Theatre Professor Wins 2017 Princess Grace Award

Assistant Professor of Physical Theatre CarlosAlexis Cruz has received a 2017 Works in Progress Residency Award from the Princess Grace Foundation. The award will fund a residency next March at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City. During his residency, Cruz will further develop his one-man show, Pícaro, a physical theatre take on the journey of a Central American immigrant.

The Princess Grace Foundation was founded in 1982 by Prince Rainier III of Monaco to honor his wife, Princess Grace (Grace Kelly). Its mission is to support emerging talent in theater, dance, and film by awarding grants in the form of scholarships, apprenticeships, and fellowships. This year, the foundation is awarding nearly $1 million.

This is Cruz’s second award from the Princess Grace Foundation. In 2011 he received a Princess Grace Foundation Theatre Fellowship Award.

In 2014, Cruz received the McColl Award from the Arts & Science Council (ASC), a $25,000 grant given by the ASC once every three years for the creation of a new work of art. With that grant, he established Nouveau Sud, an original cirque-style troupe that integrates professional circus arts with the “underground” dance, acrobatic, and physical theater languages that thrive within local ethnic communities. Nouveau Sud’s mission is to address social issues and challenges through this hybrid performance style. Cruz and Nouveau Sud recently presented Sûr: An Acrobatic Journey in Search of Safety, responding to current issues such as police brutality and immigration policy.