Teatro Avante is a nonprofit theater organization located in the
Little Havana neighborhood of
Miami, Florida.
History
Teatro Avante, founded by
Mario Ernesto Sánchez in 1978, focuses on preserving Hispanic theater and culture.[1] According to Sánchez, Teatro Avante was created in order to provide a venue for Spanish-language art theater in Miami.[1] The company's first production was the play Electra Garrigó by the Cuban playwright
Virgilio Piñera.[1] In 1986, Teatro Avante began organizing and producing an annual theater festival, originally called the Festival of Hispanic Theatre. Four years later, the scope of the festival was expanded, and its name was changed to International Hispanic Theater Festival of Miami.[2] In its most recent iteration, the festival highlighted the theater of Peru and was presented in collaboration with the
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and the Teatro Prometeo of Miami-Dade College.[3]
Teatro Avante has also represented the United States in international theater festivals,[4] and it held a residency in 2009 at Spain's Festival de Teatro de Villa de Molina.[1]
Productions
Teatro Avante has produced a variety of plays ranging from classics to originals. Their productions debut annually during the International Hispanic Theatre Festival of Miami. In 2018, Teatro Avante held the world premiere of En ningún lugar del mundo (Nowhere in the World) by Cuban playwright Abel González Melo.
The
Teatro Avante collection is available at the
Cuban Heritage Collection,
University of Miami Libraries. This archival collection contains documents from Teatro Avante, including show files, a talent directory, photographs, and documents from the International Hispanic Theater Festival, as well as news clippings and reviews.