 Large group session outside in inside out The the people that are joining us for this circle, please introduce yourselves Tara Chantel Please come up All right, welcome back everybody So this section was a section actually as we talked at lunch a few people in the group had I'm so sorry I'm Maria Tanya by the way a Few people in the group had a little apprehension About talking about this because this is a group of people who are not from Miami but in reflecting what was talked about in the morning and how We heard that Miami wants a mirror, right? We hope that this session serves as that so this first section Of this talk is gonna really just focus on what the group here In the inner circle heard from the previous sessions Yeah So if anybody wants to begin and just talk about what it was that you heard but actually just kidding Let me backtrack and can we first just to kind of get a little perspective and see where everybody is from? So if you could I'll start on this side just because I'm sorry. Did you think I was gonna go to the right? Yeah So if you could just say your name and also just what region you're from as well, and maybe even just What it is that you I guess do in theater. Yeah, but keep it brief. Yeah Anthony Rodriguez co-founder producing artistic director of the Aurora Theater, which is in Lawrenceville, Georgia about 25 miles Northeast of Atlanta. We are located in the most diverse county in the southeast Hi, my name is Tara Houston, and I'm a scenic designer and scenic design professor I'm currently in Baton Rouge. Well, I'm not I currently work in Baton Rouge And I teach at Louisiana State University as well as a freelance artist kind of all over the place Hi, my name is Rose Cannell. I am co-founder and artistic director of a theater in Seattle We are coming up on our ten-year university I originally trained as an actor at Cornish and then moved on to production And I'm also a playwright and a director and originally from Peru And then spent most of my life in Seattle. So I feel like a lot of my art reflects My training also in South America Hi, good afternoon. My name is Chantal Rodriguez. I am the associate dean at the Yale School of Drama I've been there for three years now prior to being in New Haven I was born and raised in Los Angeles and I was a producer and professor out there So my own scholarship is rooted in US-Latinx theater And as the associate dean I oversee student life, but I also teach in the dramaturgy and dramatic criticism program there Hi, I'm Josean Ortiz. I'm from Puerto Rico. I'm an actor, director, producer, cultural manager I am the artistic director of Latinx performance ensemble that is a new Theater Organization that we created this year, but also I'm the community programs manager at the theater offensive in Boston who is Queer theater company with 30 years of experience That's it. Hi, I'm Olga Sanchez. I'm currently based in the Northwest originally from New York I am actor, director, writer, teacher formerly artistic director of Milagro theater in Portland, Oregon and Seattle Theater Latino in Seattle and now artistic director Emerita for Milagro and I'm working on a PhD Focusing on Latinx theater Thank you. So just to reiterate the question now just what is it that you all heard? voiced by the group in the previous sessions if anybody would like to begin Sure, just to get started. There's a lot of things and it's a really an honor to sit here and listen and I and I thank everybody for their Candor and so just to reflect back a couple of things I heard And I don't I don't mean to start with a okay I'm gonna start with a positive the opportunity to perform in many different ways. I'm just I heard in terms of challenges the necessity of Create like more community And it's specifically between The the relationship between the English speaking Latinx people and the Spanish speaking Latinx performers or performances I Really Connected with the challenges of traffic coming from Los Angeles or being raised in Los Angeles and it is one of the things I mean, I think just reflecting back the real access issues right and the traffic is one of those things but Some folks also started talking about larger access questions in terms of the physical space and the journey Some folks have to take that journey is gonna be different for an elderly person for a person a wheelchair for Somebody with a young child and so I really appreciated the the honest discussion about just the literal physical challenges of getting to the spaces around here Also, I did a little ditto what Olga said it is an honor to be invited into your community and thank you for Just letting us kind of permeate in the space And I feel like we're here to be sort of a sounding board a reflection and I'm glad Miami likes a mirror I think we all like to see ourselves reflected be it on stage off or in the national conversation A couple of things to that stood out to me One was the quote that about there seems to be an interest to look at the internal racism in Miami and someone had commented about Believing we're above it or woke because we interject Spanish in our plays so I thought that was a really courageous and kind of self Reflective question that I thought was interesting. I think shares with a lot of a lot of different cities in the US and creates an amazing opportunity for conversation and another point that kind of Resonated with me as a Seattle person for a lot of years is students questioning once they've already, you know finished their training and Spent, you know, $40,000 and they're tuition. Do I move do I go to grad school? Where's a place to practice my artistry? So that was another thing that I that I heard that I can really relate to Being in Seattle and seeing students move away So Right the cheapest kind of comedy Also being in a southern city I think that sense of of access and public transit really resonated for me and also that sense of talent drain That our talent kind of has to leave to be successful But what I found really amazing and resonant is how many folks are coming back to Miami That have taken what they have learned and what they've experienced in other places And they brought it home to make change and I find that really inspiring and powerful from several of the panelists I What resonated with me was this is this yearning for a theatrical identity for Miami That seems to be lacking and that there's there's significant divides between much of the of the theatrical community I was however super inspired By the fact that that here you can just there's no need to apologize for who you are or what you do You can just create the work in that space and so that was that seemed like a great opportunity for everyone here Along those lines one of the things that I heard was a desire not only to create Something of a of a Miami identity in terms of theater making but also a sense of unity There I don't know if part of it is the geographic that being spread out the traffic There's ways in which the community is And and finances is another thing like the inability to be able to buy tickets to go see a friend's show Just these various barriers that keep people from Unifying and so I felt this desire from multiple voices to Find find unity among the community of Latinx in particular theater makers. I Have two things here the necessity to find a better financial structure of production and Also the importance to tap your local government representative looking for sponsorship support I was really interested in this sense of kind of building infrastructure to support Work in this area that there's kind of a young hungry group That's like let's build our own thing and kind of create work And and I think it's interesting that there feels almost like a bit of a divide which Tony spoke to you a divide between young scrappy companies and kind of more established companies And I'd be interested in some conversations about you know, could there be some mentorship could there be connections And community to help create infrastructure in those younger companies and create kind of vibrancy in the in the more established companies Just quickly. I also heard about the growth in the Afro-Latinx community and how It's a it's a community that that wants more representation and is hungry for more representation within this larger Theater-making project that is in Miami I was gonna say something else, but now that you brought that up another thing that I heard was that there was I don't know if an incident, but there was a blackface performance that suddenly put the Afro-Latino community. I don't want to say the these so the many the many married in the spotlight And I see that is an amazing also opportunity to converge and and talk about it The other thing I heard a lot was the word silo. I heard that I think six or seven times and the real desire and need to reach out to other organizations communities kind of the the the need to Kind of do this sit around on a circle. So that was exciting that as you were saying it you were doing it I also just reflecting on this session I mean this convening happening here and knowing that TCG was just here I wasn't there, but just even hearing in the conversations around this weekend That there is this renewed sort of spotlight on Miami right now in particular looking at Miami as a model for the future In terms of the demographics is like this is the way the country is going right? So this the kinds of issues that are happening here in the theater and the solutions the creative solutions that are being discovered here Are going to be major lessons that the American theater is it's imperative that they begin to implement as the demographics in our Country continue to change. Yeah, and to piggyback on that I mean, you know, we heard many of the same things that we all seem to suffer with which is a lack of funding Access transportation all those sorts of issues, but at the same the same point that TCG being down here I think there was another conference down here recently as well It just feels like Miami's on on on this tipping point, right? So so but which way do we go right? What's what's gonna happen? What are the things that are going to to help continue to raise the bar for that attention and and that standard? You know, you you may love or hate the What what the Amparo experience has sort of done to highlight certain things, but it has Highlighted certain things and I think that's brought attention to the work that the artists here in Miami are doing and that's I think a good thing Picking backing on what Tara said about Or maybe Rose about it rose both of you about the sort of this generation this younger generation that decides to to leave looking for other places to work outside and a real concern within this circle for how do we provide How do we provide opportunities and more training and you know They get it they seem to get it in the in the earlier parts of their education And then they get to a point where they're sort of they've grown they've aged out of training That's accessible. That's there for them that that are opportunities and there's a real concern I heard a concern from multiple voices For how do we how do we keep engaging those minds that talent that that interest in theater? in an active way I Heard also around the importance to make more visible the theater community here in Miami in order to get opportunities the lack of awards of recognition around their work and and The proposal of creation of a Latinx award ceremony that could be locally or and also national I Think you mentioned to just a lot of Athas here this year as well. So I mean there's I think everything is happening in Miami this year Orlando, but I mean Florida. I mean everything is kind of on this side and south Just a tension with economics And a struggle for audience the question of like who is the audience who are the audiences? How do we engage audiences who would rather spend money for soccer or stay home watch telenovelas? So the so the tension for building audience. Where's the audience found? Who is the audience who are the audiences the multiple audiences? Another thing I wanted to delve more into with you guys is I heard a lot of the use of language and The rich history of Spanish speaking theater was talked about here and also the myriad of accents and the use of accents accented Well, I call brown tongue. So do you accent a tongue not? What was it carmen seat up Eliza said have an accent but my mind doesn't have an accent so just kind of playing with all the different levels of language the Spanish the Which actors in which roles are cast with which accents and there also was People who said that they felt they had they had to really Speak perfect English in order to enter into another world of theater, so I just think that use of language Not in the literal just English and Spanish, but all the colors that was Not for me is an interesting exciting conversation that has influenced me as a as a playwright Everyone's got their own brand and blend of Spanglish and how you use it for in any particular neighborhood So I thought that was a really a treasure chest to mine there the accents This is just a quick observation This is the first city I've ever been in that my white presenting self was spoken to in Spanish first So I felt you know seen in a different way than has ever happened in my mixed race life And it was both kind of intimidating because my Spanish is terrible But also really kind of reaffirming that it created a different dialogue with myself about language That I'd not really ever been confronted with because the default for me has always been that folks speak to me in English Somewhat along those lines I heard the tension the frustration with the way that funds are distributed in this town that there's clearly What I heard was clearly a racist approach that there are certain theaters and That speak certain languages that just simply are are gonna get more funding more support from government agencies I don't know about foundations, but that's what I heard in particular was the government agencies and where the funding goes and So I heard that loud and clear Related to what you said before also the importance They pointed that the demographic Here in the area not necessarily reflect what is being produced and in terms of Lack of opportunities of grants or or fundraising The Ideas on how you can find the people in your own community that could be donors also Or to get how to get more governmental and private partnerships Yeah And I think it's it is well worth saying that these conversations are happening everywhere That's a predominantly white institutions are getting the majority of the funding across the United States that you know This kind of sense of how do we reflect the demographics of our city on our stages? These are conversations that are happening everywhere including in my Institution so if there's any comfort to be held these are these are struggles that are happening across the map that are happening all Over the place second that Yeah, I mean we we have we have very similar struggles, right? Talent retention is a struggle in in Atlanta as well We have P every you know every city somebody wants to go to New York somebody wants to go to LA people want to leave Where they are But highlighting the the inspirational stories of things the entrepreneurship that people have had here in Miami You know talking to a young man this morning About taking over a furniture store in Little Haiti to create a theater that that's that's pretty amazing And an epic that that was able to happen Anywhere whether it's Miami or or any other city in the nation that they're putting that sort of deal together where somebody can Actually stay in a retail establishment That's not easy for developers to deal with or to come to the plate for So I was really inspired by that and I think those are the stories that people need to to really highlight and and and bring forward so that People will come back and say I can also do that shit I want to echo the the economic thing again the notion of trying to make a living as an actor Certainly in Portland or designer technician. Excuse me as a theater maker as a theater maker We're all doing multiple jobs to do that I know my experience in Seattle was the same when I spent a bunch of years there and so And and that's a thing that I've heard from multiple regions That that is it's just hard to make a living as a theater maker So before I we transition sort of to the next part of this. Is there anyone else that wants to? Something that you're dying to say yes, I also heard a Desire to raise like the personal standard of the personal standard of I'm guessing of Kind of all levels of the art of the art itself the playwriting the directing the acting And a little bit from yesterday's conversation. There was a talk about you know The talent should be the best in the room regardless of the race or the culture So I heard that in different circles willingness to desire to raise the standard and the importance of To encourage the new generations because They are the future of the theater movement definitely Okay, so to remind everyone just how all of this works now We're gonna invite anybody else who is an outsider or somebody who is diaspora as well And you can join the three seats Right there say again That's the part that's coming up right now And so if anybody would like to join us in this conversation in the inner circle But again, if you want to tap somebody out when we begin this section you can do so as well But for now if we can if anybody else who's an outsider would like to join or anybody who considers themselves diaspora You don't have to I won't force you but there are three empty seats. We're welcome to have you No Going once Going twice. All right, so I'm gonna pose a different question as well And it doesn't mean that you can't talk about any of the past stuff But but the the other question that I want to bring up is what was it that we didn't hear? Right, we just reflected on things that we heard, but what was it that we didn't hear? As a designer and former charge artist and scenic artist I think too often we focus in these conversations entirely on the kind of forefront visible Acting directing writing kind of side of what We see on stage and we do not have enough conversation about how we're including our technicians and designers in these processes I think there's a lot of classism built into the work that we do and often designers and technicians are kind of seen More as craft spoke than artists and we need equal footing in these conversations We are an important part of the work that happens. I What I didn't hear I heard it from some I didn't hear it from all I didn't hear a clear articulation of Of the theaters or the people speaking about their theaters Knowing who their audience is And so that struck me as as odd because that's that certainly is a something you should know I Have two reflections that definitely are very personal for me one is related to the Recent controversy around the black face Issue that I was hoping to hear more People talking about That right here and probably what I think is that is part of our culture, you know on our countries that There are some things that we don't talk about that even that we know that exists And I think that that that is important The I don't know if if there's any other person here wants to address that situation or what they think But I don't want People here to exit the the convening thinking that that there's no that here We don't have that problem a problem that probably we have on other Cities but specifically but the thing that happened here is I think that is something that that the convening What I was hoping that the convening will address more formally and also related to the LGBTQ Theater here movement what is happening what is not happening? What is the necessity all those things? Oh, I didn't hear any anyone talking about that. I expect to to know much more. Thank you I think we in our sort of Pre-meeting for this we also reflected right on that that we heard about the incident about the blackface incident in the town hall But what I'd love to hear more about is sort of art. Is there specific? Anti-racist work and what is how is the theater addressing and like what are the thing are their trainings? Or what are what happens after the town hall right and similarly in terms of how do how are the way? How are we changing the way we work something that we're struggling with a lot and implementing new modes in the conservatory is Around intimacy direction right is that something that Miami theaters are looking to is there a need and in this post Me Too era have there been conversations about intimacy on stage or you know The way that we're wrestling with sexism in our industry. That's something I would love to hear about specifically how it affects this community Hi I'm Melissa Martinez. I'm from New Orleans and one of the things that I think about a lot when I consider like the Ecosystem of theater in this country right has to do with like how It's being made by different artists of different kinds of I guess incomes right like and I didn't hear Like the specificity of the theater in this community right like how much of it is DIY How many theater companies have spaces where are the spaces how many like what is the audience space right? We were talking about like how you know who are their audiences, but what kind of theater are they making and how do we? Create an ecosystem that allows us all to flourish. Yeah, yeah I have a 600 seat proscenium, but you're doing it in the somebody's garage And I think your art is just as valid as mine So how do we work together to make sure that your artists come to me and my artists go to you and we are all working together sharing of resources yeah Two things that I was I thought I would hear I didn't I want well one in particular was about intergenerational Relationship so I know I feel like there's an old guard of theater making here That's somewhat established somewhat institutional and And and I feel like in the room a representation from newer companies Younger companies and I was wondering about those tensions Or the ways in which there isn't tension maybe the ways in which there's support. I know that In Portland we have ways in which larger companies and smaller companies work together and ways in which they are They are not supportive of each other and they and they have and there's a silo there And then the other thing I was curious about that. I didn't hear mentioned and frankly, I don't know enough about Florida or Miami, but the notion of Indigeneity and what does what what does that mean and how is that how is that a Theme or a concern in the theater that we make So my comments gonna go kind of to Olga's first thought which is about kind of Intergenerational relationships and and I have a real curiosity and a real hunger for more apprenticeship Internship kind of Intergenerational training that I think used to be such a core of the work that we do in theater But the economy of working in theater has kind of separated that sense of master journeyman apprentice and how we kind of move through our work in a in a kind of you know Sharing sort of way rather than always being Capitalists and kind of you know finance-based. How do we trade? Skills and knowledge in the same way that we think about exchanging paychecks A couple of thoughts one about this Old guard new guard I also didn't hear kind of what is the succession plan when from established institutions to when it's time to change over turnover leadership succession Whoops succession plan Just putting thought into that so in you know in a few years if X number of theaters There's gonna be turnover of leadership or maybe you want to promote turnover of leadership, but just Conversations about what is what is the next kind of evolution of the movement and Because eventually you know people age out and have to move on the other thing was about About the comment about racism in the blackface and indigeneity Was about colorism So what I didn't hear was kind of that word in the room and just taking stock of the shades of our skin as we go around the circle and who comes to these meetings and We bring from our respective home countries and within this country our you know different colonial histories and and social pecking orders and and how does that reflect here and also I coming from The Northwest and from Peru where there is a big indigenous native presence. I'm wondering how that does fit into Kind of the Cosmo vision of theater and and into the aesthetic and Is it something I also don't know enough about Florida and the tribes here and you know, I don't know enough about that But there's a lot of countries here That have many tribes and so I'm just wondering what what you guys think about that and all those people a Thing that I didn't hear and I was really grateful for Was a thing that happens I think it happens for me anyway in in Portland, Oregon in Oregon in general Which is a policing of the name of the names that we call ourselves So it was like Latin X Latino Latina Latin Hispanic Spanish I was like yes, and it didn't feel for me anyway for me I didn't feel like there was a policing around which term we're gonna use and what the term specifically means And I was just so grateful for that Go Miami Okay, so hopefully this is a little helpful right you might have think you might be thinking especially if you're one of the Miami people that is not at all what I meant But when I say that and but this is what we're hearing right So this is hopefully just You guys sort of just getting what it is that we understood I suppose from from the previous conversations So we've talked about what we heard we talked about what we didn't hear And I think some of the things that would be helpful now is what? What opportunities did we hear that perhaps people don't see as an opportunity right? This has been a conversation that has sort of come up a little bit During the the actually yesterday a little bit as well, but what is it that you see that you're thinking, you know This is a really great opportunity I think in hearing about how much work is being done here and even even folks are like, you know There's tribalism and we're all over the place for me It was I saw an opportunity for perhaps a regional alliance, right? So like either throughout Florida throughout Miami probably throughout a smaller group right here in Miami or the Region specifically to have an alliance. So there are alliances that were created in Los Angeles and Chicago and New York and some and they're successful Because the people are committed and some of them sort of ebb and flow But it was just an idea that I thought oh, I wonder if there is the regional alliance And if not is there energy and desire to have a regional alliance that is not about paying dues It's just about it's volunteer. It's like the commons, but on a regional scale Hi, I'm Tanya Perez from New York I am always solution base so one of the things that popped out to me was when there was a mention of location and specifically parking and traffic because I know that happens both in New York and Los Angeles And that's always an issue and it for me was like oh, that's that's an opportunity for somebody to come in and Maybe partnering a couple of theaters to say how do we get something like Uber or Lyft? to think really big picture with the with collaborations with these theaters and also something that is very specific to a problem and Elevating how you create another conversation There was also the one where I was saying in your playbills that you you gave a shout-out to other Other theaters and what the plays are which I've I've actually seen in Atlanta Which I thought was really exciting because I was like oh Sometimes not even New York does that, but it's it's exciting to say though. You actually there are there of the budding of Solutions that are brimming with all the collaborators who are in this room and And to see that happen makes me go I can actually take this back to to my silo and say this is something that is Here's the problem and here's the solution and how do we make that magic happen? I I've been and impressed is the wrong word, but I've been inspired by the voices in this room. I think there's some Great thinking and I think that's an opportunity. I mean, I just think there's some real talent I don't know about your work, but I will say that your hearts and your minds and your clarity around your work is Is is is really powerful. It's really probably strong everybody and And it's been and it's been inspiring to think about this community and what that theater might look like and the things that I've seen So far this weekend. I've just been really delighted by Love the reading this afternoon But and II No, um It's simply okay. Well, let me let me interject a little bit here. So So we've gotten a lot of sort of the outside perspective a little bit, but Let's open this up also to Miami people as well If you want to respond to any of this you can if you want to just reflect a little bit more You can also we're sort of if you don't want to come up to the circle That's all right But if you feel like you have something to say that you want us to think about This is actually going to be really useful for tomorrow's Conversations as well. We have these pieces of paper all throughout and Abigail Is going well, yeah, I think she's got the stickies. Yeah, she's got these little stickies and if you would Want to write something down you could write it down and come up and talk Or you could just write something down and just kind of stick it on one of these and these will be sort of points of Conversation Around with those so if there's anything that you're thinking hey, this needs to be talked about tomorrow This is a conversation that needs to continue in whatever way feel free to put those on there as well But also feel free to join us. Yeah Okay, so I remember what it was so Somebody mentioned the idea and I and I agree with this and I had the same feeling in Portland doing Latinx theater at Milagro, which was there's the thing that we're doing there is an experiment and a potential model as the rest of this country gets More and more diverse as more and more latinos fill this country Yes, and and and that there's something really important about this theater that we're making that is inevitably going to represent in all its complexity the demographics and the audience that is emerging in this country and I share the same feeling as you do Tara of Somewhat I think of walking into in landing in Miami and just feeling like ah Like there was something about that that that I just felt at home and I have not lived here I've been here a couple times. I've never lived here and but just for whatever reason it felt it felt like home and I feel like There's there's marketing to be done. There's in other words. There's a way in which there was talk about how do we how do you? How does that unified? Miami Latinx theater scene becomes something that draws people from around the country to come here to see your theater in all of its in the whole ecology I Wanted to speak to that if I could About 26 years ago I arrived here to teach at FIU and I had that same experience I someone who's Puerto Rican but never Lived anywhere where a lot of Puerto Ricans were I arrived here and literally in the airport went. I'm home I'm curious how unique that is because I imagine there is a similar but different experience I Myself don't speak Spanish very well, but I love going to the store and people speak to me in Spanish It's it's it's just I've never heard anybody else express it and I love getting my hair cut in Spanish Yeah But I'm wondering if if if in El Paso or San Antonio where there's a we have what 70 80% Hispanic And I'm wondering if there are other if you all had that experience In in in other cities where or are we a unique city for Latinx folks to come visit? Just quickly I think part of it is the internationalness the diversity of nations represented cultures represented here in Miami They picked the right name for this university. I guess then But I think to backpack on that a little I Think that because of the situation that they are that you are in Miami You have all of this these companies and all these resources I think we need to consider and always be functioning in the long term like I Guess plan for the entirety that is our medium, right? And so you need to be empowered by the fact that you have this I mean, yes, there's a lot of things that we want to be better There's always gonna be that right but you are like yes We want people to come here and be inspired and you know like have people from all over the country come here and be like this is the hub for Latin theater, but also like I want to come here and be empowered by you So that I can bring that back to my community because you're not the only one that has Latinos But we're scared because we don't think that there's enough of us And so we aren't going to make the theater companies in Michigan or you know, Illinois or wherever Yeah, and Louisiana right there's a huge Latin community in Louisiana after Katrina They came to rebuild and they aren't working in the arts They aren't doing any of those things But we have the power to give that to them and create that atmosphere for them But we need models with which to like be inspired So I haven't my name is Dylan. You know, I guess by the way I have an idea of an opportunity and we're doing it right now. We're live streaming all these things right now How round they live stream shows they live stream events the Latinx theater commons is a Like a subset of how round so like that like when we talk about accessibility and like How do you get more audiences? How do we get people to see and witness theater? We're doing it. We have this resource and so I think the big like Not only Miami But like everybody else around the world can use that and also we have the world theater map Which for if any of you who do not know what the world theater map is it's also a project of how round And it's essentially like a wikipedia slash facebook for Theater makers worldwide you can edit it like a wiki article like you can add shows you can add theater companies You can add theater makers from around the world and that's how you can connect as well And something that I've had success with in my classroom is bringing in voices through skype So my students often feel really isolated in Louisiana. We don't have a lot of professional theater Um, so thinking about who you already have in your network that you can bring as a voice You know it costs nothing to spend half an hour on skype with someone So how can we bring in voices that maybe we feel like we don't have in our community so that Folks are are being exposed to kind of theater in other places artists in other places Yeah, and just to add to that. Yeah, the latinx theater commons is truly a circle resource It's meant to include everyone and our meetings you can talk to armando. We bear a new producer, but There are Meetings that are open and they're held by telephone and there are people from Coast to coast and beyond All coming from a horizontal there's no head it's all Everyone's on the same playing field to be able to exchange ideas. It's a giant brain trust Because you want, you know, you want to be able to put your ideas in the center and feel reflected and being able to bounce Them off other people without being judged. So I found it to be I feel like it helped me Feel and say to seattle we are part of latin america and this and this latino theater producing scene I think that The other two cities that probably Uh, we said that it's more or less like miami are Los angeles and new york I personally more related with the new york theater latinx theater scene and it's not perfect But I think that could be a mirror That miami theater makers could see and reflect and and take the good things that the my the latinx theater community in new york have Is it would be very interesting also to see more Movement between Here and there Most of the time and my experience is that that people from here would like to go To new york, but there's there's no opportunity from people for new york to come here to perform also And that exchange it's it's it's important that that that we can create that that ways And what I hope After we exit this convening tomorrow Is that all of us people that live here and The ones that are not living here, but we all know people here that probably we were expecting to be here That are not so it's important that that we all Uh Turning to spokesperson and let them know what happened here and what are well all the issues that we discuss and uh, and and and and how Can they be part of the of the solution? I think that this is very important I'll say a couple things first. Um, I I think I Am a I'm a little disappointed in the moment at the moment about how many folks we lost From the earlier sessions to the sessions. I feel like there's a potential for conversation here that That left with them. Uh, I think that and obviously they're very busy They're folks who are heading to shows and opening their shows and going back to their theaters to get their work done Um, but I also wanted to bring up um This conversation that I've been having with edgar over and over again this week in preparation for this weekend about Kind of like the legal differences between like how much spanish language theater happens here because Spanish language theater is outside of the jurisdiction of equity and so it's outside of the unions and they don't Um, they don't believe it's kind of like the wild west of contracting Um, and so which we all know right and so, um, I think Because of the particularity of what my of the demographics of miami and We we keep saying this it's the country is heading in this direction. It's really the vanguard and so there aren't solutions out there That we can like bring over here, right? That like this is going to be the lab like shantel was saying that um Where we could discover things That that we because of what it is And i'm really excited by that potential and I also recognize like the incredible challenge that it must be Yeah, no pressure from miami folks. Yeah, no pressure miami none Thank you the brilliance of the inside group. Thank you guys And the candidness, um, I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't say this I've been close to all most of the issues that we've talked about You know the issue with the black face. I've seen it and I've tried to combat it The issue with the queer mist on the representation. I've seen it and I've tried to come at it There's a lot of fear. Uh, there there's a large base of, um, Folks that are very afraid of the new things Some people make excuses and say well, it's a cultural transition that I always mentioned that word because it's true that that in where people come from there are a lot of groups that prohibit or or You know do not allow certain Things to be portrayed on stage and and that is just a poor excuse I mean we need to be fearless In miami in around the country For example, one of the things that I always say if you have a character that needs You know an afro latino folk Friend to to to you know one of ours We're the same Go find that person The rule is you don't represent somebody With someone else because our community is so diverse You know try to get specific The fear here is Punishment, you know But we have to face that punishment To get the rewards So for myself, I don't care about you know, whatever happens because I've been so outspoken this past year And I encourage all of you to also do that Wherever you are from So the conversations we can have like I've had with Armando and you know every, you know, whoever I've tried to touch very close about this Observation that I've intensely been having in Miami So I Welcome, you know any conversation you want to have about all these issues in more depth So, um, yeah, but fearlessness Do not be afraid You have to take those chances Even if you lose audiences Even if you lose funding Even if they tell you my community is religious based so I will not support you. You'll find other people And this I tell you because it was The last show that I did It's completely sold out every single ticket After there were people who said we won't support this In facebook tagging you saying things, you know, why did you Make a genderless lead character the character that was the traditional salsa guy Who cares be fearless. Thank you Before just I'm loving that I'm seeing the the stickers go up I want you guys to think about a few things any solutions to challenges any additional resources that I just want to make sure we mention this stuff as well And also something just that what priorities you think as Miami folk You think should be addressed, right? What are the The priorities you think need to be talked about? Just in the next couple In this time and in tomorrow. So if you haven't written anything down, please feel free to to do that A couple of opportunities one of the things that I wanted to incorporate into this weekend was An undoing racism workshop and it It was really hard for me to let that go because It's something that we Needs to be done here and there is A want for that But we needed to start first we're first with other other questions so So to address that that is Something that we have spoken in previous conversations Leading up to this And definitely that's something that that we want to do but for this weekend it would have been too It's just too short too too short of a time another thing is andy Andy arthur who who is with the south florida theater league I also invited her and she supported us by spreading the word about the latinx theater commons So that was so that was really wonderful, but there is an opportunity to to form some some sort of alliance and that's something that has been on my mind And as far as intimacy, I think that is a really really great great question I think that's something that really needs to be introduced here Because I feel I don't know if wane if you feel this way, but I feel like there's not a lot of Blocking for certain things. It's kind of like in the moment And that Yeah, and so that's that's something that is really important here Thank you for addressing those directly. Yeah uh I Jump back in because of of what edgar mentioned about casting and casting specifically and I feel I just wanted to Shout out that that's a blessing That the ability to do that the ability to be specific and accurate Here is something that I don't have in portland, or again And I know we don't have it in seattle either there's a lot of communities that are trying to do latinx theater and we cast As best as we can as often as we can latino actors and sometimes we can't But we want to do this work. We want to do this theater. We want to do this play We want to represent stories and we do it the best we can that you have a wealth of talent here In all capacities in in all the venues is a is a Is a blessing it's complex. It makes things harder. It's a blessing But also to your point adriana about the kind of workshops and and thinking about anti-racism and thinking about Uh intimacy and thinking about ways in which we do the work better And we do the work consciously and I think that's an opportunity. Yes the training, but it's an opportunity It's part of that making the work stronger Not just the work itself, but the way in which we do the work And I think there's an opportunity here with these things that you're suggesting To not only do the work better Not only do the not only do better work, but do the work better I guess Just to let you know there is a specialist in intimacy who teaches at the University of Miami So you might want to contact her And uh those of you who are going to atha we're addressing that in the pre-conference for acting and directing so And there's also the specialist that's coming in from canada Yeah, um this show I just last directed It shows how good intentions don't necessarily pay off I had a scene in which there was some physical contact in a way that might be considered something that An intimacy coach might be valuable for But being an old guy who's been doing this for a long time. It never occurred to me There were students who I know were very good friends and they were Much of the stuff that came up with it was problematic. They came up with on their own And luckily I had a faculty member who said No, we probably need to talk about this and spend some time with these students So it's a it's a bit of a learning curve on that for some of us But I think it's great, and I think it's so logical We have fight choreographers. Why not? And it seems to be happening in film as well Um at least it's starting to the other thing I want to address is completely unrelated Um Audrey how how much does it cost to fly down from new york? Under a couple hundred bucks Oh, wow, that sucks. I was gonna I was gonna suggest that that what I see in this conference this is convening this weekend Um, is a lot of people who? Spend some time in new york and spend a lot of time in miami or spend a lot of time in miami spend some time in new york Vicki just moved down here Michael's gonna come here in january with with ashley for his play You travel all the time. So at least among our alumni. I know there are people Who? Who travel up to one of my friends jimmy poig lives here in miami, but goes up to new york to work an audition It's it's a connection that we might have that is a little more convenient than los angeles or other places Um, I was hoping it was still as cheap as it was Years ago. Uh used to be like a hundred bucks to fly but not so much Nevertheless, I think that's at least geographically. It's something that we can we can work with each other In a way that we have a lot of comment as well You can fly to local places that are cheaper So I fly into detonor or orlando because my family's based there, but it is you know, even though it's a drive It's a lot closer than trying to drive from New york city Yeah, yeah, so it is possible and I think that that for me is you know, my curiosity I used to eerily in my career Live in new york and then get flown down to do all the shows regionally in florida And and I I mean I love working in florida. So it's something that I think My question and I maybe it's also, you know, the opportunity is saying how do you make those? connection relationships from new york to to down here because there is such a beautiful wealth of theater here Even stronger And also and it brings in for me the curiosity of what the leadership and how to do the outreach with our, you know sister cities This this is a small portion of the solution of the problem, but we have a We're here at fiu and we have a real strong network of alumni in And much of the the people I was just talking about Are just a few of the people that are Miami people that are that are and then through them We meet other other folks who come down here. So I think that maybe working off Networking that already exists might be a good place to start I really loved the I think it was I'm not sure who brought it. It may be Olga the intergenerational collaborations that can happen in new york for example Uh with rosalba The sole project partnered up with her and now we're doing this this reading series in the summers and and it's really it's been a wonderful collaboration The Puerto Rican traveling theater in Pregones has Their their audience right that are that are passionate Followers and then the sole project has a different crowd and then to see both crowds together is amazing And so we just we just had our second year of sole fest So something like that would be really great here where you are learning from each other. You're learning You have that exchange. So I really love that idea as an opportunity Not also them or teatro sea Have a here in florida also produced From new york and they are they produce mostly theater for children and um Hispanic federation that is producing Fuerza fest for the fourth year now an lgbtq festival They are doing also things here in florida And they have a lot of money and resources so Things are outside So we have only a few minutes left I don't know if anybody else has something that just is burning that they want to share with the group whether it's about solutions to the challenges that were posed Things that we heard in the initial group Or if there's any additional resources that people are thinking about but I love everything that we heard And the truth is that as we were reflecting in our meeting at lunch It seemed like there was a lot of Things that resonated with us because Really, miami we see you and we hear you and you really are not alone There's quite a bit of this stuff that goes on Just around the country And I was actually really surprised shocked really That people have that there wasn't actually even more latinx theater In miami like even more so I just thought it would be like the only thing almost like here as opposed to I mean, I'm you know I'm being naive but But because I just moved to To the seattle area and I just had to cast Luis Alfaro's mojada, which is the mexican version of medea with a japanese lady Yes, so and she was actually great and spoke fabulous spanish, right? But it was just such the the resources weren't there. So when I I also stepped off the airplane and was like wow It felt like home and everywhere that I went in elevators people were speaking spanish and I thought wow what an amazing resource Right and how lucky everyone in miami Is to have that I still love the pacific northwest now, but And not the humidity, but certainly there are wonderful opportunities, but we do see you and we do You really are not alone. There's there's something going on everywhere Yeah, we were a little spoiled when when I did uh And in the tropics here, I looked around the room and said We are nilo Everyone in the cast practically Had the same life experience as nilo. We there's nobody more qualified to do it in the tropics or any nilo play There's the people in this room and and that became a sort of phrase for the production is we are nilo Um, and I imagine trying to do that play elsewhere is sometimes problematic But in fact, I've done it with a whole bunch of mexican people. So yeah, yeah, it's it's a thing Go ahead. Um, I just want to hit on the conversation in terms of reaching like the younger generation um I really wanted us to push past thinking about educational theater and outreach in regards to creating new audiences, but really thinking about engaging with young people as artists who are Working to open artistic pathways for them so that they can also see themselves as artists Um, so I just want to push us when we think about outreach. It's not just about producing a play Or for audiences to see but really engaging the young people in the community as artists And as it was mentioned earlier Miami is home to district eight, which is one of the largest student thespian festivals And there's a lot of really eager young people in the city who are dying to do theater and create theater So I just want to to think about our young people as artists not just audiences to come to see our shows Um, thank you everybody for engaging in this conversation. I'm gonna turn this over to armando Hi, uh, thank you everybody. Whoa, I feel like we're tired. Um, I'm gonna it's a couple things. Um