Theatre
Education

Cara Mía Theatre’s core educational programs for youth include after-school residencies, in-school bilingual touring productions, and on-site field trip performances at the Latino Cultural Center. All programs feature original curricula that celebrate culture and support the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards. Educational programs are built on a framework that emphasizes intercultural learning and relationship building.

Cara Mía Theatre’s flagship program, The School of YES!, provides after-school programming with multidisciplinary arts and learning experiences throughout the academic year and culminates in a month-long intensive summer camp. The School of YES! is free for youth in the Dallas neighborhood of Oak Cliff.

Since 2017, Dallas Independent School District has contracted Cara Mía Theatre to design multicultural arts education programs and curricula with BIPOC master teaching artists. Most recently, during the 2020-2021 academic year, Cara Mía Theatre provided a suite of six culturally-specific, bilingual virtual plays and classroom experiences that cultivate intercultural learning and relationship building among diverse students. This unique offering, designed specifically for the pandemic year, reached over 30,000 students in elementary, middle, and high schools.

This virtual repertory of bilingual plays and classes have created additional opportunities to extend its reach beyond Dallas to the entire country. In May 2021, Cara Mía Theatre hosted 177 students from South Texas’ Brownsville ISD for a virtual performance and an interactive post-show activity with one of our teaching artists.