Aug52025
EventsMainstageSeasonTheaterBaile Cangrejero

October 23-November 16, 2025
Puerto Rican Traveling Theater
304 W 47th Street
New York, NY 10036

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A Celebration of All Things Afro-Caribbean!

A gem of Pregones/PRTT’s original musical theater repertory, Baile Cangrejero is a vibrant stage celebration of Afro-Caribbean rhythm, poetry, and cultural pride. With the electrifying sounds of bomba, plena, and bolero, the production brings to life the timeless words of legendary poets like Luis Palés Matos, Julia de Burgos, Nicolás Guillén, and more.

Rooted in tradition yet boldly contemporary, Baile Cangrejero highlights deep connections across the rich and varied Afro-descendant musics, histories, and identities of Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Peru. This high-energy theatrical concert for all audiences is both an homage and an invitation to feel, move, and remember through rhythm and verse.

Starring award-winning actor Anna Malavé and directed by the acclaimed Jorge B. Merced.

Featured Poems

Ay, ay, ay de la grifa negra by Julia de Burgos

Danza Negra by Luis Palés Matos

Baile Cangrejero by Fortunato Vizcarrondo

Enamorao by Fortunato Vizcarrondo

El Apellido by Nicolás Guillén

Loiza Aldea by Fortunato Vizcarrondo

Majestad Negra by Luis Palés Matos

Muerte en el Ring by Nicomedes Santa Cruz

Trópico Suelto by Manuel del Cabral

¿Y tu agüela, a’onde ejtá? by Fortunato Vizcarrondo

Tickets Start at $30

Student, Senior & Group Discounts Available
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Event Details

Location & Directions

Puerto Rican Traveling Theater
304 W 47th St, New York, NY 10036
(b/w 8th & 9th Avenues)
Trains # 1, C, E to 50th Street

Questions? Call us at 718-585-1202

Run Dates

October 23 – November 16, 2025

Thu. – Fri. 7:00 PM
Sat. 7:00 PM
Sat. & Sun. 3:00 PM Matinee

Acting Ensemble

Starring Anna Malavé. Full ensemble cast to be announced soon!

Creative Team

Directed by:
Jorge B. Merced

Musical Director:
Desmar Guevara

Production Manager:
Jessica Moya

Assistant Stage Manager:
Brianna Guillén

Actors’ Equity Association

Actors' Equity Association Logo

The actors and stage managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. This Theater operates under an Actors’ Equity Association Off-Broadway NYC-LOA.

Featured Poets Bios

Julia de Burgos (Puerto Rico, 1916-1953)

Julia de Burgos remains the most beloved and highly regarded Puerto Rican woman poet of the 20th century. Her powerful work unites love, patriotic fervor, and social and political protest. The lyrical force of poems like “Río Grande de Loíza” and the sharp social criticism of “Welfare Island” sustain her popular appeal. Among her best-loved books are Canción de la verdad sencilla (1939) and El mar y tú (1954). In 1996, New York Puerto Rican writer Jack Agüeros published Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos, an award-winning translation from Curbstone Press.

Manuel del Cabral (Dominican Republic, 1907-1999)

Manuel del Cabral, a poet of social themes, authored fifteen books, including Doce Poemas Negros (1935) and Trópico Suelto (1943). His writings offered descriptions of Black peoples that went beyond the colorful or folkloric. Del Cabral’s verse and prose poems revealed the deepest problems of people living under oppression and exploitation, addressing the complex realities of race and power in the Caribbean.

Nicolás Guillén (Cuba, 1902-1981)

Nicolás Guillén addressed fundamental problems such as racial discrimination and the abyssmal social and economic disparities within the American continent. He emerged as one of the principal representatives of negrismo, the Black arts movement in the Americas. His innovation of poema-son (poem-music) continues to have significant influence on contemporary Caribbean and Latin American poetry. Landmark book publications include Motivos del son (1930), Sóngoro cosongo (1931), and West Indies Ltd. (1934), to name a few.

Luis Palés Matos (Puerto Rico, 1899-1959)

In the early 1920s, Luis Palés Matos and José De Diego Padró initiated a vanguard poetic movement, emphasizing the poetic value of rhythm and onomatopoeia. These stylistic preferences connected with Afro-Antillean musical traditions, later becoming the essential element of poesía negroide in Latin America. Palés’s early poems from that period established him as the undisputed initiator of this movement. His most widely read book remains Tuntún de pasa grifería (1937).

Nicomedes Santa Cruz (Perú, 1925-1992)

By the age of 24, Nicomedes Santa Cruz began writing his more than 4,000 décimas—traditional compositions consisting of ten verses of eight syllables each. He published Décimas (1960), Cumaná (1964), Canto a mi Perú (1966), and Ritmos negros del Perú (1971), among other books. One of his greatest achievements was giving rise to Peruvian literature rooted in Black heritage. Before his contributions, Afro-Peruvian culture primarily found expression in Peru’s popular music, itself an important source of inspiration for the poet. Today, cultural institutions and scholars increasingly recognize Santa Cruz as a pivotal figure in the reclamation and celebration of Afro-Peruvian identity.

Fortunato Vizcarrondo (Puerto Rico, 1896-1980)

Fortunato Vizcarrondo delved into verse of popular inspiration and attitude, in which Black Puerto Ricans occupy a central position. He used the first person to compose verses of unique candor, including the immortal “¿Y tu agüela, a dónde ejtá?” (And Your Grandma, Where’s She At?), where the narrator mocks the pedigree of Creole whites and mestizos alike. Some of his most recognized poetry compiles in the book Dinga y Mandinga (1942).

Our Esteemed Funders

Pregones/PRTT’s Mainstage is generously funded by Ford Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Shubert Foundation, and Scherman Foundation. This program is also made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the Governor’s Office and the New York State Legislature. For a full list of our funders, click here.

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