This multimedia experience takes the audience on a journey following the Monarch butterfly's migration from Ben's home in New England to the mountains of Michoacán, Mexico. The performance weaves together music, video, illustrations, and storytelling to reveal the genesis of his picture book, Señorita Mariposa, with onscreen appearances by illustrator, Marcos Almada Rivero and environmental activist, Homero Aridjis.
"On the face of it, Señorita Mariposa celebrates the wonder of the Monarch Butterfly’s annual migration,” says Gundersheimer, “an epic three thousand mile journey that spans the US, Mexican, and Canadian borders." However, a deeper underlying narrative emerged over the course of the book's development. "We grew to understand the responsibility that all three nations share in safeguarding butterfly habitat and the undeniable parallels with human migration."