Student Ambassadors Selected for USITT 2020

February 14, 2020

Building additional bridges established from the North American cluster of exhibitions from Mexico, Canada, Quebec, and the United States, the International Committee invited three guests from Latin America to present at the upcoming Conference & Stage Expo in Houston. The call for entries in the Student Ambassador program targeted Spanish-speaking applicants for this unique opportunity to interact with their shared culture as well as a common field of interest in theatre. Three strong candidates emerged with clear connections to the three guests.

Rosa Cano is a senior at UT Rio Grande studying lighting, and will meet with Natalia Sedano, who was awarded the most promising student title at PQ 2019 for her work in scenic, costume, lighting, and production design. As Natalia is a little farther along in her career, Rosa anticipates she will have insights into how to integrate culture with theatre.

Damian Dominguez is a third-year graduate costume designer at CMU who has recently experienced a cultural reawakening and is now unapologetically identifying with his Mexican heritage. He will be paired with Jerildy Bosch, the PQ 2019 Gold Medal winner in costume design from Mexico who is focused on new techniques for creating texture to evoke sensations.

Joseph Villanueva is a freshman at the University of Incarnate Word in Austin and has a resume of off-campus experience in sound design. He will be meeting with Josefina Cerda Puga from Chile who is forging new frontiers in the relationships between scenery and spectator that transform the experience of performance through sound art design.

The students will meet their guests at the International Reception, co-sponsored by the Fellows, on Wednesday, April 1, at Marriott Hunter’s Creek. On Thursday the students and guests will have a private luncheon conversation to exchange ideas and experiences. The students will also serve as translators as needed for the guests’ public presentations at the conference. This is the true meaning and spirit of the Student Ambassador Program.