In the summer of 1971, El Teatro Nacional de Aztlán (TENAZ), an affiliation of nine Chicano-identified theatres led by the seminal El Teatro Campesino, which emerged as a creative representative of the United Farmworkers’ movement, gathered in Fresno, California for a convening to establish communications, share materials and launch summer workshops. Over the years, the TENAZ convenings grew, reaching international proportions until a final convening in 1990.

After the TENAZ era, the idea of a national convening of Chicano/Latino theatre-makers did not emerge again until 2012, with the launch of the Latina/o Theatre Commons (LTC). The LTC National Convening was held at Arts Emerson College in Boston, November, 2013. Since then the LTC has launched a number of initiatives designed to “transform the narrative of the American theater, to amplify the visibility of Latina/o performance making, and to champion equity through advocacy, art making, convening, and scholarship.”

One notable difference between the TENAZ gatherings of the 70s & 80s and the current LTC movement is the participation of women, where previously minimal, are now in leadership throughout the movement. What is behind this transformation? How have the feminist movements of the intervening years led to the development of Latina leadership? What other factors have promoted the impact of women leaders?