Yauco Theatre Project Details

June 12th-17th, 2019
This past winter we (Kate and Renana) went to Puerto Rico as part of a study abroad trip with New York University. One of the most meaningful experiences of the program was the opportunity we had to lead a theatre workshop for high school students attending an arts-based public school in Yauco. Since then, we have been searching for ways to offer further serve and support the arts community in this beautiful town.

Our hope is to use the connections we made as students of NYU to connect the young people in Yauco to the vibrant performance community that exists across the island. Similarly we hope to inspire those same artists to return to work in Yauco after our program has ended. 

Since late March we have raised over $3,500 to help fund this project. With that money we will be bringing a series of workshops to Yauco in addition to take a field trip to Ponce to meet a highly regarded visual artist in his studio to learn about his collaborative process across artistic mediums. The week will include training with a number of Puerto Rican artists and arts organizations including ACirc, Andanza, Rosa Luisa Marquez, Antonio Martorell, and Edgardo Rodriguez. Through these trainings students will gain knowledge of movement theatre styles, Theatre of the Oppressed, modern dance, circus performance and much more.

We have seen first hand the artistic talent and passion that exists across the island and we hope to use this opportunity to bridge physical divides between young learners and professional artists. In addition, one aspect of this project is providing paid opportunities for professional artists to work with and teach young people. This artistic labor is essential to the success and growth of every community, though often undervalued. These priorities make it an expensive project, which is why we have been utilizing a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for expenses related to this project.

​Your support will help us make this project possible and allow us to pay the guest artists fair and reasonable wages.

Home Base- Teatro Ideal

Home base for the project is Teatro Ideal, a cultural arts center in downtown Yauco.
Commissioned by Yauco Movie Pictures, the building was first constructed in 1919 and housed decades of cultural milestones and famous artist performances. The building was abandoned in the late 1970s and then renovated and reopened in 2016. The performance space will prove a valuable classroom tool for our workshops with the student participants as well as a stage for small performances brought to the community during our week of programming.
Recently renovated, the space inside is beautiful and a perfect setting for our arts workshops.

Participants

All high school students (7th-12th graders) in Yauco are invited to participate in this free week-long workshop. While our point of contact in the school system is located at the Ernesto Ramos Antonini school, we are excited to offer arts programming to students who are not able to access intensive theatre programming through school.

All students will be asked to complete a survey at the beginning and end of the project measuring its impact and their interest in the work. A follow up survey will be conducted at 3 months and 5 months after the workshop to evaluate continuing impact on student involvement in the arts.

In order to reach the entire community, some programming will be offered to all residents (regardless of age) free of charge.