Trasfondos

WHAT: Trasfondos/Backstories is an arts- and humanities-based initiative that gives students, educators, and other community members access to our ensemble’s creative process, and a chance to generate and/or co-author content for study guides, interpretive materials, web/social media, and other forms of diverse audience engagement. This year, activities are retooled to meet the needs of pandemic, including the temporary closure of our theaters, with a mix of online and artist-led discovery, training, group discussion, and content generation around themes of Latinx creativity, identity, and social movements.

WHY: The project opens up Pregones/PRTT’s creative practice to youth and adults with otherwise limited access to professional arts, and little direct contact with generative artists. Activities respond to a need repeatedly voiced by the communities we serve for new and culturally-competent engagement in the arts. The project also creates awareness of opportunities for non-artists to participate, volunteer, and/or prepare to pursue employment in the arts.

COMING UP:

Pregones/PRTT invites you to the premiere of the short (6 minute) documentary IDENTITY THROUGH ART by young artist Brianna Guillen, on Saturday April 24th at 3pm. Filmed mostly at Pregones Theater in The Bronx as part of an Exploring The Arts internship, the short film is about the different ways to explore one’s identity through art. The film also features candid interviews with opera and theater director Crystal Manich and musician Rambo Salinas, both alumni from the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture’s 2020 Leadership Institute.

“Each and every time you create art, you are taking a piece of yourself and your personality and sharing it with the world. You give people the opportunity to see who you are inside.” -Brianna Guillen