In the beforetimes, the structure of Onda Latina’s open mic night has emphasized a Latina (based in the Midwest) as our featured artist while welcoming absolutely everyone to the mic to perform at our events. On October 22, 2020, instead of an open mic format, we invited a line-up of Onda Latina veteranas, most of them former featured performers, to share their work. The line-up included Katlin Marisol Sweeney, Sophia Enriquez, Elena Foulis, Sahily Tamayo, Paloma Martinez-Cruz, LROD, Carla Melo, Isis Barra Costa, and Peyton Del Toro, who joined us as the head of Onda Latina Cyber Command to ensure that our Zoom room was safe and our connections well-greased.

We concluded with the evening’s featured performeras, Isis Barra Costa and Carla Melo who debuted a special Cibernautas performance for us titled CuraARTEiras! Ligue Já! I was able to ask Carla Melo and Isis Barra Costa a few questions about their performance, and the Queens gifted me with their effervescent eloquence between sips of cosmic champagne:

PMC: What are the names and personalities of the personas you developed?

CM & IBC: The Mighty Isis and Madame MellowQueenBea.

PMC: What is their message to the world?

CM & IBC: Stay tuned to the voices of radical care; stamp your feet to the beat and eat your psychomagical beats! Alone-together!

PMC: What commitment do you think they would like to see people of the planet make in the new year?

PMC: What will they do to celebrate the arrival of 2021?

CM & IBC: Oh, dear, we were so busy drinking cosmic champagne and exorcizing 2020 demons that we got to this question four earth-days late! In a nutshell: cosmic libations, sugar overdosing and star gazing within our bubble of earthlings!