Baruch Atah Adonai
Viva Puerto Rico Ha'olam
Hahmotzee , Fight The Power
Me'en Haaretz
AMEN.

Thus begins "Culture Bandit," solo spoken word performer Vanessa Hidary’s first performance poem and subsequent one-woman show.  In that show was also a piece entitled "The Hebrew Mamita" which has since become her signature piece and the name she is known by to fans worldwide. Vanessa writes and performs about the “trials and tribulations of a girl growing up in NYC” while dealing with identity issues and issues of the heart, and it was an honor to be able to speak with her during National Poetry Month.

Vanessa was born and raised and still lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and believes that this experience has had a profound impact on her outlook on life. She attended an after-school Hebrew school and celebrated her bat mitzvah, but was not “overly involved” in her Jewish community growing up.  As she came into her own she found herself on a “journey to identity” which started by exploring other religious and cultural groups.  She came full circle to exploring her own ancestry, but expressed that she “never would have believed [she] would have ended up as a Jewish artist.”

Vanessa has always been a writer, but was more focused on theatre and being an actress (she has a MFA!) than her writing. Over time she started writing plays for herself and others and found a way to meld both aspects of her art together. After writing a few monologues, her first big performance was "Culture Bandit," and her performances only grew from there.  Some has had some amazing performance opportunities including performing in Amsterdam, speaking to kids about identity, and visiting the Rosa Parks Museum with civil right activists from the 1960s.

“The Hebrew Mamita” was born from Vanessa’s desire to have a name that identified many different parts of her personality -- “something that related to being Jewish and being proud of that, but also was a personal and New York experience.” At the time, she didn’t feel like anyone was talking about the cultural diversity present in New York and especially not on the Upper West Side or from a woman’s perspective.  She recognizes that it sometimes confuse people who think she is a different nationality, but really it just adds to her universal appeal.

While "The Hebrew Mamita" is Vanessa’s signature piece and a crowd favorite, it is not inherently hers.  Vanessa says that she goes through times where there are pieces that she loves more than others, so it’s hard to pick just one.  After some pressure she admits that she loves to perform "God Bless You Ma," because it is a lot of fun and also "PhD in him" (below) which is pretty self-explanatory and universal for anyone who has ever been a little too caught up in a guy. Ultimately, when forced to choose a favorite in general, she leans towards her comedic pieces because “sometimes comedy is underrated and there is nothing greater than making people laugh.”

Vanessa is inspired by two "Jewesses with Attitude": the comedienne Judy Gold and her grandmother, who “was kick ass. She was an artist, and super strong and outspoken.” Well Vanessa, we think you are too, so your grandma did something right.

Don’t forget to check The Hebrew Mamita out on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to stay in the loop with this amazing "Jewess with Attitude."