Hi friends, Welcome to Storytime at The Met! My name is Simone and I'm really excited to
be here with all of you today. You can come and join us every Thursday at noon for a different
story and activity. Once everybody gets a cozy seat, we're gonna get started with our storytime
song, like we do every week together to the tune of This Old Man. Okay we're gonna count to three
together to get started. One, two three! Welcome friends, get ready get set, for Storytime at The
Met, where we love to read and sing and look at works of art and picture books. We use our
eyes to look and see. We'll use our ears to hear stories. Now let's take a seat and give a shhh.
Let's begin with our first book. That was really awesome you guys! Round of applause!
Okay today we're going to be reading "A Girl Named Rosita: The story of Rita Moreno. Actor, Singer,
Dancer, Trailblazer." This book was written by Anika Aldamuy Denise and was illustrated by Leo Espinoza.
A Girl Named Rosita. "Juncos, Puerto Rico, 1935. In a tiny cottage, tucked between El Yunque Peak and a
wild fragrant rainforest lives a girl with the rhythm of the rainforest in her feet and the
sweetness of the sugarcane fields in her swishing skirts. A girl named Rosita Dolores Alverío, who
loves to sing and dance for anyone who will watch her. Step, turn, snap, kick, swirl, jump, twirl!!"
And here we have Rosita dancing with all of her family, or for all of her family I should say.
"Until early one morning Mami whispers 'We are moving to the mainland.'
'But why isn't Francisco coming?', asks Rosita.
'He will come soon', Mami says, 'I am taking you first because you are a big girl and you will not cry.'
So Rosita does not cry as she waves goodbye to her baby brother in the dark cramped cabins of
the crowded passenger ship. Rosita is quiet and brave." Can you spot Rosita on the ship?
There she is waving with Mami!
"After days of wobbly decks and stormy seas, a statue of a woman wearing a crown rises up to
greet them. 'Where are the trees ad the flowers' asks Rosita. 'They will be back in the summer' Mami
explains. That night, Rosita dreams that she is back in the tiny cottage with Francisco. When
she wakes, she does the one thing Mami thought she wouldn't. She cries." Do you think you would
be sad if you had to leave home? I would but it's good that Mami is there to take care of Rosita.
"Rosita's new school is a fortress of brick, where children tease her for her accent, darker
skin and curly hair. 'Corre', She tells herself each day on her way home from school. Run so the bullies
don't catch you. Out of the cold and away from noise, she returns to a home that isn't home."
And you see her running away and up the stairs.
"When is Francisco coming?', Rosita asks. 'Aye Hija, Pronto Pronto."
Which means, oh my love. My daughter, but some people say my love, soon soon. "If only she knew
more ingles, she could tell the bullies 'Dejame en pas', leave me alone! So when Mami scrubs and scours and sews
and sweats, Rosita practices ingles in secret." You can see her practicing in the mirror!
"Is leaving behind her native Spanish like letting go of her native island and all the things she
loves? Fields? flowers? Francisco? Rosita stops asking when first when Francisco is coming. Her
heart tells her that he will stay in Juncos with Papi and Abuelo, and she will stay in America where
she must learn to speak ingles. Day after day, she practices until she can speak ingles perfectly.
'I am Rosita and I am five years old.'' She finally got to introduce herself to all of her classmates!
And they all look so happy to talk to her!
Just as Mami promised, the leaves return in the summer, bringing color to the concrete city. Tiny
glimpses that feel like hope. Rosita smiles again. And dances!" Does that park look familiar to anybody?
I think if you've been in New York, you might know what park that is.
"At six years old Rosita begins dance classes.
'Paco Cancino is famous' Mami tells her he is the Tio and teacher of Rita Hayworth, the movie star!
Tio is a translation of uncle. So if you say my Uncle Bill you might say my Tio Bill instead.
"dancing the sevillanas, Rosita is a bird rising above the rooftops speaking a language that is
all hers. Forward, forward, back, back, kick, pasada, right, swing, back, side, hold. Only
after three long years of lessons Paco Cancino pronounces her ready to perform on a real stage."
And you can see Rosita is a little older now because she's been training for so long!!
"The music begins. Strum..Strum. Rosita takes a breath.
On stage, she is home." And you can see her dancing for
everybody. "Soon Rosita is dancing for troops, acting on the radio, and recording spanish
versions of hit hollywood movies. 'Why not me?", Rosita thinks, seeing
the studio starlets sparkle in the screen. I can be a leading lady too." She looks a little upset.
"When Rosita is 16, Mami marries Eddie Moreno and Rosita decides that she will take his name.
She chooses the last name Moreno, not because she loves Eddie like a father.
Mostly he seems like a stranger, but because it is easier for
American casting directors to pronounce. Rosita is ready to be a star. Then a miracle happens!
Louis B Mayer the head of MGM Film Studios wants to meet her." Look how excited she is!
"Her palms are sweating as she shakes the hand of the man who can change her life.
'Sign her', Mr.Mayor says with one look at Rosita.
Rosita Dolores Alverío Moreno is on her way to Hollywood!" The meeting that changed her life.
"In Hollywood, Rosita's name changes again. This time the movie studio chooses it.
Ruby Fontino? Marcy Miranda? Orchid Montenegro? 'Please', she prays anything but Orchid.
'I've got it!', says the casting director "How about Rita? After Rita Hayworth and from that day forward,
Rita Moreno she will be." And you can see that they're writing Rita Moreno on her casting chair!
"Rita Moreno is ready for Hollywood! but Hollywood isn't ready for Rita. After years of teaching
herself to speak perfect ingles, she must fake an all-purpose accent to play maidens,
enslaved people, and Spanish spitfires; The only roles that Hollywood will give to a Latina.
Some days she wants to quit, but she's come too far to give up.
One day she will play a character an authentic character, who is bold, proud and strong."
It seems like everybody thinks Rosita does one thing when she might be a lot more.
"In 1959, the newspapers announced that Hollywood is making West Side Story,
the hit Broadway musical into a movie. This film, this part, is everything Rita's been waiting for."
Sounds like we've had an accident on another part of the room.
I think everybody's okay over there so I'm gonna keep reading okay.
I'm going to start this page again, I'm really sorry about that.
"In 1959, the newspapers announced that Hollywood Studios is making West Side Story,
the hit Broadway musical into a movie. This film, this part is everything Rita's been waiting for.
She auditions for Anita, a proud Puerto Rican female lead. For a month, she practices step, turn,
snap, kick, swish, jump, twirl!" And you can see her practicing her dancing.
When the test camera rolls, she is Rosita again, back in the concrete city. Run
out of the schoolyard, past the bullies, in the street. Tears, anger, fear, and scene.
Jaws drop at Rita's emotional performance. Then cue the music.
Horn, strings, percussion, step, turn, snap, kick, swish, jump, twirl! The roll is hers! Rita is Anita. Bold,
proud, and strong." And look how happy she is now! She finally got the role she's been waiting for!
"New York City, 1962. In barrios throughout the city, Puerto Ricans gather around their television sets
to watch the 34th academy awards. No Puerto Rican or any Latina has ever won an Oscar.
A sacred silence descends and a collective breath is held. Who will take home the award?
'May I have the envelope please? Rita Moreno in West Side Story!' 'She won! She won! Whe did it!'. her fans cry
'I can't believe it!', says a stunned Rita, clutching her golden statue. With the pride of the people on
her shoulders, Rosita Dolores Alverío has made history!." And there you go, that is going to be
the end of our book. We have a timeline of Rosita's life up to 2020, and then a note from the author.
And that's it! That was so amazing! One of my favorite parts of this book is how
Rosita was always so strong, no matter what difficulties came her way, no matter how
anybody saw her she was able to overcome that and be true to herself and that's really beautiful. It
also made me think a lot about music and dancing because part of her life is singing and dancing
and performing. And in The Met's collection, there's an instrument specifically, that probably was used
when Rosita was making her movies. It's the conga it was designed by Martin Cohen in 1966,
which is only three years after Rosita wins her award for the best actress in West Side Story.
It's about 33 inches, so if it was standing here to the floor, that's about how tall it would reach. And
you play it by lifting it between your legs and having a little bit of space between the floor and
the bottom of the drum. And you can play it on the edge or on the inside and depending on which part
of the drum you hit it'll make a different noise. So on the edge it's a really light sound like .
But on the middle it's really deep like .
So you make music by combining the different types of sounds. So I was thinking if everybody
is interested and if you would really like to continue to feel the music like Rosita does,
you can make your own song this week as an activity! So if I was going to write a song,
something that was special to me and made me, feel happy I would say "My name's Sim and i'm
here to say that you all made my day!" because I'm so happy that I got to spend time with you today !
It was really great to be reading with you today, and if you'd like to keep up
Storytime you can come join us every Thursday at noon. It was great reading
with all of you today, I hope you have so much fun making your own music! Bye everyone!!