1. Early life and education

2. Career
     Pregones Theater Company    History    Structure    Accomplishments    Merger with the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre    Projects and collaborations  

3. Awards and recognition

4. References

Rosalba Rolón is a Puerto Rican actress and director, who is best known for being the founder and current artistic director of the Pregones Theater Company, a Bronx-based touring company that focuses on Latinx stories.

Early life and education

Rosalba Rolón was born in Puerto Rico in 1951 in Comerío, a small town about an hour and a half from San Juan^[1]. From a very young age she was exposed to the arts through her parents, who would take her to theater productions, as well as her aunt who wrote poetry and taught literature^[2]. Starting at a young age as well she took ballet and Spanish dance classes and accordion lessons. She also became involved in the arts in school due in part to a government initiative, Arte en la Communidad, that required that schools have arts programs^[2]. In middle school Rolón's family moved to San Juan, and by 9th grade she was fully involved in theater classes and dance. During high school she won the award for best actress and was awarded money towards her first year of college^[2]. Having been involved in theater outside of class, she decided to go into psychology, and completed both her bachelors and her masters in that field^[2].

In 1973 Rolón moved to New York with her first husband, who was in graduate school there at the time. She was working doing social work and in her free time began to take theater classes to fill the gaps in her formal education. What is today the Clemente on the lower east side then consisted of a number of artists studios, and it was there that Rolon began going to workshops in 1977^[2]. Her teacher at the studio recommended she go to workshops at Alvin Ailey, and she ended up studying there for a year and a half under Nat Horne^[2]. Soon she began to devote more time to theater, taking classes and auditioning, and she found a part-time job with the Association of Hispanic Arts (AHA)^[2]. By age 27 she was divorced and had committed to doing theater full-time.

Career

In her mid 20's Rolón landed a number of roles with Latino theaters in New York, including Porton and Thalia, and was doing voiceovers on the side^[2]. By 1978 she was still working part-time with the AHA and had additionally found a job as an adjunct professor at Lehman College^[2]. However, creatively she began looking to branch out and start something on her own. She was immersed in political discourse and aware of the tradition of Teatro Popular, or street theater, and Teatro Campesino, and so began to think about making theater in those traditions^[2]. In collaboration with a friend she began a project to take stock of 100 years of Puerto Rican theater, from 1878 to 1978^[2]. After researching and reading numerous plays, they narrowed it down to nine plays spanning different decades. After rehearsing in friends' offices they had their first reading in a friend's bedroom for an audience of 10 people. This was the beginning of the Pregones Theater Company. Since then, Pregones has produced more than 80 pieces, 37 of which Rolón has worked on^[1].

Pregones Theater Company

Pregones Theater Company is a Bronx-based touring company that focuses on expanding arts opportunities to Latinx theater artists.

History

After their first small performance, Rolón was invested in starting their own theater company. She, along with Luis Meléndez and David Crommett, began to work seriously to produce the play collection, or La Colleción, that they had created. They rehearsed wherever they could find space and performed all over New York and the surrounding states, including small towns and prisons. According to Rolón, they were even in Philadelphia so much they received an award reserved for local artists^[2].

The initial impetus behind the Pregones Theater Company was to create collective productions and bring them to people outside the mainstream theater community^[3]. To this end they chose productions for their repertoire that would require minimal staging. As the company grew to include more actors and musicians, they decided they needed a more formal rehearsal space. By that time they had been working with a number of Bronx organizations for more than a year, and when given the opportunity to use an office space there they jumped at the chance to settle down^[2]. By 1985 the company was rehearsing in their office rooms and performing in St. Ann's church in a room they had renovated from a gym into a theater space^[2]. While there they produced many works, including Areyto de Pescadores (1982), High Noon/Al Mediodía (1983), Migrants!: Cantata a los emigrantes (1985), The Caravan (1986), and Voices of Steel (1990)^[4]. During the 90's the company grew and began many outreach programs, including the Visiting Artists Series, the Pregones Summer Stage, and curriculum development sessions, as well as collaborations with other theaters throughout NYC and around the world^[4]. As the company grew, so too did their need for a larger space. In the late 90's they relocated to The Studio and in 2005 they found their permanent home in a warehouse they renovated with the help of a $2.7 million capital campaign^[4].

Structure

Since its inception the company has been a collective project. There are three directors, including Rolón, a music director, and a collective of actors. Some pieces are more director-driven than others, but all include cooperative elements, and most are musical, necessitating that the music director be a co-director^[2].

Accomplishments

Pregones theater company has performed in over 400 cities in 13 different countries, although their main focus is the Tri-State area, and they have nearly 70 premiers to their credit^[5]. The company has partnerships with many different theater companies, including the Roadside theater in Kentucky, The Yuyachkani Collective in Peru, and the Worldwide Virtual Theater Carrousel cohort in Peru, Belgium, South Africa, and Slovakia, among others^[5]. They have received a number of different awards, including the leading national ensemble theater designation from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Primary Cultural Institution Designation from the New York State Council of the Arts, the New York State Governor's Arts Award, and the Culture and Humanities Award from the Center for Puerto Rican Studies^[6].

Merger with the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre

In 2016 Pregones completed a merger with the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (PRTT) in order to expand the reach of both of their programming^[7]. The theaters now function as one institution, although they retain their previous names. Since the early 2000s the two theaters have done many collaborations and co-productions, and the Rolón has worked extensively with the founder and director of PRTT, Miriam Colón^[7][2].

Projects and collaborations

• 21 Islands International Short Film Fest (Dec. 9-11, 2016)^[8]
• Elders Share The Arts (ESTA)^[9]
• New York Shakespeare's Festival Latino^[10]
• Teatrofestival^[10]

Awards and recognition

• 2008 USA Fontanals Fellow^[11]
• 2008 El Diario/La Prensa Outstanding Woman of the Year^[12]
• 2010 Bronx Influential Women^[13]
• 2011 APPLAUSE award, Bronx Council on the Arts{{cn|date=December 2018}}
• 2018 Doris Duke Artists Award^[14]
• United States Artists (USA) board of directors^[11]

References

• Bramwell Additions Historic District
• Bramwell baronets
• Bramwell Baronets
• Bramwell Cook
• Bramwell Historic District
• Bram Wiertz
• Bram (wrestler)
• Bram Zanella
• Brana
• Brana Crncevic
• Brana Crnčević
• Branagan
• Branagan Cup
• Branagh, Kenneth
• Brana (mountain)
• Branan Field/Chaffee Road
• Branan Field Road
• Branany
• Branas
• Brana Vlasic
• Bran, Braşov
• Branca Beach
• Branca de Gonta Colaco
• Branca de Gonta Colaço
• Brancaleone (RC)