‘Tres Vidas’ Three lives, a singular experience By Mнa R. Cortez “Tres Vidas,” a theater piece featuring a single actress and a musical trio, will portray the lives of three legendary Latin-American women this Friday at UTEP’s Magoffin Auditorium. Backed by the Core Ensemble, actress Karina Barros will play Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, Salvadoran peasant-activist Rufina Amaya and Argentine poet Alfonsina Storni.

(The part is also sometimes played by Georgina Corbo, pictured above.) “These are women who have a hemispheric reach, and they cover very wide professional and artistic fields,” said Dennis Bixler, Ph.D, director of UTEP Chicano Studies. “With this event we are reaching beyond the traditional U.S.-Mexico border region.

We don’t get too many of these (performances) around here, and we all agreed it would enrich the lives of our students and our community.” The local presentation of the play, which has resonated with audiences around the world since 2001, is the baby of the Chicano Studies Department, UTEP Special Events and the Center for Inter-American and Border Studies (CIBS).

Ricardo Blazquez, CIBS lecturer and director, said he saw great cultural, educational and artistic importance in “Tres Vidas,” especially as part of Hispanic Heritage Month. “These three lives, lives of heroism, courage and strength, give life to all of us,” Blazquez said.