Rodrigo Calderón Tobar
“This migration journey is all about the people and community around you”
Rodrigo Calderon
Occupation: Theatre practitioner
State of Residency: Melbourne
Favourite place in Australia: La Mama Theatre in Carlton
Upon arrival: Surprised the sun was still out at 9 PM during summer nights
Edited by Cristina Abela. Socials by Monica Espinosa.
Rodrigo is a Salvadoran theatre practitioner based in Melbourne, Co-Artistic Director of Theatre company 5ANGRYMen and creator and venue manager of Black Sand Studio in Brunswick. The past 17 years he has collaborated and presented his work in a range of different theatre productions, festivals, films, and socio-cultural projects in Latin America and Asia. His work explores societal taboos through a physical lens. He is interested in how the performer’s body can be used as a communicative and political tool that creates ceremonial gatherings that naturally form a community.
TELL US YOUR STORY
Rodrigo with his family on the day he left El Salvador to come to Australia
Growing up in El Salvador we had two references about Australia, Skyppy and Crocodile Dundee. Back in those days, when technology didn’t bombard us with so much information, we could only imagine how this land was, the weather, the food, the people, everything was in our imagination. Also Taz - The Tasmanian Devil and Steve Irwin helped shape the imagery I had of Australia. So, I was surprised to arrive here for the first time in 2011, after the most excruciating flight I’ve ever experienced (48 hrs in total, counting layovers), and hearing Kookaburras, which at the time I thought were sounds of monkeys. I thought, ‘Wow! Sydney has monkeys in the city?!’, and then I saw an Ibis, and I remember thinking: ‘that looks like the perfect explanation on evolution. It looks like a flying dinosaur!’. Everything was new, and my partner at the time was so excited to hear me recollect these new experiences, she felt she was meeting her hometown again for the first time.
After that visit I moved permanently on the 3rd January 2015 pursuing that relationship. The VISA I applied for was strict on dates of arrival, if I arrived after the 5th of Jan I would have had troubles. I stretched my stay in El Salvador as much as I could, a common decision people take when they leave their homeland. You want to manipulate time and make the last family meal eternal, you wish that an external decision you can’t control makes you stay longer, it’s terrifying but also the opposite. Whoever leaves their homeland, by necessity or decision, is hard. One thing I was clear when I moved here is that I wanted to develop my artistic practice, as a performer and theatre maker. The first months of my arrival to Melbourne, which I now call ‘one of my homes’, I was busy. I did as many theatre workshops as my bank account allowed me and did lots of volunteering work in theatre venues around town. I wanted to understand the cultural ecology of the city to see where I fitted in. In that process I realised it was not about fitting in but to embrace the particularities that made me distinct. Then I decided, instead of being part of existing theatre companies and productions, to create my own work that embraced an alternative aesthetic to the shows I was experiencing. This was fundamental for my career, and also to embrace my new identity as a newcomer in a new land.
Nine years have passed, and I’m still trying to figure out lots of things. Life feels different now in the sense that I now know that you choose and create your own family here. You create your own landscape, which is in continuous change and is different to the one you encounter at the beginning. If I mentioned all the people that helped me feel welcomed and supported I would go over the words allowed in this section, but I can say that I feel really grateful for the many people who have been there for me and continue being with me, this migration journey is all about people and community it is about the “manada” around you.
Performance of the theatre show 'HE' by Rodrigo Calderón at El Zonte, El Salvador August 2023
The community-based practice I foment is not only for my own productions. For the past eight years I’ve collaborated with Melbourne-based theatre companies that create spaces of encounters through open training sessions, workshops, and performance platforms. I’m currently the Co-Artistic Director of 5ANGRYMen - Theatre company, a public space theatre company renowned for physically arduous shows. I also collaborate with BoilOver Performance Ensemble, an inclusive performance ensemble which aims to devise unique performances. I’m the creator and venue manager of Black Sand Studio which is an arts studio in the heart of Brunswick orientated to support the work of the independent arts sector. I remain connected to Latin America as I support the work of Nana Margarita, an Indigenous leader in Izalco El Salvador, that works for the preservation of ancient traditional practices and cultural memory.
CHALLENGES
Exotic - Sometimes you don’t know if the interest of some people in you, is about who you are or what you represent from their idea of you being from a land far far away. Learn to choose your fights. Overtime, you'll develop a thick skin with some 'racial jokes' embedded in the cultural landscape. Some fights are not worth it, and it is better to invest that energy in conversations with people who deserve it.
Money - Everything is so expensive. Figuring out ways to overcome this first challenge will calm your nerves. Many people here have more than just one avenue of income, it's quite common to have a couple of jobs on the go specially in the arts or hospitality industries. This can be challenging but it also gives you flexibility to have time on your own projects. Be fierce, don't succumb, and always treat yourself at the end of the day/week with a nice dessert/drink. Congratulate yourself for the effort you're making just by living here, it's not easy.
Accepting you are here - Trying to live two lives. Maintaining the connections you left behind and building the new ones. At the end, it is about balance and comprehension, to have patience and learn your new schedules, which are different to the people from 'back home'. You are waking up and they are out partying. 'Dale tiempo al tiempo' (Give time to time), you'll get used to it.
Celebration of the first performance night at Melaka Arts & Performance Festival. Malaysia, 2015. Rodrigo, in the middle, shaking the hand of Mas Agus Riyanto, trance-master from Indonesia. Photo by Steve Chong
CONTRASTS AND SIMMILARITIES
Open Spaces & Babyccinos - When I left El Salvador, picnic culture was not a thing and being in certain open spaces was considered unsafe. Attending my first picnic in a park and feeling safe was an interesting feeling. Also, after six months living here, I realised that babyccino is not a drink for adults, it is a mini cup of warm milk with froth and a marshmallow just for kids and its very popular.
Latin American humour - I had to adapt to the way I related back in El Salvador, to the social interactions from here. It was a process. I learnt the hard way that the way we joke is sometimes very different and it may offend locals unintentionally.
Camping and nature - Every opportunity there is people camping and hiking. If there’s a day off = camping. Public holiday = out to the bush for a hike. It’s incredible how people really embrace nature and there are many facilities that make it accessible for people to do so with many designated camping sites with barbeques and toilets.
PIECE OF ADVICE
Make it stand out
Rodrigo’s upcoming show
Don’t expect similarities to be the same - If you think about it, the meaning of the word similar means “the same” and it sort of is but it actually is different. For example, when you go out ‘partying’ in Australia is way different to what we understand as a party in Latin America. One is not better than the other, it is just a new and a different way to experience things.
Try different cuisines - The culinary diversity in this region is fantastic, cuisines you never heard of are all here. If you can and are willing to put your stomach to the test, go out there to the markets, or you local main street and try them all. Through food we are able to learn and share.
It’s hard, but you’re not alone - In tough times go back to your roots. The community will save you as you spend one night out speaking your mother tongue, 4pm coffee + sweets + good chats, singing to Juan Gabriel, Sandro, Chavela Vargas until you lose your voice, you name it. Do what you need to come back to your senses and reset.
IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS…
Rodrigo sees himself working hard on his solo-work, titled ‘HE’ which will be presented in the first bilingual season at Theatre Works Melbourne from 8th May to 18th May 2024. He plans to tour with “HE” internationally whilst continuing to promote his arts studio, Black Sand Studio to supports independent artists in their craft.
Instagram > @rockdrigo.calderon Facebook > @Rodrigo Calderon
Website > https://www.rodrigocalderon.com/he
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