Rosalba Rolón
USA Fontanals Fellow 2008
The Bronx, NY

USA Fontanals Fellow for 2008, is a performer, director, and dramaturge who worked extensively with Latino theaters in New York City prior to founding Pregones Theater in 1979, where she serves as the Artistic Director.. Under her leadership, the South Bronx-based Pregones Theater has built a distinct Latino musical theater repertory, and, in 2005, inaugurated its new facilities. Rolón and her ensemble have toured in more than 400 U.S. cities and 18 countries. Currently she is  collaborating with theater companies in eight other countries to create an international, virtual theater school. A new production of Brides (2008), co-created with fellow actresses from the Slovak Republic and Belgium, grew out of this process. Other recent credits include The Beep (2007) and The Red Rose (2006) for which she won various ACE and HOLA Awards. Her adapted works include The Wedding March, The Blackout, and Promise of a Love Song in collaboration with Roadside Theater and Junebug Productions, and which was published by TCG in an anthology of ensemble theaters. She is a Faculty at the Leadership Institute of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC), where she is also a member of the board, the Emerging Leadership Institute of the annual Arts Presenters Conference in New York City, and of 1stAct Silicon Valley/MALI in San Jose, California. As a member of the Theater Communications Group board, she serves as President of the International Theater Institute-UNESCO/U.S. Center.