ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Coming this fall to the National Hispanic Cultural Center, the legacy of labor leader Dolores Huerta brought to life on stage. This revolutionary opera closely follows how Huerta shaped the farm workers’ movement of the mid-twentieth century. “This is a truly American story about American heroism, and I will continue to say that because it’s true,” emphasized composer of Dolores, Nicolás Benavides.
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Dolores takes the audience on a journey to 1968, exploring New Mexico Civil Rights icon Dolores Huerta’s fight for justice and visibility during California’s Delano Grape Strike. “The opera tells the story of her struggle along with Cesar Chávez and Larry Itliong to raise the profile of the United Farm Workers and earn them their rights in 1968 by getting the allyship of Bobby Kennedy,” explained Benavides.
The show was brought to life by New Mexican composer Nicolás Benavides and librettist Marella Martin Koch stitching history into something fragile and feverish. The duo paints a vivid picture of how Huerta helped build a unified movement for underserved groups like farm workers.
The show is performed in English with Spanish interspersed throughout, and Benavides said you don’t have to be an avid opera goer to follow along, “So don’t be afraid if you’ve never been to a Mozart opera or a Beethoven opera. I hadn’t either when I got my start, and I think you could jump in right now and see this opera, and I would be overjoyed to welcome you.”…