Elena Velasco

Elena Velasco, MFA

Associate Professor and Production Coordinator of Theatre Arts
Specializations - Theatre for Social Justice, Acting, Directing, Physical Theatre and Youth Theatre

Elena Velasco (she/ella) is a theatre artist whose work encompasses performance, production, education and activism. During her 25 year career she has devoted her time equally between performance and residency work, predominantly in the Washington, DC area. An associate member of  Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, her directing and choreography credits include Convergence Theatre, Synetic Theater, GALA Hispanic Theatre, Adventure Theatre, Keegan Theatre, Imagination Stage, Mead Theatre Lab, Young Playwrights’ Theater, Capital Fringe, Source Theatre, Discovery Theater, and the Kennedy Center’s New Visions New Voices Festival. She has choreographed for Avant Bard, Theatre J, Mosaic Theatre Company, and Keegan Theatre. Ms. Velasco is a member of SAG/AFTRA, and has performed at the Kennedy Center, Theatre Alliance, NextStop Theatre, Discovery Theatre, Imagination Stage, and in several films, commercials, and TV shows. A dedicated educator, she teaches and creates theatre through the lens of community engagement in K-12 schools, continuing education. and bilingual creative youth development programs. Ms. Velasco’s artistry is always driven by her commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and access, exemplified by her work as Artistic Director and Co-founder of Convergence Theatre, a small, nomadic performance collective centered on social justice and grounded in decolonized, consensus-organized processes and structures. She has placed her background in EDIA in service to many organizations, including the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, Southeastern Theatre Conference, the Women’s Theatre Festival, and TheatreWashington. She currently serves as a board member for Educational Theatre Company, a committee member for AATE’s Leaders of Color Institute and new chair of their Professional Theatre Network, and has been a featured speaker for Boston Conservatory at Berklee, George Mason University, Hollins University, Montgomery College, and TheatreWashington. Ms. Velasco is the theatre production coordinator and a tenured assistant professor at Bowie State University. MFA in Directing, Catholic University. (www.elenavelasco.net)

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UPCOMING:  

Alma, Central Square Theatre (Cambridge, MA), February 2023; Mojada, 1st Stage, Tysons Corner, April 2023; In the Heights, NextStop Theatre, May 2023.  

Publications: 

Velasco, Elena; Majid, Asif. "Questioning Social Justice: A Dialogue on Performance, Activism, and Being In-Between", Routledge Companion to Applied Performance, Volume 1. Routledge Publications, December 2020.

Velasco, Elena. “The Bilingual Classroom: Teaching through Verbal and Physical Language.” Arts Integration in Education: Teachers and Teaching Artists as Agents of Change; ed. Dr. Gail Humphries Mardirosian and Yvonne Pelletier Lewis, Intellect Publishing, 2016.

Awards: 

Outstanding Faculty Direction, Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival

Bowie State University CAS Outstanding Creative Works

DCBX Veinte Community Award

Bowie State University CAS Young Faculty Award

Anacostia Arts Center Residency and ARCH Development grant

Southeastern Theatre Conference Professional Development Scholarship

CulturalDC Grant