SOUTHWEST SEMINARS PRESENTS
DECEMBER VOICES 2024 MONDAY NIGHTS AT 6 PM AT HOTEL SANTA FE
LECTURES 50 MONDAYS A YEAR (ALMOST)

A PUBLIC PROGRAM GRACIOUSLY ASSISTED BY HOTEL SANTA FE, A PICURIS PUEBLO ENTERPRISE
IMAGE:  JOHN VAVRUSKA

December 2 Nicolasa Chávez
Deputy New Mexico State Historian, writer/curator and singer/dancer. She began her early flamenco training with Vicente Romero, Lili del Castillo, Eva Encinias-Sandoval, Pablo Rodarte, and the legendary María Benítez. As author of The Spirit of Flamenco: From Spain to New Mexico; former Curator of Latino/Hispano/Spanish Colonial Collections at the Museum of International Folk Art. She received her master´s degree in history with a concentration in Iberian Studies from University of New Mexico. A 14^th generation New Mexican, she is passionate about history and the performing arts.Chávez continue to perform lecture demonstrations and presentations related to the rich history, cultural, artistic and musical traditions of New Mexico. In Spain she studied singing with Manuel Gines and researched Flamenco history.

Luis Campos, Guitarist who has been a part of New Mexico’s flamenco scene since its earliest beginnings, having received his degree from Cuban born Maestro Héctor Garcìa in 1976 at University of New Mexico. He collaborated with Nicolasa Chávez in creating the Flamenco Villancicos (Flamenco Christmas songs) and performs duet concerts with her on this theme and also conducts lectures/demonstrations on the villancicos, its appearance/impact on New Mexico.
LIVE! Villancicos Flamencos/Flamenco Holiday Songs and Dance

December 9 John Vavruska
Photographer of the Mountain Landscapes and People of Nepal; A personal perspective on the changes, both cultural and environmental, observed in Nepal having spent more than three years in the country over the past five decades. Himalaya mountains drew him on a 50-day trek in 1977.  Then as a Peace Corps Volunteer designing/building gravity flow water systems in remote foothills while learning Nepali language. After earthquakes in 2015 he raised funds for a devastated village which lost its houses and school. With close friend Uttam Rai of Santa Fe they oversaw building a new school replacing the one destroyed and we continue installing water systems in remote hill villages also leading cultural treks together. All along the way photographing Nepal, its people and landscapes, from the foothills to the high Himalaya.
Down to Earth and Into the Heavens: Five Decades In and Out of Nepal

December 16 Dr. Kellam Throgmorton
Archaeologist and Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University; Field Director, Northern Chaco Outliers Project, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center; Director of NAU Lithic Artifact Lab; Public archaeology with 20 years of research addressing cultural landscapes, monumentality, and sociopolitical organization; landscape archaeology and architecture; My dissertation considered Chaco landscapes as a form of political action. Fieldwork conducted at two Chaco outlier communities: Morris 40 (near Farmington) and Padilla Wash (within Chaco Culture National Historic Park. Assisted in research at numerous outliers: Chimney Rock, Las Ventanas, Haynie Site, and Aztec North. Study of political power influence on thoughts, actions, and the organization of human societies.
History & Landscape at Two Chacoan Communities in New Mexico

$20 AT THE DOOR OR $55 FOR THE SERIES OF 3 LECTURES