"First Gen" a new play with movement and music | La Jolla Playhouse

The La Jolla Playhouse workshop of “FIRST GEN” took place June 2024 in NYC!

FIRST GEN is a playful, energy pulsing, new play with movement and music that explores a First Generation American Son's tribute to his immigrant Mother.

Accompanying his Mother as she undergoes chemotherapy, a first generation American Son creates a family memoire stitched together from photographs that document their journey from Colombia to the US. Their family history is mostly unknown to him, fragmented due to generational differences, language barriers, and the hardships of working class immigrant life, but he strives to learn about his past and seek relevance in the world. In his present day and through flashbacks of his high school years in 90s New Jersey, the Son discovers that a life in dance might be the only way for him to be seen and for his family legacy to be remembered.

A thought provoking reimagining of the American coming-of-age story, FIRST GEN unveils the power of hope, perseverance and redemption for those that go unknown.

Written and Choreographed by Jon Rua

Music by Khiyon Hursey & Juan Cortes Arango

Directed by Tatiana Pandiani & Patrick Vassel

Associate Choreographer Brianna Mercado

Below is a trailer of an early workshop of the play.