 Good morning, everyone. My name is Abigail Vega, and I'm the producer of the Latinx Theatre Commons or the LTC, and I want to say on behalf of the entire LTC Steering Committee, welcome to the 2019 LTC, TYA, Sin Fronteras Festival and convening. We are so thrilled you are all here with us. For those of you who are new, the LTC is a national movement that uses a commons-based approach to transform the narrative of the American Theatre to amplify the visibility of Latinx performance-making and to champion equity through advocacy, convening, art-making, and scholarship. The LTC is a flagship program of HowlRound. This event that you're here today for is a big step for the LTC, but also for the theatre field and our community. For the past two and a half years, we have been talking about this event in a very specific way. We've been saying, this is the first time the LTC is producing an event focused on work for young people. But then last week, we realized, wow, this is the first Latinx TYA event of its kind ever in the United States, and you're here for it! The LTC is beyond lucky. We are working with two unique partners, Teatro Vivo, a bilingual theatre company here in Austin, founded by Joanne Carrion Reyes and Rupert Reyes, and currently run by Mario Ramirez. They, I'm getting there, I'm getting there, they have gathered an incredible host committee. So if you are involved with Teatro Vivo and or the host committee, please stand or gesture as you are able so we can show you some appreciation. Where are you? We also get to work with the University of Texas at Austin and the Department of Theatre and Dance. All weekend, you will meet UT students and faculty who are here as a part of our student host committee and our education committee, supported by Associate Professor Megan Allreds. If you are a part of the UT community, our UT host committee, or the education team, please stand or gesture as you are able so we can show you some appreciation. This event has been supported and planned by our steering committee, led by our steadfast champions Roxanne Schroder-Arce and Emily Aguilar. If you are on the LTC steering committee, please stand or gesture or as you are able so we can show you some appreciation. We also want to take a moment to thank the LTC's generous funders, the Doris Duke-Chadible Foundation and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for making this event possible. At the LTC, we develop partnerships that allow resources to come to the table to make big change. UT has a beautiful space, a renowned drama and theater for youth and communities program, and passionate undergraduate students from the UT program? Check. The AtroVeval has experienced producing partnerships in the community and a desire to bring incredible work for young people to Austin? Check. The LTC has experienced planning convenings, an international steering committee, and the ability to get the word out? Check. This project is a perfect example of how a commons works. Apart, we have resources, but together we are a community who can make things like this happen and make sure you're all in the room to experience it. A commons is a community who defines a resource and decides how to manage it for the benefit of the entire community. This weekend, we decide how this event runs. We choose to enter each room with generosity. And speaking of making something good for the good of the community, I want to draw your attention to our live streaming team in the back from our fabulous partners at Hellround Theater Commons. We are live streaming plenaries, opening, closing, breakout sessions all weekend to allow folks who cannot be here in the room to experience the convening themselves. I also want to just let you know if you're ever on stage being live streamed, not in the breakouts, if you don't speak into the mic, nobody will hear you on the live stream. So don't be a hero, right? Don't be like, no, I can do it. First off, that's ableist. And second off, they can't hear you. So use a mic, please. Okay, you'll hear from me again at the end of the session, but for now, it's my pleasure to welcome one of our partners in this project, The AtroVivo Executive Artistic Director and LTC Steering Committee member, Mario Ramirez. I just need to breathe for a moment because that moment outside was really incredible. And I think all of y'all can feel the energy that is just kind of surrounding this entire thing right now. And it's pretty spectacular and pretty beautiful. And I just want to say thank you to all of you for making that happen. Thank you so much. So over the next three days, we're going to be meeting a lot of new folks that we've never met before. And of course, all of us have different experiences, different levels of expertise. And the fact is that everyone here has something to share. And all of us here also have something to learn. And you'll see around and we have some very accomplished people in here have done some really amazing work in theater and specifically in theater for young people. But the fact is that this weekend, all of us are students. We're all students and we're all here to learn from the young people around us. And I ask that as we have our discussions, as we watch the plays this week, that we remember that this weekend is about them. This weekend is for us to look at the young people around us, to see them, and to hear all of their voices. Because after all, they are the artists that are going to be creating this magical theater in the very, very near future. And I'm really proud right now to introduce to you a couple of good friends of ours who are already amazing that that he says here in Austin. I've personally had the privilege of working with these young artists. And I can honestly tell you that I'm blown away by them every time I interact with them and share the stage with them. They're absolutely amazing. And these young people come from Proyecto Teatro, a really super amazing, highly acclaimed Spanish language theater company here in Austin, Texas. And they believe that you're never too young to be a brilliant artist and they prove that time and time again with their dedication, with their talent, with their, with their ambition, and of course with their passion for the work. So please, please help me welcome our good friends, Valeria Smeke and Yashua Batista-Milk from the Compañía Juvenil de Proyecto Teatro. Hello, good morning everyone. You know ladies first of course. Thank you. Hola, mi nombre es Valeria Smeke. And I am Yashua Batista-Milk. Que tenemos que hablar español en inglés, tenemos que ser completamente bilingües, porque es muy importante aquí en los Estados Unidos, todos hablamos diferentes idiomas y pues es necesario, ¿verdad, Yashua? Pues sí, Valeria, como en la escuela yo siempre hablo en inglés, pero en tietro yo hablo español. It's the reason why I love it. So even though we grew up in this country, we love our Latin roots, we love our heritage, we always want to represent it in the best way. I've been in Proyecto Teatro for eight years, crazy. So and but the thing that keeps on pulling me back every single time is that the moment right before we enter the stage where the whole room is silent and they're just waiting for you to step on. And you, Valeria? Yo he estado con la compañía por seis años, empecé bien chiquita. Y mi parte favorita de actuar es, desde que entré en la compañía de Proyecto Teatro Juvenil, nuestro director, Luis Ordas, nos lleva a las librerías y hacemos toda una investigación para las obras. Y de ahí vamos, como se dice, perdón, vamos creando nuestros personajes y es muy divertido poder decir y actuar el personaje que quieres. Porque lo puedes dibujar y le vas a poner el, ay, perdón, estoy tan nerviosa ahorita. Bueno, sí, es eso. So I would like to thank everyone that's here, the UT community, Proyecto Teatro, Teatro Vivo, and every single person that comes from, I don't know, out of the country, out of state. And I would like to say thank you to everyone that is here because it's very important for young Latinos like me and Valeria to get a voice and to able to act out, put art, music, whatever, because we are kind of the future. So, you know, just saying. So I would like to say to everyone, thank you, all of you, I cannot say how many times thank you for supporting young actors, young audiences like us. And thank you all. I'm still nervous, I've never done this before. So everyone, welcome, bienvenido, a Sin Conferas Festival and convenient, everyone, welcome. So we're going to have, we're going to have talled juntos con nuestros compañeros este sábado a las 10, so everyone, if you all can come and hope you all have a wonderful weekend or end week. May the show commence. Oh, muchísimas gracias, Valeria. Gracias, yeah, that was really beautiful. And exactly why we are here. So, gracias. My name is Roxanne Schroeder-Arce, and I have to look down to see what I do. Oh, this is what I do. I'm one of the co-champions of the festival and convening, and I am super honored to be working really closely with Emily Aguilar, and of course Abigail, Vega, and Mario and everyone. Bienvenidos, bienvenidos. It is truly incredible to have all of you here to witness the breathtaking theater that we are going to see together from all over the Americas, that we are going to see with our young Austenites. We are so excited for that. Our team has worked with schools to bring over 1,300 youth to see this work with us over the next few days and experience everything with us, which is exactly how it should be. So, thank you for that. A little story. Over 15 years ago, I invited one of my favorite playwrights, who I see sitting right there, to come to Fresno State where I was teaching. And I will never forget Jose Cruz Gonzales' story about watching one of his first plays, Marisol's Christmas, in Santa Ana, California. And this group of young people that he was performing for, that they were performing for, he described as youth who were 99% mexicanos. For those of you who don't know the play, it's about a young undocumented family arriving into Los Angeles on Christmas Eve. Marisol's Christmas, if you haven't read it, you should. It's a tale about survival, immigration, imagination, and hope. And Jose realized that for the children watching this play, it was the first time that they had ever seen anything about their lives, their language, and their culture on stage. And Jose says that he thought at that moment, and you said this, Jose, and I wrote it down. He said, if I can help plant seeds in children's hearts, maybe when they grow up into adults, they will understand and articulate the need and importance of art in their lives and in their communities. This is why we are here. Thank you, Jose. And I'm so glad you're here. Yes. And of course, we know that it takes a village, right? So I get to say thank you, and I'm happy to do that. We are so grateful to our incredible community partners, some Mario already mentioned, some I get to talk about. The Mexican American Cultural Center. Gracias. Zac Theater. Gracias. SEDFA, the Center for Educator Development in the Fine Arts. Gracias. Texas Cultural Trust. Gracias. Texas Commission on the Arts and Derrick Mudd, I believe, is here. Yes, there he is. Thank you, Derrick. Gracias. The City of Austin Cultural Arts Division. Gracias. The Children's Theater Foundation of America, who is represented by Jose Sisi Casas, and also Robin Flatt. There she is. Gracias. And the National Endowment for the Arts. Gracias. Of course, we also want to thank the Indigenous Cultures Institute, and you met our elders earlier. They're doing the opening for us and also organizing for us, and we want to say gracias. And we also are really grateful to our friend Jenny, where's Jenny? Perry. Thank you for helping us get the buses for the young people. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We are really grateful to you for that, from the Texas Cultural Trust. And also, I'm incredibly, incredibly deeply grateful to have this happening here at UT, which is my academic home. This festival is all about working without borders, and I'm delighted for us to be building bridges with our community. So I'm so grateful for that. LILAS, the Latin American Studies and Collections, is supporting our Chilean company, and we're so happy for that. Thank you. Gracias. The Center for Mexican American Studies, John Moran Gonzalez, is around here somewhere. And thank you, John, and he's feeding us a lot. So we really want to say thank you. Did I see you back there, John? I think he's here somewhere. The Texas Performing Arts, Kathy Panov, Jeff Grappko, who is just making this happen. Thank you, Jeff, so much. And Erin Curry is up there, and Erin is just rocking it. So thank you, thank you, thank you. The College of Fine Arts, our dean, Doug Demster, is a champion of arts education. And we are so incredibly grateful. Thank you, Doug. And all of the staff over there, Christy Barnes, isn't here because she's getting tables delivered, but they are working so hard to make all of this happen that tables don't just fly in. There is no table fairy. They are. Well, Christy. So thank you. And also, our staff in this department is incredibly dedicated. Clarissa, Lizette, Patricia. All of them are just doing so much. And every time I go in, I'm thinking they're going to say, uh-oh, no more. No more. And I go in and they say, sure. And absolutely. And what's most important is they also believe in the work that we're doing. And that's an incredible gift. So they're doing it not only with a smile, but they just are like, what more can we do? So it's so, so wonderful. And of course, their leader. I get to introduce the chair of this department who's really also been by my side and on all of us saying, yes, we want to do this. So I'll introduce to you our chair, Dr. Brant Pope. About 10 years ago at Kennedy Center, I was having a conversation. No, I can't use this. They fire me. It's live streaming. Good morning, witness. Yes. About 10 years ago at the Kennedy Center, the great Kim Peter Kovach and I were having a conversation. And I said to him, why hasn't there ever been a hemispheric TYA festival for our hemisphere in the U.S.? And he looked at me and he said, well, don't look at me. You should be the host of that. And so the next week, Joanne and Rupert Reyes and Roxanne Schroder-Arce and I sat down. Nine years ago and we planned this day when we would host, for the first time as Abigail said in history, a hemispheric TYA. And of all places that should host it is to the University of Texas. So certainly from us, bienvenidos todos. I'm so glad you are here. I'm so excited to be the spokesperson for this fabulous event. I do want to say that everyone, as Roxanne said, I won't have to say thank you again, but I do want to say because Roxanne has been the driving force, the passion for this. So to say to you personally, mi más profunda, listaciones. And to all of you, welcome. Congratulations that we're here and off we go. Thank you, Brandt. Okay. So the festival begins. All right. We're going to take a look really fast at the back of your name tags before we get out of here. Okay. Look at the back of your name tags. You will see your schedule for the whole convening and festival here. Do I have to follow the schedule? Yes. But thank you because there are moments where we have moved people around because so many students want to come. So go where you're supposed to go, okay? Which is awesome. So immediately following this, you'll see there's a schedule in your program. We are having a quick half-hour break. Check in if you haven't checked in. Meet friends. Get some tacos if they're still there. And then we're splitting up to see two shows. Half of you will come back to this space for niños que fueron grandes. And the other half will go to the bracket for Sine Sienta. One thing I want to mention is that there will be young people in the audience with us. So I think we want them to sit in the front. Don't sit in the front row. And we actually have a really unique opportunity after the show in the morning here planned by the Education Committee. There's going to be a post-show discussion. This is how it's going to work, okay? Immediately following the show, the post-show discussion facilitators will get on stage and they will start engaging the students in a 10, 15 minute long conversation. This is for the young people. Please stay. Do not leave. This is the work, right? Please stay. Then we will transition the students out of the theater. This might take a few minutes. Please be patient. Please don't leave at that time. You will get caught up in students. Stay in your seat. And then when the students are gone, the facilitators are going to lead us in a discussion about what we just saw on stage and what they experienced in the audience, right? So there's three levels of learning here, okay? So please stick around. Again, this is the work, right? After that show, we will all go to a lunch break in the Doty. We'll have folks leading you over there. If you have a lanyard, you get lunch. If not, come find me. And then you flip. And if you saw Nenielson in the morning, you see Sine Sienta and vice versa. And there will be no talk-back after that. After that point, we'll give you some more instructions, okay? A couple of last-minute things. One, what are the hashtags for the festival? LTC, TYA19. Awesome. Everything. Use that hashtag, okay? Please turn your cell phones off during the actual show. I just had mine on, which was bad. So turn your cell phones off. And do I have any other housekeeping? No, I think we're... This is a public building. And classes started this week. So just be aware. That's why you have longer breaks, right? So it just may take you a second to get places. Be patient. Be loving. Be kind to each other. It's going to be fine, okay? We'll come back for some housekeeping after the first show. So if you want to find the efforts, if you have questions, but we'll keep leading you through the day. We will not abandon you, okay? All right. We did talk about that. Okay, one last thing is that on your name tag, some of you have colors on there, okay? If you see somebody with a hot pink color, that means that they're on the LTC steering committee. If you have questions about the steering committee, questions about how around, questions about how this whole thing works, those are people to talk to, okay? If you see somebody with teal on the bottom, okay, that is somebody from the UT host committee, UT student host committee, the Austin host committee, or the education team. If you have questions, if you're not from Austin or not from Texas, if you have questions about the school, about the city, about where you can get good barbecue, et cetera, among other things, those are the people to talk to, okay? All right. Great. You guys are so beautiful. We're ahead of schedule. This is amazing. So we're going to ask you to clear the space, because they have to set up in here for the show at 10.30. Thank you so much, and welcome to Seeing Fronteras. Thank you.