“Ay papi, ay mami”, from Milena Cestao

Describing this piece can be complex, since different situations are constantly occurring that
invite us to interpretation, where at first, it is not easy to distinguish the proposed narrative.
However, after a few minutes, it is possible to understand that the narrative, in my opinion, is
made up of different symbols that respond to a common issue: a critique of patriarchy that
materializes through the musical genre of reggaeton.

The work is composed of three artists on stage: a performer and two musicians, including a
pianist and a composer. In general, the piece develops between the dialogues, which are
mostly excerpts from reggaeton lyrics; the movements and gestures that give life and
context to these dialogues; and the music that accompanies them, mainly bases used in the
reggaeton genre, but mixed with more electronic sounds. The work contains parts in
Spanish, German and English, where many times the reggaeton songs are translated into
German, which are originally in Spanish.

The beginning of the piece opens the theme that women, since they are girls, must comply
with certain roles that begin to be configured within the house. Between singing, gestures
and movements directly related to each other, the performer tells us the story of a girl who
has to comply with certain patriarchal obligations that did not allow her to go out to play,
among them washing, sweeping and praying. These gestures are transformed into typical
reggaeton movements, accompanied by phrases such as "ay papi", "dale don" and "tacata",
also typical phrases used in reggaeton songs.

The piece continues to develop through the telling of a story told through excerpts from
reggaeton songs. Their movements exaggerate certain feminine corporealities related to the
way of dancing reggaeton, where in certain moments they are exacerbated, while others are
deconstructed and taken to new movements that break with the sexualized aesthetics of
women in reggaeton. In this way, the idea of how a woman has to look like "for others", who
even if she is on her knees, remains with a smile in spite of everything, is dismantled.

Conveying emotions such as rage, passion and deep facial expressions, Milena takes us on
a journey that we, as women, can very easily resonate with. Although nothing is literal within
the piece, there are many symbols that connect to our position as women within this society.
Ultimately, this internal journey leads us to find our own interpretation of what we see in the
proposal, as well as questioning where we are today, who we are today and from where we
mobilize as women. Towards the end of the play, two phrases reveal the dichotomy in which
we can often find ourselves immersed: justification ("That's how men are") and resistance ("It
is not violence, it is self-defense, resistance, we are not defenseless").