Meet Andrea Calao | Director, Writer and Performer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrea Calao and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrea, what role has risk played in your life or career?
The proudest moments in both my career and life have emerged out of embracing risks. When I dream about who I want to become, how I want to add to the world and what I want to build, the only things I do believe in are risks. They have not just been shapes of my desire, or unconventional strategies to get what seemed so distant. They are like humming ghosts, voices in the back of my mind that wonder without rest and since I can remember about why of certain fixed understandings, and how to go deeper. The most special parts of risks to me are both the bravery one has to find so to honor whatever it is that’s trying to be challenge, and also the so very nuanced truths to be discovered when committing. Risks are catalysts for poetry, questions to the devil, and in that poems of their own.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a Director, Writer and Performer for Film, TV and Stage. I integrate diverse mediums and roles in my projects to capture more holistically the skills and/or interests of my collaborators, expanding the genesis and shapes with which creation can take place. My research focuses on Decolonization processes of feminized and racialized subjects in trans media platforms, most recently addressing Sex Work, Romantic Love and its intersectional dimensions in my short film ‘Magdalena, Te Amo”. I like asking questions, digging deeper, actually listening, doing shit people say is too hard and admitting how challenging, scary and/or painful some of those instances can be. I try to follow honesty, and in that quest highlight the beauty and poetry of people/places/activities coded of lacking of so by structurally marginalizing processes.

As of now what I’m the most proud of was having employed the world’s most expensive film school to narrate the tiny, yet huge shift my Strip Club friends and I had learned over the years. What I’m the most excited about is keep nourishing the world with different narratives about these heroines, supporting their businesses and crafts along the consolidation of my production company.

My biggest lesson might be that the wisest, most inspiring people are usually the less pretentious. And is that honest simplicity, inherently democratic, yet filled with complexity, that the most powerful moments lay.

I track these teachings to Rosewood Theatre, NYU, PUJ, my own experience of migration, the contrasted similarities between Colombia and the US, “womanhood”, conversations with my friends, and the tensions between them all. Being stubborn enough to follow what that honest discomfort meant for me, ambitious enough to find non orthodox ways to execute, having an amazing support system to keep me on track whenever I get distracted, and taking care is what has allowed my proudest moments.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
For when Catalina gets her visa and travels to NYC, this is what we’re doing:

Introduce her to my friends; walk around Harlem and introduce her to my ex-landlord; bike ride through Prospect Park; catch a film and Q&A at Angelika; pole dance class in Full Circle; Thrift shopping at L Train; watch Broadway Moulin Rouge! Rosewood Theatre; Party at Rebecca’s, pray Rosa Perreo is playing and also get there; go to New Museum, Museo del Barrio, MoMa for Monet’s Waterlilies, Brooklyn Museum to check icon Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party; get lost in Strand Bookstore; Bushwick and the galleries around Chelsea. Eat at Charles (Ribs, Yams, Mac & Cheese of course), Thai Diner, the French Midtown place with amazing unlimited steak and fries, Magnolia’s Banana Pudding; get legit dumplings and Boba in Chinatown; Happy Hour drinks at The Honey Well. GO TO THE BOX!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
In the first place, definitely my mom Luz, Sofi, Tía, Tío and Cata for the unconditional support, love and disposition they’ve provided in every crazy idea and ambition that I’ve pitched to them. They have always been my main helpers and first judges, wrapping/blessing me with such honest care that even in the distance I feel guarded.

Then there’s the eagerness and precision of what I aim my artistic voice to communicate, which is for sure thanks to and in honor of the beautifully compassionate and generous community of dancers at Rosewood Theatre, NYC. I had never felt as backed up, seen and welcomed as with them, my friends; and if it wasn’t for their decisive push, loyalty and love, I would have never been able to face the challenges in and outside of the club.

This next one is a little corny and scary for me, because after shown over and over that the only people I could rely on were the lovely women around me, trusting and accepting the love of my wonderful boyfriend is still something I’m learning. His immense support, generosity, drive, humility and care have gotten me to hope, and I just wish it keeps being true.

The list from here on is insanely long, ranging from such brilliant and kind mentors like Alrick Brown, Sylvia Sitchel, Jhon Alex Toro, Rick Litvin, Caran Hartsfield and Alfonso Morgan-Terrero; Kalin Moon and the staff members of Die Happy Tonight; and the insanely talented collaborators that trusted me with an almost impossible project, devoting with astonishing diligence and incredible generosity in each of their crafts to built “Magdalena, Te Amo”. Please refer here to the credits in our film. Fucking awesome people.

Instagram: @andreacalao @magdalenateamo_

Image Credits
Stills from “Magdalena, Te Amo”. Directed by Andrea Calao. Cinematography by Cece Chan. Production Design by Kiana Dittman. Performance Direction by Nas Aidid. Costume Design by Annette Pérez. Make Up by Allysa DiBendetto. Color by Zack Chalmers.