Gabriela Cordon

Gabriela Cordon has had many successes in her career, but she considers La Cambalacha her "obra maestra," or masterpiece.

"If someone had shown me in a crystal ball where we'd be today, I wouldn't have believed it," said the 33-year old Guatemalan-American dancer and founder of La Cambalacha, an arts and education school based in San Marcos La Laguna in western Guatemala.

"La Cambalacha has taught me to not make plans because any plans I make will be surpassed by La Cambalacha's own momentum."

A Spanish word meaning "to exchange," La Cambalacha offers training in circus, dance, theater, music and art to Mayan youth from villages around Lake Atitlan. Tucked away off a small trail at the foot of a mountain, La Cambalacha is a magical second home for more than 2,500 indigenous youth each month.

To enter La Cambalacha is to enter another world completely. Colorfully painted boulders of stilt walkers, clowns and acrobats align the trail. A heavy wooden door marked with "Arte para Todos" (Art for Everyone) lets you know you have arrived. Giggling Mayan children practice pyramids on straw mats in an open dirt arena. A Mayan boy and Australian girl rehearse a trapeze routine hanging from a jocota tree. In a mirrored dance studio, under an image of Che Guevara, Mayan teenagers learn hip hop moves from a North American volunteer. Supervised by a visiting French clown, Mayan young adults wear red noses and practice comedy routines in preparation for an AIDS awareness tour in health clinics around the country. In the 'comedor,' or dining area, a group of Mayan 'tweens' gather around an Irish volunteer to receive a Spanish/English lesson. All the while, a team of Mayan men and British volunteers work hastily in the open compound to erect a new shelter space in anticipation of the country's rainy season.

The La Cambalacha staff is all volunteer - from its founder Cordon, to the Argentinian co-director, the English technical manager, the North American training supervisor and the rotating team of visiting teachers. Students range in age from 6 - 26 and primarily speak Kaqchikel and Tzutujil, the indigenous languages of area. Participants in La Cambalacha are selected by their dedication to the program and those showing particular promise are offered scholarships to attend workshops three to five times a week. Older students help conduct workshops in local schools and community centers, perform in tours around Guatemala and may participate in international exchanges. These students are granted a stipend of $175 per month to compensate what their families would receive from them working.

For Cordon, working in the arts with a different culture is what makes La Cambalacha so rewarding and so challenging.

"The first year I started I didn't know what I was getting myself into, working with the indigenous population, and that was probably a good thing," she said, laughing. "I didn't know all the obstacles. It's a really big job trying to understand children who have had such a different background, to realize all the needs they have that are unfulfilled. These kids had never seen a circus or a ballet. They didn't know what theater was, so they didn't know what we were talking about. At La Cambalacha, it's about how art can be used for social transformation, as a tool for change. I know I need to be involved in something I feel is really going to make a difference for people who need a difference made."

Cordon was born in Guatemala and raised in Illinois until she was 13 years old. It was there she learned hip hop, contemporary and street dance. After moving back to Guatemala City, Cordon established a dance school called Dimension 8 and was declared by the press as "one of Guatemala's best dancers." Despite her success, Cordon became "sick of the pretensions, the cocktails, the receptions. My dance company was very profitable, we always had an audience, but I was sick of city life."

Cordon had visited the remote mountain village of San Marcos La Laguna many times and in 2002 decided to move there. "I stepped off the boat and said this is it. I saw a little sign that said I could buy a piece of land for 10,000 quetzales and that's exactly what I had in bank. I just did it. I think it was some divine force that made me choose this place," she said, shrugging.

That year, with a small government grant, Cordon set up La Cambalacha, intending it to be a space for professional artists to collaborate and teach kids for a few hours a week. "But in that first year we realized what was needed was social integration through creative expression," she said. "The first school in San Marcos was started only 40 years ago and so few people went to school back then. These kids are the first generation getting an education past elementary school. It's a gigantic job to get pass the shyness, the shame, the silence, the low self-esteem."

With a population of approximately 3,000, San Marcos La Laguna is one of the more traditional, conservative, Catholic villages around Lake Atitlan and reactions to La Cambalacha have evolved over the years.

"There have been beautiful awakenings in both the kids and parents," Cordon said. "At first the parents were kind of nervous about it, but now they'll come and tell me how expressive their kids are and how they wish they had the same opportunities when they were young. Some religious fanatics do their best to encourage kids not to participate. We identify kids whose will to participate in the arts is stronger than what anyone can tell them. There have been magical moments when we get to see one of our kids really opening up to another dimension...when we see them understanding that the world isn't so small and so closed."

Manaces Ixcaya, 23, has been training at La Cambalacha for four years. "In La Cambalacha I have learned to express myself and to help others overcome the fear and shame that keep these communities repressed," he said. "Art is like medicine," said Juana Puzul, a 20 year old acrobat and clown who was preparing for AIDS awareness tour. "It heals and gives strength." Gaspar Ixcaya, a 20 year old dancer, trapeze artist, acrobat and clown, said, "I want art to take the place of violence. I want to help change Guatemala ."

Students at La Cambalacha also get exposed to other cultures through volunteers that spend anywhere from two weeks to two years at the school. "We've had volunteers from Australia, England, Korea, North American, Ireland, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Spain and Germany, 26 countries in total," she said. "People find out about us through volunteer organizations, the website and word of mouth. It blows my mind how many people contact us and come here." Volunteers also provide much of the funding that keeps La Cambalacha going by raising money for the time they spend there. On average, volunteers pay $150 a week for room, board and all meals. Approximately 40% goes toward their costs with the other 60% going towards scholarships.

"We used to go through the whole grant thing but we got sick of the bureacracy," she said. "I want to show other projects that you don't need to get so wrapped up in the system to do what you need to be doing. All of our funding comes from people who know us, trust us, love us and believe in what we're doing."

One such believer is Tom Russell, a retired Illinois judge and part-time resident of Guatemala . Russell discovered La Cambalacha on one of his extended stays while staying in the neighboring village of Tzununa. He was so impressed by La Cambalacha that he arranged a trip for volunteers from the Salida Circus in Colorado to go last March.

"La Cambalacha is a magical place," Russell said, "empowering Mayan kids of all ages through the arts. Over time, it is helping to bring economic, social and political justice to a people who have suffered 500 years of oppression and extreme poverty. These kids are discovering their creative voices through the arts, while growing in character, self-awareness and self-confidence. Undoubtedly, many will become community leaders and bring to their beautiful culture not only the respect it deserves, but also a strong voice in the political, artistic and social life of Guatemala."

Salida Circus parent Debra Juchem took her two sons Nathaniel, 6 and Seth, 11 to La Cambalacha for two weeks. "Visiting La Cambalacha was an incredibly moving and creatively inspiring experience," she said. "Gabriela has simultaneously created a positive societal and employment solution for young Mayans and a stimulating creative outlet for many international volunteers. For the young Mayan children of Lake Atitlan, La Cambalacha offers the potential of replacing a life of hard labour hauling firewood and coffee beans with a creative livelihood in the arts."

Cordon did admit that money is always concern at La Cambalacha, but said, "Our motto is we do the best we can with what we have," and, she added with a grin, "We do a pretty damn good job."