project, Sin Color (Without Color), and her music is played on all digital platforms worldwide. Right before the pandemic, she returned to school and attended the Herb Alpert Music Academy Applied Program in Los Angeles and is now a junior transfer studying Vocal Performance with Mezzo Soprano Zoila Muñoz at UC Davis. Regalado’s passion for singing transcends traditional genres and stretches across various corners of music.

Crisia Regalado

Performer

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mónica Nainsztein lived in 4 countries by the age of 11. The exposure to dierent people, cultures, and languages shaped Mónica in ways she’s still exploring: in past decades through entrepreneurship and, lately, through her voice. Barely 3 years into formal training, Mónica has performed in numerous community theater plays, and private engagements, and even drove the rst Bus con Remos series at Sacramento’s The Soa, Home of B Street Theater. With a repertoire in Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, French, and English, she brings versatility to the stage along with an engaging delivery.

Mónica Nainsztein

Performer

Marcia’s career started when she joined a choir as a soloist in the state of Goias, Brazil at the age of 17. She began to sing professionally in Brazil in 1986. She has been singing Popular Brazilian Music (MBP), Bossa Nova, and Samba ever since, inspired by artists such as Tom Jobim, Elis Regina, Gal Gosta, The Caymme Family, Chico Buarque, Vinicius de Moraes, and many others. She rst moved to the US in 2015 and has since met great musicians: Marcos Silva, Scott Thompson, Alex Calatayud, Kevin Welch, Phil Thompson, Billy Larkin, Patrick Lengan, along with many others. Today she is the lead singer of “Mais Bossa,” performing throughout California.

Marcia Jácomo

Performer

Raquel Verónica Flores is a singer and guitarist who has been linked to the musical environment from a young age in her hometown of Jujuy, Argentina. She began as a musician by participating in dierent choirs such as Coral Ergo Sum of the National University, Huertanas, and San Francisco de Asís. She is currently part of the women’s group “Raíces” and “Juntos”, two Latin music groups where she performs as a vocalist, guitarist, and charanguist. It is through this music that they promote varied Latin American rhythms. She also serves as director of the Spanish choir at St. James Church in Davis and is part of the Armonía trio music group for weddings.

Raquel Verónica Flores

Performer

Andrea is a Colombian Mestizo Artist and Anthropologist who started rhythmically hitting tables as a little girl. She involved her family in artistic endeavors at every gathering. There were no musicians in her family and music was not supported as a career. At the age of 20, when she was already working on her own and studying at the university, her heart was captured by the sound of a beating drum and her life took a turn. She began an odyssey hitchhiking through Colombia. She picked up her first drum in a coastal town where the locals manufactured these traditional instruments and began her self-taught apprenticeship. She researched and performed within the territories and groups that allow these traditions to live on. Andrea has traveled through Europe and Latin America with her drums and her singing, performing in musical projects and acting in theatrical plays. She is currently a soloist with her Colombian band, PercuFlora.

Andrea Jaramillo

Performer

Teresa Torres was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. She is the daughter of a passionate guitarist who inherited a love for the arts and became a professional dancer of the ballet folklorico. It was at the age of ten that she traveled through Mexico with her dance company and fell in love with her culture. Torres is always looking for artists and spaces to share her heritage through her voice and experience in entertainment. Despite the challenges of raising a child with autism, this mother of three continues to embark on new missions with motivation as a performing artist.

Teresa Torres

Performer

Patricia got her rst guitar when she was ten years old. From that early age, she developed a passion for singing and hasn’t slowed down. She has performed as a solo artist, in musicals, jingles, music festivals, and, most recently, as the lead singer of her all-women Latin band called “Raíces”.

Patricia Maccari

Performer

It’s not a coincidence that Monica Crooks is an artist. In her daily life her art shows up as a cosmetic dentist, making people smile the most beautiful smiles through her private practice in the Sacramento Area. Her art also shines through as a painter, singer, and dancer. All these gifts have been part of her life since she was a child, and lately, her passion for them has been placing her in classes and groups of music to develop the professional and artistic talents she’s come to this world with.

Monica Crooks

Performer

Doug began playing the piano at the age of 4, originally taught by his Mother. While in school, he played the trumpet & baritone horn as a perennial Honor Band selected musician. He studied with renowned jazz pianist Jerry Murphy and performed with the likes of the Braxton Brothers, Della Reese & Jimmy Smith among others during his 35+ year professional career. Doug can be seen performing locally in the Sacramento area with an 11-piece salsa band, Conjunto Liberación, Sacramento Little Big Band, Planet Groove, Soul Caribe, and many more ensembles. His many styles and inuences include classical, pop, Latin, R&B & jazz.

Doug Matson

Musician

Giorgi has been a part of the Sacramento music scene since moving here from the country of Georgia in 2005. He has played with local symphonies, theater companies, and a wide variety of bands. His interests span everything from Gypsy Jazz to Celtic music and from bluegrass to rock. He enjoys playing and teaching the violin.

Giorgi Khokhobasvili

Musician

A native of Guadalajara Jalisco, Aldo began his musical studies at the age of 13, following the example set by his father and brother who were both musicians. He graduated from the University of Guadalajara with a bachelor’s degree in music. He played a diverse and ample repertoire at the Hilton Guadalajara for 20 years. He was honored to accompany exceptional artists, many of which were guests at Televisa Guadalajara in the show “Noche a Noche” with CARLOS CUEVAS as its conductor. The show was on the air for 12 years. Since arriving in Sacramento 2 years ago, the name “Hidalgo Requinto” has become the sought after requinto player for his uniqueness in interpreting the instrument and for his versatility.

Aldo Hidalgo

Musician

Dominic Garcia began playing drums at the age of seven. By 1991 after being in marching, jazz and concert bands as well as being a founding member of the world wide known Sacramento group, Deftones, Garcia began a lifelong journey of study in world beat and percussion. In 1994 he began studying conga with Eddie Diaz, a New York percussionist with a list of performance credits ranging from Tito Allen, to Yomo Toro. By 1996, he became a member of the Afro-Cuban dance group Ebo Okokan. His carrer accolades didn’t stop him from attending the university and in 2005 became a student at C.S.U. Sacramento under the direction of Stephen Blumberg and Dr. Daniel Kennedy. There, he double majored in Music Theory & Composition, Percussion Studies, and plans to continue his studies in Ethnomusicology. Garcia has been musical director of several recording artist, and his knowledge and ear for music makes him a to go maestro for musical arrengements. Recently directed the musicalization of a soon to be release song “Spanglish Vote”. Today, Garcia resides in his native Sacramento, California, where he is a freelance artist and clinician in Latin music.

Dominic Garcia

Musician

Santiago learned to play bass when he was 17 years old by studying with his brother, Adalberto Ibarra, a well-respected musician and bass player in Ecuador, and at the Antonio Neuman Conservatory in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He expanded his repertoire to include reggae, Afro-Ecuadorian, Afro-Cuban, and bluegrass. He was the bass player for the Afrik'ns Homosapiens, a group that pioneered a new genre of music called Bao, inspired by Afro-Ecuadorian and Afro-Caribbean beats. He has played salsa, cumbia, and merengue with many groups and artists such as Orquesta Pregon, Don Medardo and His Players, Soncocho, and Los Guambras Cholos, Brazilian rhythms and jazz fusion with Group Anjoa, and bluegrass with the trio Monteazul. Nowadays you can nd him playing with Knuf.

Santiago Ibarra

Musician

A Brazilian from Minas de Gerais, Elson has been living in Sacramento for three years. His older sisters were very proud of him for his natural air for dancing and took him everywhere in Brazil from the tender age of 2, including the Carnival of Brazil. When he danced people would give him money to buy candy. He later started working as a Zumba instructor and had his dance academy in Spain, before coming to the United States. A natural dancer, Elson has been teaching and performing in Sacramento where he has connected with his Brazilian community and recently danced at the San Francisco Carnival.

Elson Oliver

Dancer

Born and raised in Brazil, Bia is a multidisciplinary artist who has made California her home for the past 14 years. Her expertise spans music, dance, and the performing arts as a percussionist, singer, folkloric dancer, performer, and clown. She studied with the Brazilian cultural group Brincante, where she found the inspiration to develop her artistic pathway. An event manager graduated with a Master’s Degree from the Anhembi Morumbi University in São Paulo, she spans a 20-year career history in the entertainment industry. Bia has worked in cultural events, cruises, hotels, summer camps, and school programs, showcasing her adaptability and ability to engage with diverse communities.

Bia Navarro

Dancer

Jared Andrew has been dancing for more than 10 years and is an accomplished artist and scholar from Central California. He is a college graduate and has held various entertainment roles with the Walt Disney Company onboard their ships and theme parks. In addition to his classical and theatrical training in dance and voice in the United States, Jared shares his love and passion for South American and Brazilian cultures through samba dancing.

Jared Andrew

Dancer

Natalia and Valentina Hernández, a mother and daughter duo, have been sharing their passion for Colombian cultural traditions in Northern California and dancing at the San Francisco Carnival for six years. Natalia is originally from Medellín, Colombia, and has been living in the United States for 20 years, and shares her passion for dancing with her daughter, Valentina, who is 12 years old. She is a rst generation dancer born in Fremont, California, who fell in love with her mother’s Colombian roots and has been dancing with her since she was a toddler. Mother and daughter live in the Bay Area and travel around Northern California with their colorful wardrobe dancing to various music genres of Colombia.

Natalia and Valentina Hernández

Dancers

María González was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala. She came to the United States before she was 10 and has been interested in dancing ever since she can remember. She started taking dancing lessons when she was studying to be an accountant and her passion grew. She still maintains a day job as an ccountant for the State of California. Her favorite rhythm is bachata, but she enjoys all kinds of genres. This is the second time she will ride el Bus de Frida, and this time she will delight the travelers by dancing samba, tango, bolero and vals criollo.

María González

Dancer

Born and raised amidst the vibrant streets of The City of Trees, Ruben is a Chicano futurist artist whose creative journey embodies a fusion of Earth-Magic storytelling within both meta and physical realms. His art becomes a conduit for healing, adorned with colors and vibrations that resonate with the soul. Through his art, he aims to transcend boundaries, inviting you to explore new dimensions of healing arts and cultural identity.

Ruben Reveles

Graphic Arts

Our Company

Equipping our artists to be world ready

Whether indoors or outdoors, the bus navigates through parks and theaters, ready to bring art, entertainment, and education to each audience it touches. The departing station ‘Mariposa’ doesn’t have a geographic location but is a magical one. It is a meeting point for all the people who believe in the bridges that the arts build. It’s where you can hear the multilingual community that travels the world.

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