MAINSTAGE Mainstage is the creative center of Pregones Theater’s ensemble of Latino actors, musicians, writers, directors, dancers, designers, and technicians. This network includes master-level, mid-career, and early-career artists, and sees mentoring as
a natural component of its activity. As a collective, the artists who participate in the Mainstage program are committed to a dynamic understanding of ensemble process and the creative benefits it can offer. We are spurred by the experience of diaspora, exile, and migration; by the swift propagation of Puerto Rican popular culture; by the Brechtian principles of Latin American nuevo teatro; and by the wealth of Latino creative expressions in the United States. Mainstage comprises all artistic activity connected to the creation, remounting, and performance of productions in Pregones Theater's original theatrical repertory.
PRESENTING
Pregones Theater presents the work of other artists working in theater, dance, music, and related disciplines. The primary goal of the Presenting program is to give our audience an opportunity to sample the full range of contemporary Latino performing arts. The program presents individual artists and companies of broad appeal and peer-recognized merit. Works may be traditional and/or experimental. Our curatorial guidelines favor New York-based artists but we also present artists from the Caribbean, Latin America, and elsewhere in the United States. Alternately, Presenting also features artists who may broker significant intercultural and inter-national exchange and reflection for a diverse audience. Key components are the month-long March Is Music festival, the annual LGBTQ-themed Asunción Playwrights Project, and monthly First Wednesdays events in collaboration with the Bronx Council on the Arts.
EDUCATION
Our Education program responds to a locally voiced need for bilingual Latino arts and cultural promotion, alternatives to commercial entertain-ment, and events that fit comfortably into school and working family schedules. Key components include the Family Fun series in December, Teatro Matinee year-round matinees for multiple audience segments, Pregones In Motion off-site performances conducted in collaboration with local community-based partners, and our Circle of Scholars initiative linking local school and college-level faculty, student leaders, and other cultural workers. Other projects include curriculum arts integration workshops based on the New York City Blueprints for Arts Education, and hands-on training on the technical aspects of theater.
TOURING
Pregones Theater was founded as a touring ensemble and continues to travel throughout New York, the greater Tri State area, and beyond. Summer Stage is our all-important annual season kick-off event, now on its 9th year under the auspices of the JPMorgan Chase Summer Arts Series. The free-admission tour visits mostly outdoors community-based sites in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Other free local tours are done via Pregones In Motion, a creative outreach project equipped to transform any classroom, public meeting room, or community-run venue into a theatrical stage. National and International Tours are another important part of the program; engagements are often organized as part of artistic residencies sponsored by other professional theaters, community-based organizations, or educational institutions.
See our 2006-2007 Season Highlights for examples of each program.
