THE Ñ BEAT will air Saturday, June 23 at 6pm with an encore presentation on Saturday, June 30 at 2:30pm. THE Ñ BEAT is an Emmy Award winning program celebrating the accomplishments of Chicago's Latino community. "I love doing the Ñ Beat because it allows us to cover interesting people and subjects in a half- hour format," said host Theresa Gutierrez. "This new Ñ Beat will inspire you to both laugh and dance because it's all about music, dance, art, and comedy."
THE Ñ BEAT shines the spotlight on some local talent that has the gift of making people laugh. The Mikey O Comedy Show has been promoting a line-up of Latino stand up comedians for the past ten years, all of whom make their home in Chicago. Patti Vasquez, Gwen La Roka, Joey Villagomez, Eli Castro and Mike Oquendo will talk about the courage to be funny and what it takes to make it in Chicago. THE Ñ BEAT will also give viewers an invitation to an intimate performance at Tumbao Restaurant and Club in Humboldt Park.
Moving from the art of comedy to the art of dance, THE Ñ BEAT visits Luna Negra Dance Theater as they debut three new contemporary dance performances. Choreographer Gustavo Ramirez Sansano shares his passion for dance and his motivation for moving from Spain to Chicago to create contemporary dance company. In addition, Veronica Guadalupe talks about the benefit of working in a company that promotes the Latino perspective in contemporary dance.
THE Ñ BEAT also profiles Cari Garcia, whose love of contemporary dance was influenced by Eduardo Vilaro, founder of the Luna Negra Dance Theater. After studying dance at Columbia College, Cari founded her own hip Hop Dance Company, "Graffiti Rhythms." Offering classes in Hip Hop Dance for any experience level, Cari has added Zumba dance lessons and specialevents choreography to her repertoire.
Finally, Paulinho Garcia releases a tribute to the Beatles, adding his Brazilian Samba influence to many of the Fab Fours' most famous ballads. He debuts his new CD at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Beatles Nova is the title of his latest CD and he performs selected cuts for THE Ñ BEAT cameras.
"The Ñ Beat" is available on-demand at www.abc7chicago.com
"The Ñ Beat" is produced by Edgar Vargas.
