George Emilio Sanchez Performs "In the Court of the Conqueror"
Venue: Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
Date: Friday, April 25, 2025
Time: 7:30 - 8:45 PM
Event Types: Arts & Theatre, Speaking Engagements
Cost:

Description:
The Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech presents George Emilio Sanchez performs "In the Court of the Conqueror" with two performances on Thursday, April 24, 2025 and Friday, April 25, 2025 inside The Cube.

Writer, performance artist, and social justice advocate george emilio sanchez confronts the ways the courts have historically diminished the tribal sovereignty of Native nations, juxtaposing this against his experiences navigating generational trauma and Indigenous identity in an Ecuadorian immigrant household.

Part history, part autobiography, In the Court of the Conqueror is a multidisciplinary experience reexamining place and its relationship to the past and present historical conflicts of Indigenous lands. This is the second installment of sanchez’ series, Performing the Constitution, reflecting on the ways institutional racism and gender bias are embedded in this nation’s foundational document.

As part of sanchez’s artistic research for this performance work, he enrolled in a masters of legal studies program in Indigenous Peoples Law during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic. He completed his degree in August 2021 and received his diploma in May 2022 from the University of Oklahoma, College of Law.?

In the Court of the Conqueror was created in collaboration with visual artist Patty Ortiz. As an integral part of the creative process of making this piece, the two artists traveled across seven states and the ancestral homelands of Native nations, where the Supreme Court cases cited in the work took place.

General admission tickets are $25.00 for adults and $10.00 for students and youth 18 & under.

Tickets can be purchased online at https://tickets.artscenter.vt.edu/online/seatSelect.asp?createBO::WSmap=1&BOparam::WSmap::loadBestAvailable::performance_ids=F879E771-F8AF-4137-9BA6-5FD2BBA3A76D or in person at the box office or by calling the box office at 540-231-5300.

These performances will last approximately 75 minutes with no intermission.

The Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech is located at 330 Turner Street NW in Blacksburg, VA.

For more information, visit: https://artscenter.vt.edu/performances/george-emilio-sanchez.html or https://www.facebook.com/artscenteratvt or https://www.instagram.com/artscenteratvt/ or call 540-231-5300.