Francisco Antonio Henao Velasco

Francisco’s art seeks no only to respect and love the classics but also to communicate fundamental elements of Latin American cultures. After spending two years at the Popular Institute of Culture, he arrived at Grutela founded by Danilo Tenorio who retired in 1979. There, he was in charge of the group with which he explored the ideas of Jerzye Grotowsky, Antonin Artaud and the forbidden theater. He mounted the first works for the Festival of the Colombian Theater Corporation. He worked on a popular level in the neighborhood of La Base, Commune 8 of Cali, where members of MAS (and extreme rightwing terrorist group) killed Harold Almonasid, one of his actors. During this time he hid in Bogotá. When he returned to Cali, Francisco started exploring ritual and tribes’ theatricalites of the Amazon. Through their ideas, he strengthened the desire to work the sacred theater or third theater. This led him to shamanism and Toltec and Aztec theories.