Latinx Actor Training

Latinx Actor Training presents essays and pioneering research from leading Latinx practitioners and scholars in the United States to examine the history and future of Latino/a/x/e actor training practices and approaches. Born out of the urgent need to address the inequities in academia and the industry as Latinx representation on stage and screen remains disproportionately low despite population growth; this book seeks to reimagine and restructure the practice of actor training by inviting deep investigation into heritage and identity practices. Latinx Actor Training features contributions covering current and historical acting methodologies, principles, and training, explorations of linguistic identity, casting considerations, and culturally inclusive practices that aim to empower a new generation of Latinx actors and to assist the educators who are entrusted with their training. This book is dedicated to creating career success and championing positive narratives to combat pervasive and damaging stereotypes. Latinx Actor Training offers culturally inclusive pedagogies that will be invaluable for students, practitioners, and scholars interested in the intersections of Latinx herencia (heritage), identity, and actor training.

Cynthia Santos DeCure is a bilingual actor, and voice, speech, dialect coach specializing in culturally inclusive pedagogies in actor training, accents, and dialects. She is Associate Professor Adjunct of Acting at David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, certified as Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework® and teacher of Knight-Thompson Speechwork. A member of SAG/AFTRA and AEA with over 30 years of acting experience, Cynthia has an M.F.A. in Acting from CSULA and a B.A. in Acting from University of Southern California. She is co-editor of the award-winning anthology Scenes for Latinx Actors. Micha Espinosa is an international teaching artist, activist, and voice/performance specialist in culturally inclusive pedagogies. She is a Professor at Arizona State University School (ASU) in the School of Music, Dance, and Theatre, affiliate faculty with ASU's School of Transborder Studies & the Sidney Poitier New American Film School (30 year member of SAG-AFTRA), Artistic Director of Fitzmaurice Voicework® (FV®), and Lead Teacher trainer for the FV® Teacher Certification. Micha is also a core member of the performance art collective La Pocha Nostra and the award-winning editor of Monologues for Latino Actors and co-editor of Scenes for Latinx Actors.

Contributor Biographies Acknowledgments Forward Introduction Cynthia Santos DeCure and Micha Espinosa Part 1: History and Theory 1. Ancestral Echoes: Excavating Latinx Histories in Actor Training Chantal Rodriguez 2. Diane Rodríguez's Acting Activism Marci R. McMahon 3. "Let Me Define Myself": An Interview with Puerto Rican teatrera Rosa Luisa Márquez Priscilla Melendez and Aníbal González 4. Actor Training with Global Perspectives: A Historical Narrative of the Only Spanish-Language Theatre Conservatory in the United States Joann Yarrow 5. Dr. Alma Martinez: A Narrative Towards Becoming a Chicanx Actor Alma Martinez 6. Performance for Innocents: Live Art Pedagogy for Rebel Artists With Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Luz Oropeza Paloma Martínez-Cruz 7. Confessions of a Racial Nomad: Indigenous-Mestizx Ethnicity in the World of Eurocentric Performance Practices Saúl García-López, aka La Saula Part 2: Acting 8. The Complexity and Poetry of Latinx Identity and Actor Training, a Narrative Micha Espinosa 9. From Method to Mythic: Why Latinx? Why Mythic? How Mythic? Why Now? Marissa Chibás 10. The Latinx Actor's Linguistic Identity: Preserving Our Culture in Speech Training Cynthia Santos DeCure 11. Accent and Dialect Training for the Latinx Actor Cynthia Santos DeCure 12. Freeing the Bilingual Voice: Thoughts on Adapting the Linklater Method Into Spanish Antonio Ocampo-Guzman 13. Towards a Latinx-Driven Physical Theatre Pedagogy: Acrobatic Theatre for Social Change CarlosAlexis Cruz 14. Experiences in Working with Shakespeare in Adaptation, Shakespeare in Spanish and Bilingual Heightened Text Cynthia Santos DeCure and Micha Espinosa 15. Navigating the Musical Theatre Industry for Latinx Actors Julio Agustin 16. School of Autodidacts Mónica Sánchez 17. The Five Elements Caridad Svich 18. Afro-Latinas in Conversation: Interview with Debra Anne Byrd, Founder of Harlem Shakespeare and Creator of Becoming Othello Christin Eve Cato 19. On Latinx Casting: Interview with Peter Murrieta, Emmy Award-Winning Writer and Producer Micha Espinosa 20. Championing Unheard Voices: Developing the Civic Voice Through Story Michelle Lopez-Rios 21. Theatre Where You Are Emilio Rodriguez 22. Strategies for Directing Latinx Plays Jerry Ruiz 23. Teaching Acting Using the Four Agreements as a Framework for Self-Acceptance and Cultural Connection Christina Marín 24. Performance of Identity-A Practice Marie Ramirez Downing 25. Fitzmaurice Voicework® as a Contemplative Practice and Decolonizing Agent in Actor Training Lorenzo González Fontes Bendiciones Index