Hallowed Names & Hallowed Spaces
Welcome to the first ever Studio Note!
This is the best place to get all the tea and the inside scoop on what’s really, really going through our heads. And darlings, do we have some big news for you!
Teatro Luna / Teatro Luna West has gone through a slow and intentional transformation process as an ensemble, as a business entity, and as a values based organization, and we are launching an all-new chapter of our story, mis reinxs, and she’s called Studio Luna.
Ok, so wtf is Studio Luna and why are we changing our name after 22 years of existing as Teatro Luna and 5 as Teatro Luna West? Well according to Romeo & Julieta, “ It’s allllllll in a name”. We have had a long history of moving from being an itinerant theatre company to one that has wanted to put down roots and have a home. A cubby for every company member. A kitchen where we eat together. The semblance of walls that would make mainstream theatre take us as serious as we felt we were.
In 2013 we closed our second physical theatrical space-- located in Chicago-- when we decided to focus more heavily on touring-- which led us to the launch of Teatro Luna West our Los Angeles outpost. This took the shape of residencies at theatres we hearted like the Latino Theatre Company at The Los Angeles Theatre Center.
The next big step in our “space” journey came in 2018 at the Latinx Theatre Commons: Maria Irene Fornes Institute Gathering at Princeton where, although we weren’t looking for a new space, a casual conversation with powerhouse playwright director artist Josefina Lopez-- we ended up inheriting the lease from the amazing Casa 0101 -- check them out just down the street from us at.... The space we took over was formerly known as Little Casa.
We were thrilled to be invited into the neighborhood of Boyle Heights and we took the leap and opened our little space at 2009 East 1st street. We spent months transforming it and ruining all our manicures and earning some calluses we were really proud of--and though it was really hard to sustain, we were making it happen.
This space symbolized the future we wanted to grow into-- and our first audible original was born there which paved the way for our adventures into genres beyond theatre for storytelling. So when it was time to officially move on from Teatro Luna West and into this new entity in 2021, we kept coming back to the name Studio Luna-- a promise and hope of a future home for story, storytellers, and women of color leaders and change-makers.
So, let’s get down to it. Some of you who follow us closely might be wondering, where have we been since our 2021 Virtual Summit on Healing & Confronting Anti-Blackness in the Latinx Theatrical community or our video production with A Place Called Home, THE INBETWEENS? Well, just like the moon, you may not always see us, but don’t think that means we ain’t still working our craters off behind the scenes! Also, like the moon we honor our many phases of life. Ok, ok... that’s enough of the whole moon metaphor for now. But, it’s true, the ensemble formerly known as Teatro Luna West (formerly, formerly known as Teatro Luna) has transformed into Studio Luna. Because we have to keep moving forward, but not as the same entity, not as just a theatre company when we have been doing so much more for over a decade. We are interrogating where we have been, where we are, where we want to go and where we want to take you! Which is why the phases of the moon were essential to include in our new logo-- because our approach to change and transformation are what make us special in this field.
Like so many others-- the Pandemic changed what we saw for our future and forced us to look at both what was and wasn’t working. What needed to be let go of. What needed to be dreamed into existence. Who we needed to be in our next decade. We weren’t just asking ourselves if we should figure out how to keep our space, our ensemble was struggling in general. And our relationship with the theatre industry, which had been strained for years because of growing inequities and a lack of innovation on the forefront, was now feeling...non-existent.
Our ensemble continues to face innumerable challenges since March 2020, and although they have not stopped us... a lot of them have gotten us down, (like really-really down not fully over it yet). Like, when all of our equipment and electronics were stolen March 2022, and then a week later when someone shattered our front window. But, we don’t stop. We pause. Because we exist beyond our space, beyond our things, beyond a bank account, and this isn’t our first adaptation. We have been transforming since our beginning. Back in 2013, we shifted into being a Women of Color ensemble after being a Latina Theatre company for thirteen years. In 2015 we opened Teatro Luna West hoping to keep both ensembles alive, but we were only able to sustain the new outpost and slowly had to close out Teatro Luna and celebrate its history but reinvent ourselves anew. I'm sure many of you have had to do the same when you set out and moved to a new city chasing your dreams of a bigger, more exciting life that you wanted to build no matter what came your way or where you came from.
We are not emerging unchanged from this pandemic.
Like everyone living today, we had to transform to survive the last 2.5 years. We are sure you understand on a very deep, spiritual, body chemistry level that the inability to gather was big for us. We are an ensemble that thrives when we share space and our work is built on physically exploring the language of the body and spirit together. We gather, talk about our lives, share our stories and we deepen the relationship between our words and our physical bodies through movement. We literally hold each other as an artistic practice. As a sisterhood. We hold each other accountable, and we hold each other up.
And so, only being able to talk on the phone and see each other through screens was a big challenge for the development of our work. We had been pioneering building plays on zoom in a collaborative setting since 2014/2015. But when it became THE ONLY VEHICLE-- when the world was exploding around us, when we were hurting and scared, we had to hit pause. We had to adjust to the restrictions, we had to adjust to care for our individual and collective mental health as we navigated the unknown territory of this global pandemic. Eventually, we created online events, content, weekly write with us activities and even a virtual convening for Latinx Theatres to explore the anti-blackness in our communities and the way we perpetuate harm without knowing it. We took time off. We cried. We questioned whether we were artists even if we weren’t making and performing. We even adjusted to a new location in Boyle Heights, literally two doors down in the same building, and boy, does this new space bring in the sunlight. Transformation was afoot.
Since you’ve seen us, we also have new faces in our ensemble; the brilliant Monica Montoya joined our core Creative Producer team. This LA native keeps us on our toes, and this beautiful website you’re looking at is the result of Monica’s talents and don’t forget to download your free 7 day prompt book, also laid out by Monica. Speaking of art, set designer and graphic design guru Brunella Provvidente who resides in Arizona, has joined our team. Some of her artwork for our shows is already up, and keep checking back in as we drop some exciting upcoming projects!
We’ve spent the last year cooking, working slowly and intentionally with care for each other to establish what we want Studio Luna to be and omgeeee have we learned some lessons along the way, some very hard lessons. From Monica, we share the lesson of “low and slow, like Texas BBQ”. Some things take time, and sometimes stress and hurried behavior does not help. We survived a pandemic; we’re not here to burn out. Christina’s lesson to share is, when you get stuck, remember the things that brought you joy; creating is always healing. Alex carries forth the lesson: perfectionism will kill your dreams as they are happening. And Maya, always a little quirky, has learned a very important lesson: listen to the señora in your head that tells you to add iron bars behind the door (ain’t no one breaking into our studio again!).
As we emerge in this new phase, we have revisited our mission, vision, values and all the things that we are. And guess what? We have so many plans we’re dreaming up and developing. Audio projects, film projects, podcasts, books, events, trainings and more.
We are smart, goofy, passionate, crazy-quirky, badass women sharing stories and seeking collaboration with other women of color storytellers, artists, and creatives- is that you? If so, jump in our DMs! And if not, we’re just glad you’re here on our journey.
Enjoy the ride with us as we move forward into our 8th ensemble, now as Studio Luna.