Spanish Classes Take In Julia Álvarez at El Repertorio Español

In February, the Spanish II and Spanish IV classes visited El Repertorio Español for an opportunity to view the theatrical representation of Dominican-American poet and novelist Julia Álvarez’s “En el tiempo de las mariposas” (In The Time of the Butterflies). Spanish teacher Giurissa A. Félix-Grace reports: “ ‘En el tiempo de las mariposas’ is a fictional account of the sad and true story of four Mirabal sisters, three of whom were murdered under the violent and bloody regime of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, known as ‘El Jefe (The Boss). Through the lives of the four sisters, Álvarez perfectly captures the terrorizing atmosphere of a dictatorship. She recounts how the three murdered sisters came to acquire revolutionary zeal and defied the flow of conformity. Within the underground movement, their code names were 'Las mariposas.' " Ms. Félix-Grace adds, “It is important for the boys to recognize the efforts of people such as the Mirabal sisters, how their past actions still affect and influence people today, and, most importantly, that the labor to restore civil liberties is still an ongoing struggle in many parts of this world."