YOUTH PERFORMANCES FOR HIGH SCHOOLS
José Torres-Tama has been performing his
provocative performances in
high schools for 25 plus years.
He has performed at prestigious magnet schools such as
the Houston Performing Arts High School,
the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA),
Ben Franklin High School (New Orleans),
and shows for teens at
the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. NM,
the Overture Centerfor the Arts in Madison, WI, among others.
His dynamic blend of spoken word hip-hop poems, exaggerated characters,
and comedic observations forge an entertaining and accessible series
of theater shows that engage and inspire young audiences.
A prime directive of mine is to engage young people with my work,
and when high school teens are moved by the performances,
I know that I'm doing something right. ---José Torres-Tama
His high school shows are thirty-minutes long, and he engages teens in a post-performance dialogue about the aspects of the show that move them.
This Q & A post-show program can last another 20 to 30 mins.
He performs "Unplugged" versions of his various shows that are easy to stage,
and he shape-shifts from one character to another right in front of their eyes
to introduce "a magical realist aesthetics."
He performs "Unplugged" versions of his critically acclaimed solo,
"Aliens, Immigrants & Other Evildoers,"
"UNITED STATES OF AMNESIA,"
and his latest
"GrinGoLandia Remix."
José Torres-Tama is an award-winning performance artist,
published playwright, visual artist, photographer, journalist,
and he teaches portraiture drawing with
the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans.
As a visiting artist, he teaches creative writing for the stage
and performance art / theater workshops,
and has taught at
BROWN University,
Saint Mary's College of Maryland,
University of Rhode Island (URI),
Californian State University Northridge (CSUN),
Duke Univesrity,
among others.
Also, he has and taught poetry and creative writing for the stage at
the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA).