Yari Cervas (all pronouns)
Dramaturg, Producer, Stage Director
California

Yari Cervas (all pronouns) is an awarded theatre director, teaching artist, and somatic worker inspired by stories of restorative justice, queerness, and trauma recovery. They are proud to have collaborated with numerous organizations including South Coast REP, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, and San Diego REP. As the founding Artistic Director of MaArte Theatre Collective in San Diego, they produced and directed two dozen plays by emerging Pilipinx playwrights including world premieres Your Best American Girl (Best of the ‘19 SDFringe Fest, Critics’ Pick, & Cultural Exchange awards); The Fire in Me (Award of Recognition from the State Legislature of California) co-produced by Asian Story Theatre; and You’re Safe Here in partnership with Allain Francisco M.D. and the UCSD SOM to foster empathy for patients navigating relationships with mental healthcare providers. Previously, Yari was honored by the first ever Santa Barbara Double Indy Award for performance as Dido in Dido, Queen of Carthage and for directing the world premiere of Tar and Feather (Westmont College). Most recently they directed the world premiere of Desert Rock Garden at New Village Arts (Award of Recognition from California State Assembly). In response to the COVID pandemic and later becoming an inaugural participant of The Catapult Project, Yari created Practical Somatics offering body-based meditations to empower individuals to overcome trauma in their daily lives. Yari believes that by practicing breathing, intuitive movement, and compassionate self awareness we are better positioned to heal our relationships with ourselves and our wider communities.

yaricervas.com

Valerie Curtis-Newton (she/her)
Stage Director, Dramaturg
Seattle, WA

Currently the founding Artistic Director for The Hansberry Project, I also serve as the Head of Directing & Playwriting at the University of Washington School of Drama, Valerie has worked with professional theatre's across the country including: The Guthrie Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Seattle Rep, Playmakers Repertory Company, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, The Mark Taper Forum, New York Theatre Workshop, and Southern Repertory Theatre among others.

Awards: 2020: Seattle Times Most Influential People of the Last Decade; 2019: Theatre Puget Sound - Gregory Falls Award for Sustained Achievement; 2016: Seattle Times Footlight Award (Best in Show) 2014: Stranger Genius Awards in Performance and the Crosscut Courage Award for Culture; 2012: Gypsy Rose Lee Award for Excellence in Direction; 2001: Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation’s (SDCF) Gielgud Directing Fellowship 1997-1999: NEA/TCG Career Development Fellowship for Directors

www.valeriecurtisnewton.com
Federico Figueroa (he/him)
Dramaturg, Librettist, Producer, Stage Director
Madrid, Spain
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Born and raised in Chiapas (Mexico), he moved to Spain in 1997. He has directed opera, operetta, zarzuela and plays in his native country, Colombia, Cuba, United Kingdom and United States. In the last three years he has released four lyrical-theatrical works with texts of his authorship. At the beginning of this year his staging of the baroque zarzuela "Love conquers impossible love" in Dallas, garnered great critical and public success. He is currently working on the rescue of the text and the staging of the zarzuela "Romance slave", by Colombian authors, with the support of a grant from the municipal government of Bogotá.

http://www.godirect-am.com/artistas-(1)/federico-figueroa/
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Photo by Melanie Gonzalez
Tatiana Gil (she/her)
Dramaturg
Boston, MA

I am a Boston based Queer Latinx writer, dramaturg, and actor with a passion for new work development, art that moves people to take action, and decolonization as a form of healing and empowerment. As an artist, I specialize in all things new works! 

https://www.tatianaisabel.com/
Ardencie Hall-Karambe (she/her)
Composer, Costume Designer, Dramaturg, Librettist, Producer, Singer, Stage Director
Texas

I've been a theatre professor for the 20+ years while simultaneously working professionally in theatres in Philadelphia and NYC. I've retired from teaching to work full-time in theatres across the country.

kcactheatre.com
Geovonday Jones (he/him)
Dramaturg, Stage Director, Acting for the Singer Coach
New York, NY

Geovonday Jones is a New York City based actor, director, and teaching artist/coach. He has an MFA in Acting from Brooklyn College and a BFA from Missouri State University. As a director, he most recently worked on The Motherfucker with the Hat and In the Blood. He has also directed or assisted on operas, including but not limited to: Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, The Bartered Bride, Carmen, to name a few. Also, he has served as an acting coach for many operas and concerts. Most recently, as an actor, he was a part of JAG’s Jagfest 4.0. Previous: Irondale Theatre’s production of Lynn Nottage’s Sweat (Brucie), Waterwell’s Ajax (Ensemble), which was a part of The Green Plays Festival, Ancram Opera House’s production of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brother Size (Ogun), New Works Brooklyn’s reading of Nambi Kelley’s Translation of Likes (Too Legit To Quit). Regionally, Geo has performed in several shows with Tent Theatre, including Peter and the Starcatcher (Captain Scott), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Senex), Rumors (Officer Welch), and Anything Goes (Henry T. Dobson). Other regional roles include Bobo in A Raisin in the Sun, Jose the Muleteer in Man of La Mancha, and Tinca in Puccini’s Il Tabarro. Among his educational roles, his favorites are Gabriel Pleasure in Mac Wellman’s The Lesser Magoo, Vanya in Uncle Vanya, Sly in Dominique Morisseau’s Detroit ’67, Father Luka/Eugene in Ambition Facing West, and Twilight Los Angeles, 1992.

www.geovondayjones.com
Justin Lucero (he/him)
Choreographer - Intimacy, Dramaturg, Producer, Stage Director
Artistic Director - El Paso Opera
El Paso, TX

Justin Lucero (he/him) is Artistic Director of El Paso Opera and has stage directed such productions for El Paso Opera as Hänsel & Gretel, The Magic Flute, Trouble in Tahiti, Pagliacci, Bon Appétit! and the upcoming Frida, produced a remount of Houston Grand Opera’s Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, and has developed such original community initiatives as Giving Voice and #CurbsideOpera. He has served in over ten years of involvement with El Paso Opera, including as resident Assistant Stage Director (The Marriage of Figaro, Barber of Seville, La bohème, How Green Was My Valley, Carmen) and Associate Director for a Smithsonian Institute co-production of Opera Bhutan: Acis & Galatea, the first-ever Western opera performed in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan.
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www.justinlucerodirector.com
Daniel Mesta (he/him)
Producer, Stage Director, Dramaturg
San Antonio, TX

Daniel Mesta is an actor, director and dramaturg who has primarily worked in the diverse arenas of theatre, radio and opera. Winner of a 2020 John F. Kennedy Center Fellowship in Dramaturgy for his work on "The Magic Flute", which he both translated and dramaturged, Mesta has also received awards and acknowledgements from LMDA, ATHE and the Irene Ryan Foundation. Mesta is currently based between San Antonio, Texas and St. Petersburg, Russia, where he is acts as a project associate for the Center for International Theatre Development.

https://danielmesta.com/
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Photo credit: John Martin Photography
Lynde Rosario (she/her)
Dramaturg
Denver, CO

Lynde Rosario (she/her/hers) is a Dramaturg and the Impact Assessment Director for the National New Play Network. She is also President of The Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. Current and former affiliations include: The Playwrights Realm, The Kennedy Center, Working Theater Company, Curious Theatre Company, Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company, The Catamounts, Local Theater Company, Creede Repertory Theater, Athena Project, Letter of Marque Theater Company, and The Anthropologists. She holds a B.A. in Drama from Hofstra University, and a M.F.A. in Dramaturgy from The American Repertory Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University.
Daphnie Sicre (she/her)
Dramaturg, Stage Director
Los Angeles, CA

Dr. Daphnie Sicre teaches Directing & Theatre for Social Change at Loyola Marymount University. Engaging in anti-racist and cultural competent theatre practices, she facilitates Theatre of the Oppressed workshops remixed with Hip Hop Pedagogy. When she is not teaching, writing, or conducting workshops, she can be found directing or serving as a dramaturge. She recently directed the following Zoom productions: “Talking Peace”by France-Luce Benson (Fountain Theatre) a stage reading of “Waiting for Godinez” by Daniel Olivas (Playwrights’ Arena) and a podcast reading of “Ash & Feather” by Sharon Francis’s. Her LMU debut was “In the Heights” and next year she will direct “Diversity Awareness Picnic” by Leah Nanako Winkler. Select New York City directing credits include: Jose Casas’s “14”, Shower Me” at the FringeNYC, “Stranger” for Stage Black, where she won Best Director and the AUDELCO nominated “Not About Eve”.

https://cfa.lmu.edu/programs/mfapp/faculty/?expert=daphnie.sicre
Brandon Weber (he/him)
Choreographer - Dance, Dramaturg, Producer, Singer, Stage Director
New York, NY

Currently, I am actively advocating for my company Under8ted Movement which specialized in Community Outreach, Production/Event Coordination, Brand Identity, Social Media Marketing and have been the Creative Director/Producer for a small projects around the tri-state area. Being in the digital media industry during the height of the pandemic enabled to come up with marketing strategies that will create stable content for media outlets and traction for both influencers and partnering companies. However, I also contribute heavily to the educating others within the realm of production by actively pursuing new endeavors that will challenge the POC communities, but bring in a variety of new prospects as well. In the past, I’ve worked with Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Actor’s Company Theatre in New York City, and Vital Theatre Company Off-Broadway in various roles (Actor, Stage Manager, Dramaturg, Producer, Social Media Coordinator, Casting Director, Assistant Director, etc). I believe I’ll be an asset to your production due to my extensive knowledge and connections based in the NYC /Tri-state/ATL area , while dabbling in both the theatrical and film world simultaneously. This provided me opportunities to work with a vast amount of upcoming and award-winning playwright-composers (Laurence O’Keefe/Nell Benjamin, Stew, PearlDamour, Michael R. Jackson, James Ijames, etc) alongside brilliant directors (Stafford Arima/ Marc Bruni), choreographers (Lorin Latarro/ Kuperman Brothers), and technical designers. Being heavily involved in both industries in-front and behind the camera, gives me the ability to monitor all aspects of the production at hand.

www.brandonmweber.com