From Roots to Wings: UMass Symposium to Celebrate Latinx/Latine Theater and Performance on April 8
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The Department of Theater will host a collaborative symposium, “Building Bridges As We Walk: A Latinx Theater Symposium,” on April 8 in locations across campus to highlight and celebrate a broad and diverse range of perspectives on Latinx/Latine theater and performance. This event is free and open to the community, and registration is limited to 75 people. Register here.
Curated by Priscilla Maria Page and Elisa Gonzales, assistant professors of theater, the symposium celebrates the recent release of The Routledge Companion to Latine Theatre and Performance, a landmark anthology edited by theater scholars Noe Montez and Olga Sanchez Saltveit and featuring essays by Page and Gonzales. The symposium will bring together many of the anthology’s contributors—as well as theater students, scholar, and practitioners—for talks, panels, and excerpted readings of plays.
The day-long symposium begins with a welcome by Chris Baker, chair of the Department of Theater; an invocation by poet, playwright and performer Magdalena Gómez; and an opening keynote by Jorge Huerta, the Chancellor’s Associates Professor of Theatre Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego. Huerta is a leading authority on contemporary Chicana/o and US Latina/o theatre. The day will also include panels, a roundtable discussion, performances, and a closing keynote.
The event aims to create a dynamic blend of academic discourse and practical insights, creating a space for dialogue and shared understanding. It is both a celebration of Latine theater and a testament to the resilience, diversity, and transformative power of the Latinx/Latine community in the realm of performing arts.
“We're having senior scholars and middle career scholars, but at the same time, I think we're actively ushering in the next generation of Latine artists who are going to be contributing to the field. Giving them the opportunity to participate in these performances will be really important, too,” Gonzales says. “One thing about this symposium that I'm particularly proud of is how it encompasses the contributions of not just Latine creators from across the country but several in western Massachusetts.”
The idea for the symposium was born from Page’s involvement in the HFA Faculty Networking Initiative, a program organized by the HFA Dean’s Office that invites tenure-track assistant professors to work with distinguished scholars and artists at institutions beyond the local academic community. Through the program, Page was partnered with Montez to work on a full-length book on Latinx theater in Chicago, which led to Page’s involvement in the anthology.
“I was going to invite Noe [Montez] to campus anyway, and I thought, if he's already going to come to campus and we know the book's coming out, why don't we have some celebration of the book? In the spirit of the book that brings so many voices together, I also started to talk to Elisa [Gonzales] about organizing something to bring contributors here,” Page explains. “I've been teaching in the department for about 20 years, and in terms of the historic significance of this symposium, we haven't done anything like this for Latine theater—ever.”
Both Page and Gonzales acknowledge the historical significance of UMass Amherst as a hub of student activism and the intersection of academic and creative work.
The afternoon events will be hosted in the New Africa House Theater, which Page says is “an honor. . . . I love the history and activism connected to this space.”
Page, who teaches courses on contemporary playwrights of color and multicultural theater, says she sees utilizing the New Africa House Theater as a catalyst for opening up conversations about race, and challenging the black-and-white perspective that sometimes occludes the Latin experience.
Page further emphasized the symposium as a celebration of connectedness stating, “I think we can honor the legacy of Black activism and Black scholarship in the arts, and look at the parallels within the Latine community.”
For those unacquainted with theater or the Latinx experience, both Gonzales and Page say the symposium promises an eye-opening experience.
“For those who might be attending the conference as part of a class or perhaps without a background in theater, I think all of the work represented challenges what theater can look like and what it can do for communities,” Gonzales says. “It represents community building and resistance to some of the oppressions around us.”
Page says the showcased works challenge traditional theater perceptions and illustrate its potential to effect change within communities.
“I think, sometimes, there's a general perception of what theater is and who has access to theater. A lot of times that idea is very white,” Page says. “Theater as a field is contending with whiteness and contending with an oversaturation of white voices, white perspectives. We're seeing things radically shift right now. What I want people to think about and to see is that there are longstanding traditions by Latinx/Latine folks. We have very solid roots.”
To learn more about the event and to find an updated schedule, please visit the Theater Department website.