[photo credit: Pasadena Public Library]
Award-winning filmmaker Pablo Miralles and Ballet Folklorico MEXICA will converge at the La Pintoresca Branch Library in Pasadena on Nov. 2 to surface untold histories of one of Pasadena’s most diverse neighborhoods—stories that have shaped the community but rarely appear in official records.
The fundraising event, “Fall in for La Pintoresca!,” combines live folkloric dance performances with documentary film screenings, creating intergenerational connections while addressing contemporary concerns about gentrification and cultural erasure in the Latino community.
The La Pintoresca Branch Library, constructed in 1930 at 1355 N. Raymond Ave., serves the most highly populated service area of Pasadena’s library system. Named for the historic hotel that previously occupied the site, the library anchors one of the city’s most densely populated and diverse communities.
The event’s structure demonstrates innovative approaches to institutional sustainability, positioning cultural programming as integral to the library’s mission and financial health. Through folkloric dance, traditional performance forms pass from elders to younger community members, affirming the value of cultural knowledge that exists outside formal educational institutions.
Documentary film provides an additional layer of historical documentation, capturing oral histories and visual records that might otherwise be lost to time. The combination creates what organizers describe as a rich tapestry of storytelling modes, honoring both embodied cultural knowledge transmitted through dance and technological documentation.
The library has hosted similar cultural programming previously, including an Oct. 8 Latino Heritage Month event.
RSVP: lapintorescalib.assoc@gmail.com or (626) 993-5686.
Fall in for La Pintoresca! will run on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. La Pintoresca Branch Library, 1355 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. For more information, call (626) 744-7268 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/library/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D190943533.
