Pa’lante: Reflections on the TCG National Conference in Puerto Rico

The Theatre Communications Group National Conference, titled Pa'lante: People Practice Power, took place June 10 to 13 in San Juan, Puerto Rico; the conference's first fully bilingual edition and its first ever held outside the U.S. mainland. At its center was the word Pa'lante, a Puerto Rican expression meaning "onward," which the gathering tied to the relationship between art, community, and collective movement. Programming was built around three arcs: People, Practice, and Power. The People arc centered care, relationship-building, and the bonds that sustain theatre workers. In the Practice arc, participants explored practical tools, leadership approaches, writing workshops rooted in Latine, Caribbean, and diasporic traditions, and even the arrival of artificial intelligence in theatre work. The Power arc turned to theatre's role in building solidarity, shifting power structures, climate justice, the experiences of artists of color, and the possibilities of collective action. American Theatre's report shows this was more than a professional convening. Puerto Rican artists, diaspora figures, and U.S. theatre practitioners came together through panels, performances, local excursions, and affinity gatherings to discuss cultural memory, resistance, language, belonging, conflict, and the civic responsibility of art. Speakers including Quiara Alegría Hudes, Elisa Bocanegra, Rosa Luisa Márquez, Priya Parker, and Alan Jenkins gave the conference intellectual and social depth. In the end, Pa'lante emerges in this report not as a slogan but as an image of theatre as a bridge between the island, the diaspora, and the wider American artistic community.

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