2024 Underwriting Recipient

Theresa J. Córdova, Ph.D.
Los Pastores Teatro Camp and Performances

Independent scholar, Dr. Theresa J. Córdova earned a Ph.D. in American Studies at the University of New Mexico in 2012. She serves as the founder, director and curator of Las Pistoleras Instituto Cultural de Arte in El Prado, New Mexico. Las Pistoleras Instituto Cultural de Arte opened its doors in 2013 as a communal space where cultura, activism and the arts are at the forefront of community identity.

Dr. Córdova also remains active in the continual mission of Sangre de Cristo Liturgies, an organization founded by her father, the late Arsenio Córdova in 1981. Sangre de Cristo Liturgies is devoted to the preservation and recovery of the history, traditions and culture of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Sangre de Cristo Liturgies fosters its mission through the use of theatre, music and lectures. Arsenio Córdova’s family and cast continue his work and his vision. For the past 42 years, Sangre de Cristo Liturgies has presented the play “Los Pastores” in various Catholic churches, universities and theaters throughout northern New Mexico, southern Colorado and in Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua. Despite the passing of Arsenio in 2019, the cast of Los Pastores continues their presentations through the direction and active participation of the Arsenio Córdova family.

Currently, Dr. Córdova also follows her lifelong passion of cultural preservation by connecting her Chican@ community in Taos county and throughout New Mexico to various digital humanities projects that include the honorable and privileged role of digitization and collection of contemporary oral histories that will ensure a continued presence of our rich cultural and political histories over time and space.

Los Pastores Teatro Camp

Los Pastores Teatro Camp includes six sessions of education, acting, and cultural knowledge, in preparation for the 43rd Annual traditional presentation of Los Pastores. The camp will culminate with public performances, free of charge to the audience, during the month of December, at San Ignacio Church in Martinez Town, Albuquerque, San Juan Church at Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Taos (dates and times tba). Each performance will include a meal, as an act of celebration and an opportunity for audience members to visit with the performers.

Los Pastores

Los Pastores is a traditional folk play about the shepherds’ search for the newborn Christ Child during the Christmas season. The drama dates back to the Middle Ages as part of a sequence of plays called autosacramentales or Acts of Faith. Twelve days comprise the complete spiritual cycle. Franciscan priests and Spanish and Mexican settlers brought the plays to New Mexico during Spanish and Mexican colonial times. The three autosacramentales plays illustrated lessons of faith and remained an important vehicle for sharing, because few people in the area could read at the time. Plays consisted of the following types: Mystery plays (about the life of Christ); Miracle plays (about wondrous signs and events); and Morality plays (about the battle of good and evil). Los Pastores, the most musical of the autosacramentales, represents the battle of good and evil during the shepherds’ search. At the end of the play, the entire entourage receives its reward- interaction with the Holy Family, especially Baby Jesus. Despite some occurrences along the way, good wins over evil in the end.

Sangre de Cristo Liturgies

Founded in 1981 by the late Arsenio Córdova, Theresa Córdova’s father, Sangre de Cristo Liturgies (SdCL) is program host of Los Pastores Teatro Camp and performances. SdCL is devoted to the preservation and recovery of the history, traditions and culture of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. SdCL fosters its mission through the use of theatre, music and lectures. Arsenio Córdova’s family and cast continue his work and his vision. For the past 42 years, SdCL has presented the play “Los Pastores” in various Catholic churches, universities, and theaters throughout northern New Mexico, southern Colorado, and in Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua. Despite the passing of Arsenio in 2019, the cast of Los Pastores continues their presentations through the direction and active participation of the Arsenio Córdova family.

Below is Grupo Sangre de Cristo's 2021 pastorela, directed by Dr. Theresa Córdova, filmed and produced by Dr. Beverly R. Singer (Santa Clara Pueblo).

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