Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabriela Ortega.
Gabriela, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Gabriela Cristina Ortega Garcia is my full name. It is a name tracing a line from the soles of my feet to the tip of El Pico Duarte, the tallest mountain in the Caribbean. I was born and raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: A land of Palm trees, and Perreo, of explosive sunsets and many contradictions. I am Dominicana and for 18 years of my life, I wore that label unknowingly, pressed against my chest with invisible ink. I did not understand what it meant to be “an other” until I moved to Los Angeles five years ago.
Back home, I was my mother’s daughter with dreams of being “la niña Hollywood” everyone made fun of, in California, I became “latinx”, a brown girl with ambition that moves her hands when she talks. These last five years have rocked my world, I feel like I have lived many lives even though I am 23 on paper. Moving to the US helped me see to the violence of segregation in a country I deemed as perfect, and the information gathered by my cells has burst the bubble I grew up in back in Dominican Republic. Colorism in Latin America, machismo and the generational trauma of Colonialism were terms I read and wrote about in between cortaditos and essays for school. But feeling the tug of war that is BELONGING lift and tear at my own skin has been the biggest test of character I have ever experienced.
What do I do? Who am I in all of this? What is my art about? I wallow sometimes. Who am I to fight for a country that wants to spit me out? Who am I to return and “help out” in a place I left because I thought I could not reach my full potential there. I wallow. I wallow. I write poems. They Don’t rhyme. I wallow. I wallow. I–call my mother. En español, she prays for me. En españo she reminds me of who I am. Hija of Cristina of Carmen Delia, Tati, Morena, Eloisa, and the list goes on. Guerreras. Women who came from dirt, mountain, and unforgiving hunger. I remember there is resurrection in my DNA. I remember I came to tell stories. My story.
I remember my freshman year professor told me to change my name and fix my accent. I remember I never became “Gabrielle O’Connor”. I remember when the boy I liked told me everyone under the equator is dirty. I remember telling him to read a map, Dominican Republic is above the equator. I remember being called exotic. I remember graduating with honors in front of my Abuela. I remember the man who lifted my skirt and–I remember pressing my nails against his shoulders, pushing him off and running. I remember running barefoot in plaza colon while my parents smoked cigars and read the paper. I remember my dreams all start on the sky. I remember all the songs and poems I ever wrote. I remember making my own films against all odds. I remember Emely Peguero from Santo Domingo and that she didn’t get to dream. I remember I carry weight with the lightness of my skin. I remember I came to draw bridges, not conclusions. I remember Neruda y los mios y los tuyos. I remember pain and not fitting. I remember building the door and the handle and kicking it open and holding it too. I remember Gabriela Cristina Ortega Garcia. If I remember. They will too.
The constant remembering has made me write myself in. Everywhere I go. From writing a solo show called “Las Garcia” about the women in my family when I was 19 and putting it up at the Hollywood fringe in 2016 (Later touring, taking it to colleges and GOOGlE for International Women’s Day in 2018), to helping produce and starring in “SAFE HAVEN” a short film about mental health and self injury in a latinx family that went on to win the 2018 Sundance Ignite competition to then taking my work BACK to Dominican Republic.
In 2018, I wrote, produced and starred in a project called “Un Acto de Rebeldia Al dia” based on my poem “Niña” (a poem about girlhood, innocence and sexual corruption) –the film was a direct response to the increasing gender violence in Dominican Republic, where girls–(specially bet 14-20) are KILLED AND MURDERED by ex-partners, parents, and at times strangers. Women in my country were in danger and my goal became to wake up the “upper middle class” that was blind to the issue. With Director Isabella Breton and Producer Nicole Coiscou, we created a short film and campaign to bring awareness to Machismo culture in the island. The film played to sold-out audiences in Dominican Republic, NYC, LA, London, Frankfurt, Berlin, Brazil, UNESCO headquarters, Funglode and beyond. It was chosen as one of the official selections for the annual national film showings all over the world that represent cinema in Dominican Republic and with the film we were able to create public disruptions and workshops backed by the vice presidency of the country. It was a movement that brought awareness to the problem without exploiting victims. The film is an official selection for the Hola Mexico Film festival.
I have now written three solo shows and two full length plays. As a member of All latin@ and doc theatre company Teatro Luna West, I have toured, perform and devised shows that speak to the political moment as well as created spaces for WOC. The company recently released the first latinx audible original audiobook called ‘Talking while Female and Other Dangerous Acts” a collection of 25 stories from latinx women all over the country. I am the official poet for the project haven written seven original poems as well as a featured story.
I continue my journey as an actor, writer, and filmmaker. I am currently in post-production for my first feature film–a poetry visual album that explores the intersection of verse, cinema, and language. A passion project directed by me and Diana Valencia, written by me (featuring eight new poems) in collaboration with cinematographers/filmmakers Natalia Chao and Kenzo Le. The Project is called “Manifesto, An Odyssey” and is expected to drop in 2020.
I operate under “OrtegART” as my brand, my production company and the heart of my work. I want to make art that matters and I am proud of the artists I have collaborated with both as an actor and a creator.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Oh boy. It’s been a journey. They say nothing worth having comes easy, specially if you’re a latina immigrant in the United States. I went to USC to get a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. I was the only latinx person in my class. I experienced racism as well as seeing my own privilege. Sometimes opening your eyes is a double edge sword.
USC did not see me. They saw my work and ethic but they didn’t see GABRIELA with one L and a big broad vowels. They were not ready, the did not have the tools. In 2013, the conversation surrounding diversity was not nearly as advanced and as question-driven as it is now. So, not being able to see myself, I had to created my own toolbox. In a way, the isolation and identity crisis got me organized and I am grateful that I fought hard. I had to. I have given up so much to be here. I owe it to myself and my family to be seen. So yes, it’s been rocky. I mean. Look at who’s president. But I am so so so grateful for my journey. Except the racists, they can…well…shove it.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
A curious, outspoken, creative truth seeker. I can always use a story. And I’d say I’m pretty good at finding them, nurturing them, and bringing them to life. I have about six projects in development ranging from poetry to music, to find, to theatre. I am interested in seeing where our worlds meet and see how we can lift each other up and be better. I am proud to say I mostly work with underrepresented voices and that I believe in making new classics for people who have never been given the mic. I’d say solo work and spoken word poetry are a specialty but If I am known for anything is to always finish what I start no matter what. I am always interested in collaborating and putting a mirror to society through art and all its intersections.
What were you like growing up?
Oh, such a brat. Oh, such a gooey ball of sweetness. Oh, so lazy. Oh, full of poems. I did it all. From paint to improv, to creating my own news shows with a camcorder to a wanna be veterinarian to a fashion designer to a munchkin in the wizard of us to a baby dressed in pink that enjoyed rolling in the grass rather than crawling. I have been lucky to have parents that understood early that my brain operated in images and colors and anything creative so they let me fly and have supported my journey along the way I grew up in a curious and multicultural environment having friends from Japan, Venezuela, India, the U.S and beyond. I was taught to know world history and read in order to connect with others I suck at sports but Id be a wonderful hype woman for the whole universe. I once won third place in a three people talent show because I wanted to sing and play guitar but I got nervous, my pants were neon and I did not sing Adele. When in doubt: sing Adele, always.
I grew up going to church on Sundays and playing chess and cards with my grandma for oreos. I always talk to older people, I love their stories and their smells. I am a daughter of a dentist who off roads at 53 with his 4×4 and has more followers than my of his 3 Instagram accounts (shoutout to @doctorortega, my dad) and I am the daughter of a fashionable Lawyer a la Elle Woods, who raised a daughter while getting a law degree at the time where no woman studied law, who has a woman ministry, who has dined on top of the Eiffel Tower and met Shakira on multiple occasion but also is able to watch Turkish telenovelas in Turkish, no subtitles. I grew up with superheroes as parents, So I was taught the world was magic, and to pray to God for love and justice. I was taught my dreams were important and that I should never stop dream. So here I am, 23 and I have no plans of stopping.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ortegart.com
- Email: gabriela.ortega95@gmailcom
- Instagram: @gabrielaortega5
Image Credit:
Film photos by Matias Ponce
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