Embedded Files
Indigenous Voices: A Celebration of Playwrights and Composers
Dates: November 17th and 18th, 2025
Location: The Dramatists Guild Foundation, 520 8th Ave, 24th floor, New York City
Objective: To showcase and celebrate the work of Native American, Austronesian, Global Indigenous, Aboriginal and First Nations playwrights and composers, fostering collaboration, networking, and exposure within the theatrical community of New York City.
Organized by: The Ally Artists Group and The Eagle Project
Hosted by: The Dramatists Guild Foundation
Do you want to contribute as a volunteer? Please fill the form HERE!
FEATURED PLAYWRIGHTS AND COMPOSER:
FEATURED PLAYWRIGHTS AND COMPOSER:
Vickie Ramirez
Vickie Ramirez
Vickie Ramirez (Tuscarora) is a playwright, director, and co-founder of the Chukalokoi Native Theater Ensemble alongside Cochise Anderson, Irene Bedard, and Steve Elm. In 2009, she became the first Indigenous playwright to join the Emerging Writers Group at New York's Public Theater.
Vickie is part of the Inaugural Indigenous Writers' Collective at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and a resident at New Dramatists through 2027.
Her works have been showcased at renowned venues such as The Public Theater, Native Voices at the Autry, and Pershing Square Signature Center. Vickie's current commissions include The Ally Project for Seattle Rep and Six Nations: One Fire for the Inaugural Democracy Cycle Commission for PacNYC. In 2020, she won the NNPN's Smith Prize for Political Theater for Yuchewahkénh (Bitter), and she is co-producing Yuchewahkénh in Spring 2026 with Pia Wilson and Mona Mansour as part of Pool Plays 4.0. Partnering with TDEP Productions, Vickie wrote and directed Glen Reige 20 WP, which will be making it's broadcast debut on PBS in 2026. She is currently adapting Standoff at Hwy#37 into a feature film and Pure Native as a TV series with TDEP. Vickie also consulted on Amazon's Outer Range.
Her work appears in various publications, including Monologues for Actors of Color: Women, Monologues for Actors of Color: Men, Contemporary Plays by Women of Color, TRW's Short Plays, and Broadway Publishing's Smoke. Vickie is a member of the Dramatists Guild and PEN USA.
Dawn Jamieson
Dawn Jamieson
DAWN JAMIESON (Cayuga) is an actor/playwright. Broadway acting credits include Inherit the Wind and The Price. Other favorite New York roles were in The Frybread Queen, Wood Bones, and Miss Lead. Film credits include The Reawakening and Ivory. Plays she has written are Mangled Beams (native ironworkers at 9/11) developed at the Autry and read at the Public Theatre in the New Work Now! Series", Silent Quest (abusive priest hunt presented at the American Indian Community House) and Crooked Paths (Medicare fraud) developed by AMERINDA. Most recent is Mush Hole (generational trauma resulting from residential schools) developed by Yale University. Member of the Dramatists' Guild, AEA, SAG-AFTRA (serves on the National Native Americans Committee)., PAGES and AMERINDA, Thanks to Opalanietet and Joyce for this opportunity.
Danielle Jagelski
Danielle Jagelski
Danielle Jagelski (Oneida Cliff Red Cliff Band of Ojibwe) is a composer, conductor, and creative producer. She is the Artistic Director and Co-founder of Renegade Opera, Producer for First Nations Performing Arts, and Founder of Simmer Arts.
“Danielle Jagelski is a prime example of socially responsive artistry in the 21st century.” - I Care If You Listen
Her work has been performed at distinguished art spaces including Performance Space New York, Roulette Intermedium, The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and Green Room 42. Recent commissions and collaborations have been with Voices of Ascension, New Native Theatre, North American Indigenous Songbook, Colleen Bernstein- Percussionist, MUSE Cincinnati Women's Choir, Hear Us Hear Them, and the Sister Singers Network. Upcoming commissions include works for Portland Opera, Boston Opera Collaborative, and More Art.
As a conductor, Danielle is sought out for her execution of contemporary works. Recent conducting engagements include NextGen3 with Beth Morrison Projects, Ḵutulagaaw by Ed Littlefield, Missing by Brian Current at Anchorage Opera, Scalia/Ginsberg at Opera Ithaca, Dark Sisters by Nico Muhly, world premieres of Adam’s Run by Ruby Fulton and Garden of Alice by Elizabeth Raum, and guest conductor for the Manhattan School of Music Symphony, and National Music Global Culture Society at Lincoln Center. Upcoming projects are Waking the Witch by Ashi Day, Indians of Vacation by Ian Cusson at Edmonton Opera.
She is currently an Opera America IDEA grant recipient with playwright Rhiana Yazzie, for their new opera “Little Ones.” She has received grants from Opera America, The Plimpton Foundation, and Oregon Community Foundation, among others. She was a resident artist at the 2024 Berkeley Repertory Theatre- Groundfloor Residency, and has earned awards for her work in contemporary opera from the National Opera Association. daniellejagelski.com
FEATURED PERFORMERS
FEATURED PERFORMERS
CCE is a community of Igorots or Cordillerans residing in New York and the surrounding states, proudly representing the diverse provinces of ABRA, APAYAO, BAGUIO, BENGUET, IFUGAO, KALINGA, and MOUNTAIN PROVINCE in the Philippines of the Cordillera region.
Cordillera Cultural Ensemble
Cordillera Cultural Ensemble
Our mission is to honor and preserve our indigenous heritage, culture, and history, which we consider as precious gifts worthy of passing to the next generations. We are guided by our sacred principle to promote better relationships, unity, and cooperation amongst each member and with other organizations in the region. We endeavor to support our objectives through social and charitable work by partnering and collaborating with other government and non-government institutions in NY and the nearby states.
The CORDILLERA CULTURAL ENSEMBLE is an independent group dedicated to promoting the Igorot cultural heritage and history through ethnic dances and songs in our traditional native attire, celebrating courtship, kinship, and friendship, social gatherings, and festivities. www.cordilleraculturalensemble.com
STAFF
STAFF
Opalanietet (Co - Founder) is a member of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape tribal nation of New Jersey. Upon graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Opalanietet has performed in workshops and productions at such renown New York theatrical institutions as New Dramatists, LaMaMa E.T.C. and New York City Opera at Lincoln Center. In November of 2020, Opalanietet made history by giving the first-ever Lenape Land Acknowledgement at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC.
In 2012, Opalanietet founded Eagle Project, a theater company dedicated to exploring the American identity through the performing arts and our Native American heritage. http://www.eagleprojectarts.org.
Through his leadership, Eagle Project has collaborated with and performed at Theatre Row, the Public Theater, and Ashtar Theater in Palestine. In April of 2020, Eagle Project collaborated with the American Indian Community
House of New York City and First Nations Theatre Guild to create Native Theatre Thursdays, a virtual reading series of new Native work.
Opalanietet is currently studying for his doctorate in Theatre; Performance Studies at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center, and has been a teacher of Contemporary Indigenous Theatre; Performance at The New School in New York City and SUNY Purchase.
Joyce Laoagan aka. Joyce Lao (Co-Founder) is a New York-based multidisciplinary artist: a performer, screen and playwright, producer, choreographer, arts educator, and creator. A full-blooded Igorot ( Ibaloi and Kankanaey Mountain Province) of the Austronesian people, she is dedicated to exploring and researching the Igorot and the Global indigenous identity, drawing from a lifelong fascination with her ancestry—a subject not traditionally taught in schools. She has always desired to start a Global indigenous artist gathering and considers it a privilege to work with Opalanietet and other Native American artists for this event.
Her artistic practice, which now fully integrates her indigenous identity, began later in adulthood due to initial cultural restrictions in her community. She has since created numerous works spanning film, music, theater, and dance. Joyce is an active member of the Cordillera Cultural Ensemble, her indigenous dance troupe. Her passion for supporting fellow artists led her to establish The Ally Artists Group.
Joyce's commitment extends to social justice, arts education, and healing, with a particular interest in connecting the social-emotional aspects of the human psyche to the performing arts. She currently serves as the Program Manager of the Dance Education and Family Programs at The Joyce Theater, NYC.
Her background includes a pre-med, an MA in Music, and an MA in Arts Administration from Baruch College. Her training includes studies at the Stella Adler School of Acting, The Juilliard School (Vocal Performance), and HB Studios (acting). She is currently pursuing an MA in Dance Education at New York University. She is a member of SAG-AFTRA, Actor's Equity, BMI, Arts Education Roundtable and AIPP (Association of Interactive Arts Professionals).
Sabrina Morabito
Sabrina Morabito
Stage Manager/Rehearsal Manager
Sabrina is a native New Yorker, with years of experience in theater, film/video production, stage management and production manager. She is presently the Production Liaison, Coordinator and Manager at the Pan Asian Repertory in New York City. She has a degree in Theatre and Creative Writing from the prestigious arts institution, The New School. The skills she developed as a stage manager has been invaluable. Learning how to deal with people in a diplomatic, non-confrontational manner; broadening her organizational skills; and learning how to adapt to any situation -- has become essential parts of the 'toolbox' that she brings to all projects that she is a part of. She has been a part of Immersive Theater in NYC for many years. She works and help create non-traditional, audience-driven theater because it allows everyone in the room to create art and be part of something that is solely created by audiences.
Bekah "Bee" Lazar
Bekah "Bee" Lazar
Production Assistant
Bekah “Bee” Lazar holds a BFA in Theatre Production from the University of British Columbia and an MFA in Creative Writing from San Jose State University. Their work has won various departmental awards, including the Outstanding Thesis Award for their hybrid media novel-length thesis, "Hati," which explores political history, Philippine mythology, and generational grief within Filipino-American diasporic identity. You can find their work in Reed Magazine, The Lupa Newsletter, Tension Literary, EcoTheo Review, and Gold Man Review, as well as upcoming in SUSPECT and A Brand New Word in the End Drops Out, an anthology under West Trade Review. They are currently a submissions reader for the San Francisco-based journal, Vellichor Literary.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse