Abrons Arts Center

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Ofrendas and Memory Making: La Parranda Across the Diaspora

December 5, 2026
 12–3pm

Join us for an afternoon of community at Abrons Arts Center! While Live! on Grand Auditions  are in progress, stop by for a holiday portrait at our pop-up photo studio with Tya Nelson and enjoy an altar making activity in response to En Parábola / Conversations on Tragedy currently on view in the Main Gallery. Celebrate the season with our annual parranda, the Puerto Rican tradition of Christmas caroling, with DASO y El Grupo Cemi, beginning at 12pm.

Photo by Andrew Federman

Schedule of Events

About Tya Nelson

A graduate of the International Center of Photography, Nelson has exhibited robustly across New York City, with presentations at the MoCADA House on Governors Island, Flushing Town Hall, and the Foley Gallery. Their practice has been supported by the School of Visual Arts Residency and a Ma-Yi Theater Company Micro-Grant. Nelson’s work has been featured in publications including WWD and VoyageLA, continuing a career-long dedication to unpacking the complexities of being seen and the architecture of the Black trans femme identity.

About Erica Ballester

Erica Ballester is a writer and collaborator in the film En Parábola/ Conversations on Tragedy Part 1. She grew up between Ridgewood, Queens and Sábana Grande, Puerto Rico. She is an English as a New Language and theater teacher in New York City public schools, and has performed her poetry in venues like the NuyoRican Poets Cafe and the Poets Passage in San Juan. She is currently based in Westchester.

About DASO

David “DASO” Soto is a New York–based Afro-Caribbean artist, actor, cultural curator, and community organizer rooted in the historic Puerto Rican arts movement of Loisaida (Lower East Side, NYC). His work bridges music, film, theater, and cultural programming — using art as a vehicle for storytelling, heritage, and community empowerment.

Through performance, media, and institution-building, DASO continues the tradition of Nuyorican artists who shaped Loisaida’s cultural identity while creating new platforms for emerging voices.