Interview with Laura Sanchez

Zoom interview with Laura Sanchez by karen Krolak, co-Artistic Director of Monkeyhouse in June 2025

Yes, I'm Laura Sanchez, flamenco dancer, expressive artist and creator. I am also Espanola, immigrant, trauma survivor, and the mother of two.

I am wearing my red lipstick and my flamenco earrings and my hair is loose and I am ready to talk about my work.

Welcome to Holland is a multidisciplinary theatrical performance that combines flamenco with spoken word, humor, film and installation to uplift the traditionally invisible role of the caregiver.

Welcome to Holland- It's going to be on tour starting in New York, New York City on June 26 at El Barrio Art center, and then go to Somerville on June 28th and 29th and continue at the Dance Hall in Kittery, Maine on July 11th.

Welcome to Holland has been funded partially by the New EnglandState Touring Program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment,for the Arts regional touring program and the six New England state arts agencies. It has also received grants from different local agencies from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Live Arts Boston grant from the Boston Foundation.

The main theme of Welcome to Holland is finding yourself in a reality you did not expect. How to compile all the pieces of yourself, when life puts you in a position you never saw coming. And in particular, we are talking about an unexpected motherhood journey. But it expands beyond caregiving. Because in life we all may have situations and experiences we didn't expect. And how you find yourself back again. That's the main theme of Welcome to Holland. I started creating this piece while I was working on my previous theatrical performance named After Dark. I was part of the Boston Dance Makers residency at the Boston Center for the Arts, creating this piece. And actually, After Dark ended in this metaphorical Holland. And I find that After Dark  was the prelude of Welcome to Holland. And that was when I first planted the seed of this work.

Thanks to the support I received from all the team from the Boston Center for the Arts, I was able to just start thinking and envisioning what I wanted to create for Welcome to Holland and thanks to the support that I received from the team also I brought these into the Idea Swap to talk about the work in front of presenters with the support from Andrea Blesso, also the director from the Dance Programs for the Boston Center for the Arts, and start making Welcome to Holland,  a three minute piece that I could start talking about. And so that's how we started.

The aMaSSiT program was very critical in the process of Welcome to Holland, because I already had a three minute piece that I created for Idea Swap, but then I needed to push myself to create something between 10 to 15 minutes to present at The Dance Complex at the end of the residency. Being surrounded by so many wonderful artists was such an inspirational process that really helped me go deep inside of what I wanted to say and how. And being surrounded by experts in the field, such as Peter DiMuro understanding how presenters and how to talk to audiences about the work, and also learning about accessibility and inclusion from karen Krolak and Nicole Harris, was significant for the work. I started to shape my piece. Welcome to Holland from inclusive lenses, which makes a huge impact on how I started to envision the work.

So, that was very important. And for me to present 15 minutes in front of an audience gave me something to then tour around different dance festivals and multidisciplinary opportunities to start shaping the piece using that big draf that I created during the residency.

So the way I envision art, it includes community. It always has its community center. So when I started working on Welcome to Holland, I envisioned how I want to engage with the communities this work represents, which is mostly mothers and caregivers. And then, thanks to the grants that I received from the different local grants such as Everett, Revere, Somerville, Cambridge, Malden, I received several grants from different regions that I was able to go and do community workshops.

Some of them were little excerpts from the work for the community of disability and then talking about the work. In other cases, it was, um, an arts and craft activity that I did with Danny Falls to make paper tulips in community while we were offering childcare.

Thanks to the support that I received from the  Massachusetts Family Center, and just to offer opportunities for mothers and caregivers to just have some time for themselves and then create something beautiful and meaningful that became part of the bigger theatrical performance that we share for the first time at The Dance Complex last year.

Being part of the Vault program was also significant because since I first started envisioning Welcome to Holland, inclusion was part of it and accessibility.

And so learning about tools on how to make it accessible and also the language that I use in my piece. And also how can I make it accessible for different individuals with different kinds of disabilities was critical for me.

It was at the core of my work, and so having mentorship and one on one individual, sessions with both Nicole and karen made a it helped me shape the inclusive lenses. And also I got some funding to be able to provide some ASL when we presented the piece at The Dance Complex and also to work with the ASL interpreter, not only to come to the performance and do the work, but also to be part of the process to really get into, understanding and providing
feedback on is this the language that I should use, how to reorganize and just...

Yeah, just to make sure that I was using an inclusive language in my piece. And also being a physical like Monkeyhouse is my fiscal sponsor, which allows me to apply for bigger grants that I can't apply as an individual. And also it also provides an opportunity to receive donations as an individual artist. It really helps when I need to get funding for something.Specifically, I can use Monkeyhouse as my fiscal sponsor to get that.

So it was it made an impact not only to create the piece, but also as a continuation of the work, and we are still in partnership together. So that'..., I feel that I'm still part of the program, even if that is specific. The bold program is already done, but I'm still part of the Monkeyhouse family.


So I received the Live Art Boston grant when I had already developed the first full piece of Welcome to Holland. But I always envisioned to present the work being accessible not only for individuals with disabilities, but also for caregivers.

So I have been working for the past year on thinking and creating an experience where we can really invite families of young children and caregivers into theatrical spaces. And I have been developing this idea that is called Play Space, which is an inclusive, multi-sensory experience for children to stay while their parents attend the show. And so during this year, with the funding from the the the Boston Foundation, I have been able to work with different experts in the field and understanding what are the needs of this community and how it can… how can we make it accessible for them to tell them, I hear you, I see you.

And so we are presenting for the first time this place based in Somerville on June 29th. We are doing a matinee show and, we are going to be working with a wonderful team, a local dancer and also an OT  and karen Krolak as the dramaturg 

And also not only developing this piece, but I'm also starting to work on how to make my work accessible from different points. And so I am exploring new ways of getting into the work, getting into the communities this work represents. I am working on a documentary with Monica Cohen from The Boom House about making visible the role of the caregiver, and I am also working on another project that I can't share yet, but I am very excited to have that as part of my process. And soon I will be able to share more information about what comes after Holland.

Well, as a mother of two little ones, I know how hard it is to attend, theatrical performances, especially at night. At least for me, finding childcare  during the most critical time of the day, which is bath time and dinner time, and get out of the house by then, at least for me, I'm a I'm also an immigrant, so I have no family support system around me. And so getting out of the house at seven, 730 to go to a performance was very, very difficult for me. And I find that going to matinees, shows that are family friendly, it's an opportunity for the whole
family to experience something.

And so Welcome to Holland. It's for adults audiences, but there is the Play Space next, next door so that the children can stay, having fun, making new friends, learning about inclusion and feeling seen and and just enjoying while their caregivers are attending the show. And I also find that sometimes it's difficult to leave your children somewhere and then go somewhere else. So we are offering the possibility to maybe one of the caregivers can stay watching the show and the other one stay with the kids. But it's still a family experience where everyone can get something.

And also for single family units, like if it's only one caregiver and the caregiver needs to stay with the child while they're watching the show, we are setting up a space in the mezzanine for families for the parents and the children to stay in a space that doesn't feel like interrupting other people from the audience.

So we are thinking about many possible ways where families of young children and also families of children with disabilities, how can they get the support they need to have a 75 -90 minute time for themselves, to connect with themselves, to dance in community, to move, to express, to feel seen, to cry and laugh and just feel alive while you feel comfortable because your childs are in the same building. And also we are also making sure that caregivers, at any time, they can go back and forth if they need to go and check on their children.

So by developing this piece, I was basically going back into what I have struggled with over the past six years now, and how I can try to provide opportunities that I haven't found myself out there. So,  it's just a matter of like if I look at one persona I am creating this piece for is for me on the other side who might have similar experiences. And it's just like, I see you, I want to help you.I want to make sure that you can come to see the show because the show was created from and for caregivers.

So, um, as a mother of a child with visual impairments, I have been attending a program that Perkins School for the blind offers for children 0 to 3 and their caregivers once a week. This is a program in which, families get there every week into a magical place where you find loving and caring people waiting
for you with their arms open. And this place is completely adapted for children who has any kind of visual impairment or any other disability.

And so the program starts doing circle time. And so you sing along with your friends,  the other mothers like you and children. And it's actually for me, as a mother of a child with multiple disabilities, it was the only space where I could really feel like a mom and a baby, leaving behind medical appointments, therapies, difficult conversations, anything.

It was just, I am a mom of a three month old baby, and I'm just here singing with my baby and also receiving the love of this wonderful community. And then after singing a few songs with your children and other caregivers like you, they stay playing with volunteers and experts in the field.

And then you go into a separate room, all the mothers and caregivers to work with a social worker so we could be taken care of. We could share, we could connect, we could feel seen and heard while our children were having
fun making new friends and really enjoying the beauty of life.

And so for me, attending Perkins School for the Blind every week was transformative for me because it really changed my own way, my own lenses, to look at the world and to really fall in love with this metaphorical Holland. And so when I envision Play Space, I envision the exact same program where caregivers and children are in the same space, but they are doing their own thing.

They're making friends, they're having fun. It's inclusive, it's accessible, and caregivers are connecting, having fun, getting together and feeling seen.

So for me, it's kind of like bringing that the essence of the infant toddler program into the theater to make it accessible.And and also Perkins School for the Blind has been very supportive. And they when I first presented the first draft of this idea at the Dance Complex in 2024, they borrow me different, equipments that they have adapted toys, different tools that children with visual impairments use in their daily bases. There is a program within the Perkins School for the Blind where they develop a specific materials for children with visual impairments and other like disabilities, like my daughter. And so we have a table that they made for us, a chair. We have different toys with light. And it's just like they made
everything for us. So that Sol, my daughter can have a childhood like any other child.

It's just she's a child.

And they made our life, her life significantly better. And so I want to somehow bring that joy, that love, that sense of community into my work.

I think there's no better time to see Welcome to Holland than now, because we are in times in which we have to remind ourselves that we all belong to the same world, that we all deserve to feel seen, to feel heard, to feel safe. We all need to feel that we belong.

And Welcome to Holland. It's a manifestation of love, a manifestation of community. It really invites audiences to think and to really move in someone else's shoes. Even if you don't know what they're going through. Because we need to develop empathy for others. We need to develop love. We need to share love. We need to move in community and just be with each other so that no matter what we're going through we can find the support we need and to remind ourselves that we are not alone, that we together can really make a change on how we see the world.

I am going to start with just by saying that we had two nights, like two sold out nights and the second night every single person in the audience moved into the stage to move in community and to celebrate. They were willing to move in my shoes, to move in the shoes of experiences they didn't really know about, and just that response was significant enough to know that the work transcended beyond myself. It really got into the audience, and I didn't need the words, just the faces and the experiences and how people were moving and how they were really willing to move in someone else's.shoes. 

And that was amazing.

And then for me, this is a personal work. I talk about my personal journey as an immigrant woman and mother of two, one of them with multiple disabilities. And I shared part of my story that only few people really know because not everybody gets the experience that I've had.

And so it was very vulnerable for me to share that with the community of parents from, especially from my neurotypical child’s school, because that was my community. I felt really connected to them. I really, I really loved all of them, but I was very scared because at the same time I was like, I am going to share a version of myself that only few really know. And that was very difficult and healing too for me, putting myself out there and say, this is who I am. This is what many women who look tired and get late and don't really get to do
all the things that the majority of moms get to do because we have a million other things that nobody gets to see.- Was difficult.

And I remember that the first night I took a deep breath in and said, here I go. There's no way. There's no way back when I jump into this. Something is going to change. And the change was something I did not expect. It was...

I received hugs and love and thank you notes and a ginormous gratitude response to what I shared, which was very, very meaningful for me because I was scared of the response. But what I got was love, I received love, I receive empathy,

I received a new way of looking at myself and my children and that is the audience I really, really need to reach. Because from my experience, inclusion starts from very, very early age. Only if parents of young children are committed to teach their children about inclusion and diversity, we can really see a future in which we build a world where we all belong.

And if you have a child with disabilities, you know what it is and the piece is going to really see you and hold you.

And if you don't have a child with disabilities, this work is very important because it's going to help you understand how you can help your child welcome everyone. Welcome to Holland is a piece that I feel will always be in progress, because life is a work in progress. And Welcome to Holland travels with me and the story that goes with me.

So...

What I envision about Welcome to Holland is bringing one layer of inclusion, like another layer of accessibility for caregivers and individuals with disabilities, and also a new message that audience can feel inspired by or they can learn from.

I want to find new ways to get it into people. I am working into translating the piece so I can bring this into Spanish speaking communities. I am already talking about how to bring it to Spain and Mexico, so I am already hoping for the work to be able to travel into communities that are not based on the United States.

Like how can Welcome to Holland travel into different like parts of the world and still get the message out there? So I am really excited and really interested in seeing how can I make that happen. And so that I can continue bringing the work everywhere.

So yeah, that's my hope that I can make it so that Welcome to Holland can be packed in a way that no matter where you go, you can just make the puzzle and put it there, Even if you don't have children, we all care for others in some capacity. We all experience life's unexpected journeys. We might experience trauma in different ways. We might need a reminder of that. You deserve to follow your dreams to do what you love.

So Welcome to Holland. It's centered in the experience of families and caregivers, but it talks about themes that extend beyond that audience, and it is important for other people to need to find hope.

it's a learning of, like again, you have in front of you something you did not expect, but it is your reality is what you have, whether you're not whether or not you chose to have that. It is your reality. It is your life. How are you going to make yourself in Holland an unexpected reality, to go back up again and to really dance flamenco with Holland issues so that you can find the joy again?

So it's a piece about hope and resilience and community. So I feel like that goes beyond being a mother, being a caregiver, or even being close to thinking about being one. So it's just, the themes that Welcome to Holland talks about are universal.

So Welcome to Holland. It's a mess. It is part of a dance studio. It's a film. It's part of a live flamenco show. It's a celebration of life. There are different situations from life brought in on stage.

Audiences say you're going to laugh, you're going to cry. You're going to feel connected. You're going to move. You're going to feel alive. That's what audiences who came to the show say about it.

There are also unexpected props that will be part of the show.

And I have had the privilege of working with a wonderful installation artist, Mary Hale who has been part of my team since I developed After Dark, and then has been coming and transforming the space into a beautiful Holland, and also working with a wonderful costume designer Sally Lesser, who helped me shaped Holland in a beautiful way with costumes made by the wonderful costume designer, Belen de la Quintana from Madrid.

And I have also had the wonderful honor of working with the one of the most important and contemporary flamenco choreographers in the world, Belén Maya. Having her being completely immersed into Holland. And help me shape that in a way that can really get to the audience and bring the essence of flamenco into the hearts of the audience. It's also part of the show.

I have been working with wonderful people from the community, and I have a team that is fantastic and I am very excited to have them on board this year.

And also, if your children are coming to the Play Space, we have a wonderful team. We have Angie Benitez who is a local dancer, Amy Mastrangelo, who is an OT and also a local dancer, and karen Krolak, who is the accessible dramaturg, along with a group of volunteers.

So we can offer one on one  care for those who need it. So this is a show you have to see.

Audiences also say this is a must see show. So you don't want to miss it. And in 2024, we had the two shows were sold out. So I really hope you get your tickets soon so you can get to see and experience the beauty of Holland with me and the rest of the audience.

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