LAMC Presents Latino Theater Company Experience Class
Spring semester course will be taught by acclaimed director José Luis Valenzuela
New Students Must First Complete Online Application Here
Los Angeles Mission College is honored to announce a groundbreaking partnership with the award-winning Latino Theater Company and their Artistic Director and Board President, Jos Luis Valenzuela.
This new partnership will provide students districtwide with a world-class education in dramatic arts. The Theater 285 – Directed Study course being taught by theatrical legend and UCLA Emeritus Distinguished Professor Valenzuela, allows students at any of the nine LACCD colleges to learn from an iconic director and attend performances at the Los Angeles Theatre Center on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles.
“The District is deeply appreciative of this partnership of the Latino Theater Company and the generous spirit of Professor Valenzuela,” said LACCD Board President Gabriel Buelna. “This will be a truly special course that highlights so much of what the LACCD and Los Angeles are all about, and will provide world-class teaching to an extremely deserving student body.”
The course will be offered as an in-person/virtual hybrid course during the Spring 2022 semester, with classes every Tuesday between April 11 and June 6 from 6 pm to 8 pm. Lectures will be conducted in person and online, with plays and performances held at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. The Latino Theater Company received critical funding to expand its artistic reach to diverse audiences through a 2019-20 state budget request by Senator Maria Elena Durazo, a longtime champion of arts education and community colleges.
“Los Angeles is at the intersection of arts, entertainment and cultural diversity. This creative partnership is exactly the type of synergy needed to enrich our communities through the arts, especially as we learn to live with the pandemic,” said Los Angeles Community College District Chancellor Francisco C. Rodriguez, Ph.D. “This is a wonderful partnership for Los Angeles Mission College, and I want to thank Senator Maria Elena Durazo for her vision and support in providing this unique opportunity to students across the district.”
The first-of-its-kind class is offered in person as Section 28049 and online as Section 27213. It is based at Los Angeles Mission College but offered on a space-available basis to all interested students districtwide and throughout the County.
“The arts are a critical part of our goal at Los Angeles Mission College to educate the whole student,” said Los Angeles Mission College President Armida Ornelas, Ph.D. “Community college students aspiring to a career in film or theater typically do not get access to legends like Professor Valenzuela, and I am personally honored that Mission College was chosen to host this program.”
The course will be taught by Valenzuela, an acclaimed director of film and theater and tenured professor at the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television. He is the creator of the Latino Theatre Company at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, and the Latino Theater Initiative at the Mark Taper Forum. Valenzuela’s recent works include Solitude by Evelina Fernandez (LATC), La Victima by El Teatro de La Esperanza (LATC), and La Virgen de Guadalupe, Dios Inantzin (Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral) — all produced by the Latino Theater Company.
“It is my absolute honor and pleasure to be able to work with the community college students who will become the next generation of leaders in Los Angeles. I hope this course will inspire the students to understand their cultural and historical contributions to American society.”
Current LACCD students interested in registering for this class must log in to the Student Portal.
New students must complete the online application here.