Meet Annette Ramos, the Latina Storyteller who will make you smile
She doesn’t recall all the details of the story or even the name of the first play she saw, performed entirely in Spanish in the basement of a Bronx church, but Annette Ramos vividly recounts this very intimate introduction to the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre.
She was 7 or 8 years old:
“I remember the essence of feeling like I had found my home, I found the art which spoke to my heart and my spirit ... and felt that I could do that too, and that theater was a feasible place for a Latina, brown-skinned girl to be in.”
Around the same transformative time in her life, she would soon be exposed to the dazzling world of Broadway when her mother, newly divorced, found steady work cleaning theater houses ... with Annette and her three siblings usually in tow. There, she would cross paths with the likes of Liza Minnelli, George C. Scott and Katharine Hepburn, all who treated her family with dignity and respect.
Annette remembers her childhood in New York City as “rich in the arts,” and is filled with pride when she talks about her gratitude for her mother’s creative knack to connect her children to resources and activities that were free or low-cost.
From events at the Lincoln Center to Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, Annette says these experiences — created very intentionally by her mother to immerse them in arts and culture — reaffirmed her belief that she did, in fact, belong in all of those spaces. She would grow up to become an actress, producer, playwright and poet, making a name for herself along the way: The Latina Storyteller.
A connector like her mother, Annette is a consultant and engagement specialist and a passionate advocate for diversity in the arts in Rochester.
She has partnered with Ibero American Action League, Blackfriars Theatre, Latinx Theatre Commons and a variety of other clients and has served as Director of Community Engagement at Rochester Broadway Theatre League and as Education Services Manager at Young Audiences of Rochester.
Rochester Latino Theatre Company
Regarding herself an “artist turned advocate,” she works to secure platforms for up-and-comingLatinx* artists through the Rochester Latino Theatre Company (RLTC), where she is executive director, cultivating and developing the next generation of young people who can say, like she once did, “Yes, I can do that, I belong here.” (*Latinx is a term that is sometimes used to describe all persons of Latino or Latina descent.)
Ramos says it is her mission to enhance relationships and create synergy between cultural and educational organizations and the Latino community in order to make Rochester a city of the arts for everyone. “I have always envisioned that with more diversity and innovation comes more variety and viewpoints and vision and collaboration, along with that...yes, yes, yes — that guiding principle of improv! (The) collaborative process is evolving and transforming artforms,” says Ramos.
Stephanie Paredes, Co-Artistic Director of Rochester Latino Theatre Company, founded the company with Ramos in 2011 and shares in the efforts to highlight the Latino experience through theatre. Paredes is thankful for her partner’s vibrant energy, and spark: “Between Annette’s passion, experience in theatre, and love of the arts, RLTC has been able to be involved in the community in more ways than I imagined on and off stage. She’s the heart of RLTC. I love her and her undying dedication not only to RLTC, but the Rochester community. Rochester is lucky to have her and so am I.”Wearing her RLTC hat, Ramos forged a partnership with Geva Theatre Center last summer for the Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights and returned this past spring as a consultant to make community connections for Geva’s world premiere production, One House Over, a timely story of an undocumented immigrant couple in Chicago.
“The irrepressible Annette Ramos has passionately connected Geva Theatre Center to a variety of influencers in our community over the past six months,” says Mark Cuddy, Artistic Director. “She has helped us welcome Latinx leaders, residents, and arts advocates to our building. She has also represented Geva and our core values at many important external events. We are proud to have contracted Annette as our first Community Connector.”
Ramos’ work is also focused on providing resources as a teaching artist, seeking to welcome especially the new wave of residents who have relocated to Rochester following Hurricane Maria. Through her offerings of dynamic performances and workshops as a master storyteller, she integrates art into education, weaving in themes of diversity, environmental conservation, and even social justice, as highlighted in her portrayal of Maria Lopez.
Maria was a young woman who came to Rochester from Puerto Rico in the summer of 1967 — the height of the civil rights movement, decided to register to vote but was denied of her right to do so. Ramos brings stories like Maria’s to life in the Rochester City School District, recreation centers, libraries, and wherever she is called to teach. “If we don’t know our history, we lose that sense of groundedness. I want to feel grounded in knowing the history here and representing that,” she explains.
Ramos, who moved to Rochester in 1996 by way of Los Angeles, has mentored dozens of young artists throughout the years and will tell you that her greatest joy is reconnecting with students whose lives she impacted. Her work with countless organizations throughout the years including the Puerto Rican Parade, Latinas Unidas, LaCumbre, and the YWCA has earned her numerous awards and she is regarded as a bridge builder and arts leader in the community. She has served on the boards of the Arts and Cultural Council for Greater Rochester, Latinas Unidas and the Joseph Avenue Arts and Culture Alliance, to name a few.
Ramos is busier than ever during Hispanic Heritage Month (observed annually from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15). She is coming off a successful run of Anna in the Tropics (a joint production of Rochester Latino Theatre Company and Blackfriars Theatre which included an all Latinx cast), the next major event she is involved with is the Upstate Latino Summit, set for Wednesday, Oct.17 at the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center. Now in its 11th year, the Summit, organized by Ibero American Action League and the City of Rochester, offers an opportunity and platform to discuss and address the challenges and issues facing the Latino community .Moving from one project to the next, Ramos keeps the spotlight on her biggest hopes for Rochester. It is the second most populous city for Latinos in New York state, envisioning the city “rich with murals and public art, complete with a Latinx community center attracting artists from all over the world, with a designation as an international hub for Latinx art and the center and cornerstone for Upstate New York, and maybe even Canada, why not?” she suggests.
Despite her endeavors in the community, Annette will tell you that her life-long work is not her legacy, but rather her gift and contribution to the city she has come to call home, and she pledges to continue to make connections and create a path forward, “So that generations can walk and build a ‘Boricua walk of fame,’ right here in Rochester.”
Tiana Stephens is a freelance writer living in the Rochester area.