TeatroStageFest’s Conference:

Brazil’s unique arts funding model
and the launch of the first institutional partnership between SESC-São Paulo and Latino International Theater Festival of New York, Inc.

With major support from the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation & SESC-Sao Paulo

Monday, June 13 @ 6:30 PM
Americas Society - 680 Park Ave.

Introductory Remarks: Susana Tubert, Executive Director, Latino International Theater Festival of New York, Inc.
Panel Speakers: Danilo Santos de Miranda, Regional Director of SESC-SP and  Margaret Ayers, President of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation
Moderator: Larry Rohter, Author of “Brazil on the Rise” and Journalist at The New York Times
Conference Host: The Americas Society

The Fifth Anniversary Edition of TeatroStageFest is proud to announce the launch of the first institutional partnership between Latino International Theater Festival of New York, Inc. (LITF/NY) and the Social Service of Commerce (SESC), the leading national presenter of Arts and Culture in Brazil.

This inaugural LITF/NY – SESC-SP International Cultural Engagement Partnership (ICEP) will enable three Theater, Dance and Music companies featured at TeatroStageFest 2011 to travel together to Brazil to perform, lead master classes, and engage in TalkBacks with local audiences and artists. The three participating companies -- La Criatura Theater, Limón Dance Company, and Bobby Sanabria – will present a total of 18 performances and events in 6 cultural centers in the city and state of São Paulo.

In an effort to invest in action steps that will ensure long-lasting ties, TeatroStageFest’s Conference will engage audiences in examining the need to develop new arts funding mechanisms like ICEP, in order to further international exchange amongst artists and audiences of all backgrounds. It will also provide an introduction to the unique and successful practices of the SESC model which incentives and democratizes access to a thriving arts and culture movement that is enjoyed by millions of Brazilians annually. (Read more about ICEP and SESC.)

U.S. Latino Artists scheduled to perform in Brazil
at SESC-Sao Paulo centers:

The Orphans - La Criatura Theater asdasda Jose Limon Dance Company

Bobby Sanabria - Quarteto "Ache"

 

ICEP Principal Funders

 

Presenting Partner	Cultural Sponsor

 

About the LITF/NY – SESC-SP International Cultural Engagement Partnership (ICEP)

In October 2010 a number of meetings were held between Margaret Ayers, President of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation (RSCF), and Susana Tubert, Executive Director of the Latino International Theater Festival of New York, Inc. (LITF/NY), the non-profit organization that presents the annual TeatroStageFest. Their discussions centered on the need to create new networks for the advancement of cultural diplomacy that would enable artists in the United States to perform in other countries, especially in the underserved region of Latin America.

This being a key priority of the RSCF, Susana Tubert reached out to Danilo Santos de Miranda, Regional Director of SESC cultural centers in the state of São Paulo, and Brazil’s most visionary cultural leader. Mr. Miranda and Aurea Goncalves, International Advisor SESC-SP, had initiated discussions with Ms. Tubert on potential avenues of collaboration when they first met at the Iberian-American Mirada Theater Festival held in the city of Santos in early 2010. Eventually, a strategic institutional alliance took shape and thanks to the support of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, audiences in Brazil will experience the unique perspectives of New York Latino artists featured at TeatroStageFest in the Fall of 2011.

About the Social Service of Commerce (SESC)

Brazil’s unique arts funding model was institutionalized in the 1940’s and gave birth to SESC cultural centers across the country. SESC continues to be funded today mainly by Brazilian commerce and service industries through a mandatory tax law passed in 1946 which dictates that every company pay 1.5% of its total payroll into the SESC Fund. SESC- São Paulo alone has the highest annual operating budget of 1 billion Reais, approximately US$598 million.

The vast majority of the constituency SESC serves is comprised of laborers working in commerce, trade and service industries, their families and dependents, as well as retirees and the unemployed, all of whom are eligible for free membership to SESC. The rest of the population is charged an annual membership fee of US$32. SESC is made up of over 500 centers and mobile units that provide arts and culture, sports, education and recreation programming featuring thousands of local and foreign artists in performance series in Music, Dance and Theater, art exhibits and cutting-edge festivals year-round.