CLATA is supported by
Over the next few months, our fellows and semifinalists will participate in a series of workshops, mentorship meetings with Dr. Rey Andújar, and check-ins led by both CLATA and the fellows themselves. Rooted in the principles of asesoramiento y acompañamiento—guidance and accompaniment—the program centers artistic process while fostering collaboration, exchange, and community.
Panelistas
Emily Masó is a member of Colectivo El Pozo. In 2014, she began as a translator and subtitles operator for El Pozo's performances. Since then she has continued to participate as a translator, producer of plays, co-writing scripts for plays and screenwriting for El Pozo film projects. She has even acted in a moment or two. Emily is a Spanish Instructor at Northeastern Illinois University. She is the daughter of Cuban immigrants and proudly from the city of Chicago.
José Rochel is a playwright and theatre maker whose work explores identity, memory, desire, and cultural legacy through a deeply human and Latinx lens. His playwriting experience spans original works and contemporary adaptations that merge text, music, and movement as essential storytelling elements. Among his most notable works is “Contra Ritmo”, a musical co-written with Pachy Félix, which intertwines dance and music to tell a story of forbidden love between two worlds that cannot fully meet. He also co-authored He “Lied to Us” (Él nos mintió) with Félix, a work that examines intimacy, truth, and betrayal as driving dramatic forces. Rochel is the author of “Las Aguas del Silencio” (La Llorona), a contemporary and poetic reimagining of the traditional myth, and “Las Que Limpian el Espejo”, (an adaptation of The Maids by Jean Genet), recontextualized to explore power, oppression, and identity from a modern Latin American perspective. His play “Love Does Not Ask for Permission” (El amor no aprende a pedir permiso) delves into social and emotional tensions surrounding queer love, autonomy, and self-determination. He is currently developing a musical “The Trial of Dorotea” (El Juicio de Dorotea), a new work that continues his artistic investigation into marginalized voices, symbolic justice, and the stories that have historically been silenced based on 1940’s. José Rochel’s work is characterized by emotional depth, a strong physical and musical language, and a sustained commitment to creating theatre that reflects the complexity, resilience, and beauty of contemporary Latinx communities.
Instructor
Rey Andújar is a Dominican writer, performer, and scholar whose work spans fiction, theater, and cinema. He is the author of the novels El germen de lo fatal, Los gestos inútiles (winner of the 2014 ALBA Latinoamericano Novel Prize in Cuba), and Candela, recipient of the 2009 Puerto Rico PEN Club Award and later adapted for film by Andrés Farías Cintrón. The film has screened internationally, earning the Grand Jury Prize at the Biarritz International Film Festival. His short story collections include Amoricidio (FIL Santo Domingo Fiction Award 2006) and Saturnario (Ultramar Literature Prize, NYC, 2010). His performance piece Ciudadano Cero was featured at major theater festivals in Santo Domingo and Puerto Rico. An Artistic Associate at Aguijón Theater in Chicago, he has performed, taught workshops, and written the plays Adverses and La Gran Tirana. Andújar has written screenplays for the documentaries Isla de dos Repúblicas and Diáspora, and co-wrote the film Melodrama. He holds a Ph.D. in Caribbean Literature and Philosophy from the Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe. He has served as a Cultural Liaison for the Dominican Ministry of Culture and is an Associate Professor of Spanish at Governors State University in Chicago.