CAROLINA PILAR XIQUE
Afro-Latina Theatre Artist - Los Angeles, CA
CAROLINA PILAR XIQUE
Afro-Latina Actor, Director, Producer, Writer, and Nonprofit Arts Administrator
FEATURED PROJECTS
EQUITY FLUENT LEADERSHIP ACADEMY WITH UC BERKELEY HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS (2023)
Through the advocacy of The Music Center, especially generous Board Member, Jennifer M. Walske, Carolina Pilar Xique was given the opportunity to attend the Equity Leadership Academy at UC Berkeley in November of 2023. Through this program, Carolina Xique received a certificate in Equity Fluency.
"One of my favorite parts about my job (and about life in general) is having fruitful, conversations about the questions that are difficult and, oftentimes, uncomfortable to answer. That's why Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Access (DEIA) in the workplace has always been important to me in any role I've taken on in my career, and in my personal work as a theatre artist & activist. The Equity Fluent Leadership Academy not only affirmed so many of the conversations our Los Angeles arts community has been working toward since well before the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, but also reminded me that empathy is the catalyst & motivator toward a more equitable society.
One of my favorite notes that I took from our short two days together: "Instead of getting defensive, see anger as an unmet need."
The work in diversity, equity, inclusion, & access in the workplace never stops. Grateful for this program and these people that I learned so much from." - Carolina Pilar Xique
AFROLATINES IN LOS ANGELES PANEL AT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY (2023)
In October of 2023, Carolina Pilar Xique was invited to speak at the AfroLatines in Los Angeles panel at Loyola Marymount University to discuss her experience as an AfroLatina theatre artist and the work she does to bring more AfroLatine representation in Los Angeles. The panel included a lively Q&A with LMU students who were deeply engaged in the discussion.
"Being an AfroLatine theatre artist in LA has always felt like such a niche topic/experience for me, but these spaces always remind me that our experiences are relatable, that Latinos come in all shapes, races, sizes, & ethnicities, and that new generations are leading the way toward a more equitable future where all cultures have space. I’m so excited to see these young students (although I feel like I was just in their shoes - AH!) take this knowledge and give it to those who need it." - Carolina Pilar Xique
Carolina would like to thank Dr. Daphnie Sicre for the invitation and for always sharing opportunities for more AfroLatina representation in the arts, and the LMU College of Communication and Fine Arts for facilitating this vital event.
WOCA'S LEADERSHIP THROUGH MENTORSHIP PROGRAM 2023 COHORT
Carolina Pilar Xique is one of 10 mentees chosen for the 2023 Women of Color in the Arts' (WOCA) Leadership Through Mentorship Program. In this yearlong program, Carolina met monthly with her esteemed mentor, AnaMaria Correa, to develop her short- & long-term goals as both an artist & arts administrator. She also met monthly with her cohort to discuss tools, strategies, and practices to maintain healthy work-life-art balance, stand in her power as a woman of color in leadership roles, and sustain the important work that drives her passions. After this program, Carolina experienced a year of immeasurable growth as a person, artist, and arts administrator.
CAC-SPONSORED WORKSHOP READING OF WILBER'S DREAM (2022) BY CAROLINA PILAR XIQUE
The California Arts Council awarded Carolina Pilar Xique with the Individual Artist Fellowship Grant of $5000 to produce the by-invitation-only workshop reading of a play written by Carolina titled "Wilber's Dream." The workshop reading was held at Thymele Arts in Hollywood on September 24th, 2022. This piece-in-progress, which is based on true life events, is about a young Cuban-Mexican woman, Camila, who gets the call that her and her sister‘s father, who has been absent most of their lives, is dying in Tucson. Camila drops everything to handle her dad‘s final rights and to try to make amends for the years lost. In her visit she discovers who her dad truly was and solves the mystery of a missing 1978 Mustang. It’s a story about generational, racial, and immigrant trauma that’s embedded in Latinidad, the capacity of familial love, and questions how far one will go to find the truth. The workshop reading included Cuban snacks and coffee, a full reading of the play, and an hour-long talkback to contribute to Carolina's second part of the writing process.
The cast for this reading included Barbara Vides, Alexis Malespin, Minerva Gracia, Julio Hanson, Ryan Virtucio, Teddy Alexis Rodriguez, Tom Trudgeon, and Stephanie Shelfer Lopez, with stage directions read by Natalia Caraballo. Directed by Celia Mandela Rivera and Stage Managed by Nico Parducho. Co-Produced by Victoria Melkonyan. Talkback Moderated by Tahirih Moeller.
Because of the California Arts Council's generosity, the workshop reading was able to pay for the venue, light snacks, and all collaborators' stipends.
LAFPI INTERVIEW: WE HAVE SPACE -- DESERT STORIES FOR LOST GIRLS (2022)
Carolina Pilar Xique serves as Communications Team Member for Los Angeles Female Playwrights' Initiative since the Summer of 2019. Her most recent interview for LAFPI, she interviewed playwright, Lily Rushing, and director, Sylvia Cervantes Blush, before the West Coast premiere of "Desert Stories for Lost Girls," produced by Native Voices, in partnership with the Latino Theatre Company. When 18-year-old Carrie moves in with her grandmother, she is thrown into a world of memory and mystery that unearths her family’s indigenous Genízaro identity — shining a light on a dark, bloody and little-known period in the history of the American Southwest.
NEGRA BY JULIO HANSON, AT THE ROBEY THEATRE COMPANY (2022)
Carolina Pilar Xique was casted in an ensemble role for the 2022 Paul Robeson Theatre Festival's staged reading of the musical "Negra" by Julio Hanson, directed by Daphnie Sicre.
Negra (named Amelia at birth) is a story about a young 17-year-old Afro-Panamanian woman coming full circle from a place of strength to defeat to inner growth. Negra’s dream of making her people proud is a journey of self-discovery colored with calypso, tropical, and Latin rhythms of the 1960s and 70s.
The cast included Alexis Malespin, Jhan Mena, Mariana Escobar, David Towne, Teddy Alexis Rodriguez, William Love Warren, Kit DeZolt, James Cane Walden, Gabrielle Okonma, Kyle Sparks, and Shavonne Grandison, with stage directions read by JC Caneda.
ISC: ART BREAK PODCAST
Created by Independent Shakespeare Company and their former Marketing Assistant, Carolina Pilar Xique, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Art Break has been a living link between Los Angeles & its theater community amidst stay-at-home orders. The podcast extends conversations about universal truths in Shakespeare's plays, theatrical performance, & relevant social issues beyond the stage, into the digital-auditory scape through storytelling, discussion, & social action. As theater’s societal role has been forced to be reimagined during the pandemic, how have our priorities change as theatre-makers? How can we serve the LA community when we’re forced to stay apart? How can we incorporate renewed values of holistic accessibility & social justice into this new era? This podcast has posed these questions and so much more.