Luis Valdez

Luis Valdez (born June 26, 1940) is an American playwright, actor, writer and film director. Regarded as the father of Chicano theater in the United States, Valdez is best known for his play Zoot Suit, his movie La Bamba, and his creation of El Teatro Campesino. A pioneer in the Chicano Movement, Valdez broadened the scope of theatre and arts of the Chicano community.

Biography

Early life

Luis Valdez was born in Delano, California to migrant farm worker parents. The second of ten children in his family, Valdez began to work in the fields at the age of six. One of his brothers is the actor Daniel Valdez. Throughout his childhood, the family moved from harvest to harvest around the central valleys of California. Due to this peripatetic existence, he attended many different schools before the family finally settled in San Jose, California.

Education

Valdez began school in Stratlord, California. His interest in theatre began in the first grade. Throughout grammar school, Valdez organized plays at school and put on puppet shows in his garage, which, he recalls, were usually about fairy tales. In high school, Valdez was part of the Speech and Drama department and acted in several plays. He described himself as "a very serious student." Valdez graduated from James Lick High School in San Jose and went on to attend San Jose State University (SJSU) on a scholarship for math and physics. During his second year of college, he switched his major to English. While in college, Valdez won a playwriting contest with his one-act play The Theft in 1961. Two years later, in 1963, Valdez's first full-length play, The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa, was produced by the drama department and debuted at SJSU.

Jairo Asencio

Jairo Manuel Asencio (born May 30, 1983) is a professional baseball right-handed pitcher who is a free agent He has also played for the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, and Baltimore Orioles in MLB. He spent 2014 with the Kia Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization.

Career

Asencio was first signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2001. He was placed on the Atlanta Braves 40-man roster for the first time in 2009 when he made three appearances for the major league team, and later on April 16, 2011 to replace the disabled Peter Moylan. His Major League debut was on July 12, 2009, against the Colorado Rockies. On April 28, 2011, Asencio was optioned back to the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves.

For the entire 2010 Atlanta Braves season, Asencio was on the team's restricted list because of visa problems. It was discovered later in the year that Asencio had used a false name, Luis Valdez, and birthdate.

On March 29, 2012, Asencio was traded to the Cleveland Indians for cash considerations. Asencio was designated for assignment on May 28, 2012. The Chicago Cubs claimed Asencio off waivers on June 1, 2012.

Valdez

Valdez or Valdés may refer to:

Places

Other uses

Back walkover

A back walkover is an acrobatic maneuver in which a person transitions from a standing position to a back bridge and then back to a standing position again, undergoing a complete revolution of the body in the process. Back walkovers are commonly performed in a variety of athletic activities, including acro dance, cheerleading, and rhythmic gymnastics. In artistic gymnastics, back walkovers are performed in floor exercises and on the balance beam.

Technique

The back walkover performer begins in a standing position. The back is increasingly arched and abdominal muscles are stretched until the hands touch the floor and all hands and feet are flat on the floor, thus forming a gymnastic back bridge. While in the bridge position, one leg (the leading leg) is rapidly raised from the floor so as to impart momentum to the lower body. This momentum lifts the trailing leg from the floor so that only the hands are left touching the floor. Both hands remain on the floor while the body revolves backward through a handstand position, until the foot of the leading leg, followed by the foot of the trailing leg, reach the floor. When both feet are on the floor, the performer returns to an erect standing position.

Valdez (surname)

Valdez or Valdés is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: