Astrid Hadad
True, Jazz With an Accent is at times more about the “Accent” — the languages and ways in which, despite borders, walls and the awful noise, we try to share experiences and communicate — than it is about “Jazz.” But it was hard to pass up an opportunity to speak with the extraordinary Mexican singer, actress and performance artist Astrid Hadad and I hope after you hear her you’ll know why.
This piece was written for Artburst Miami
Astrid Hadad takes the absurd seriously. Her surreal brand of cabaret lampoons the marketing of Mexico’s cultural icons and reframes received historical truths. Her costumes, often marvels of movable set design, unfold, billow and blink. At one moment, she’s a living Diego Rivera calla lilies painting, and the next, a walking Aztec pyramid. She can turn herself into an altar, a revolver-shooting mama and a Frida Kahlo trinket.
