- Associated Press - Tuesday, September 3, 2019

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Jasmin Agosto’s vision for her new company, SageSeeker Productions, was born out of a lifelong mission to create community and inclusive creative space.

After seeing a lack of performance opportunities for women of color - especially LGBTQ women of color - in Connecticut, she put together her first La Sala Femme event in May 2018. The evening of performance, visual art, and community building will take place in its sixth iteration on Saturday at 9 p.m. at the Free Center in Hartford. Tickets are $10 in advance at lasalafemmevi.splashthat.com and $15 at the door. According to the event description, it will feature “collaborative storytelling by black femmes, womxn of color, non-binary and queer artists of color.”

I sat down with Agosto at the downtown branch of Hartford Public Library, where she works as the education and community outreach manager for the Hartford History Center. Light cascades down her back and over our table as she describes her vision of supporting local artists and cultivating community in Hartford and across Connecticut.

“I decided that I want to highlight black women and women of color and also queer folks of color because I identify with all of those identities,” she tells me. “A lot of the artists in the scene aren’t booked, aren’t paid well. And if they are booked, they’re not really seen, and this could be a series that really highlights some incredible quality artists within our state.”

Those who attend La Sala Femme can expect a full evening. The show features three main performance collaborations between singers, dancers and poets.

“I wanted to do these collaborations that have never happened before, and pair people together that have never worked together and don’t even necessarily know each other before the event, and see what beautiful things come of that,” Agosto says, smiling. “It’s kind of built this sisterhood and humanhood over the course of a year and a half, and people are supporting each other now.”

The event also includes food from local vendors and a donation bar, as well as an interactive art installation. Past shows have featured live body art and portraits of the event as it happens. Agosto also plans a spiritual element for each show. She describes the libation ceremony, in which attendees pour out water in the names of those who have died.

“It’s kind of an acknowledgement and gratitude, with a focus on black women, women of color, and queer folks,” she says, “recognizing that so many of us have left the world violently as well as in peace. We pour out water into plants because this is our foundation, but this is also who we grow from. And, as we acknowledge that, we have a better understanding of ourselves and can evolve.”

When the La Sala Femme series first started, Agosto would see about 50 attendees. Now averaging about 200 attendees, La Sala Femme has received state funding from the Connecticut Office of the Arts and the Arts Council of Greater New Haven.

The name La Sala Femme is connected to Agosto’s Puerto Rican roots and to her own identity as a queer woman - “femme” is a commonly used term of identity in the LGBTQ community, and “la sala” is Spanish for “the living room.”

“I want this to be a welcoming space where we invite you to come and break bread and be in communion with us,” she says. “I feel like there are hard conversations that happen in the living room. There are political conversations, arguments. It’s not all beautiful or smooth, but it’s important, it’s critical, and we can still break bread. We can still see each other in an intimate space.”

Agosto, who has lived in the Hartford area since she was a child, started producing shows when she was 15, as a student at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. Now 31, Agosto has tapped into the various communities she has been a part of since she and her family came to the area in 1995. They attended the Nueva Esperanza Church in East Hartford, where Jasmin was involved in the youth group and first explored her love of performing.

Family has always been important to Agosto, who is grateful that her parents, Efrain and Olga, encouraged her to pursue a life in the arts. Agosto attended Trinity College, where she was a core part of the Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival. She has continued to be involved in the production since graduating.

“We did a lot of things at the last minute, and we were handling $50,000 budgets that we didn’t know what to do with,” she says, reflecting on the skills she learned at Trinity. “Being on the same page with your team is really important, and not feeling overwhelmed that you have to do everything yourself.”

While Agosto is at the helm of SageSeeker Productions, she has brought those skills with her to La Sala Femme.

“For me, I had to create the pace that I want to do this at, and make sure this is a joyous process for me,” she says. “There’s a team behind me, but I’m doing a lot of the work, and I have to pace myself instead of being a crazy person, which I have been in the past.”

The drive that Agosto brings to her projects radiates from her as we sit in the cafe at the library. When I ask her what she’s most looking forward to seeing at the show on Saturday, she says, “every single time I’m so amazed by the collaborations that come out. They’re fresh every time. A lot of the time, the women won’t even meet until the day of the event, but they’ve shared music or shared their art with each other and marinated on their projects.”

The name “La Sala” returns to me; the newness of it all, an incubator where we all get to bear witness. Just like in a living room, she says, “it’s a raw and beautiful moment, and I get excited about that every time.”

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