Carlos Cruz Casas

CarlosAlexis Cruz is an Associate Professor of Physical Theatre in the Department of Theatre. He holds an MFA in Physical Theatre (2007) from the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre where he studied a range of movement techniques including Commedia dell’Arte, Laban, Lecoq-based theatre dynamics, Alexander Technique, as well as an extensive voice training in the Linklater voice method.As part of his thesis project, Cruz went on to train Circus Arts and Chinese Acrobatics under the tutelage of Master Coach Lu Yi at the San Francisco Circus Center. He specialized in the disciplines of Aerial Straps (Sangles Aériennes) and Acrobatic Rope(Corde Lise), and developed his thesis on the study of the convergence between Circus and Theatre.

In the professional realm, he was a fulltime company member of the Do Jump! Dance Theatre, and Imago Theatre, touring nationally and internationally, and was awarded a Princess Grace Acting Fellowship prize in 2011 for his unique physical acting work with the Miracle Theatre Group, the premier Latino Theatre Company in the Pacific Northwest.

Out of the desire of creating new work that would perhaps reflect what now has become his main research area, he founded Pelú Theatre. Pelú is a company mainly interested in finding ways of telling urban stories, particularly through a Latino lens, in more physically engaging ways. He also developed a community-powered contemporary circus company/show, the Nouveau Sud project, from and about the city of Charlotte and the evolving concept of what is often referred to as the New South.