Award Concepcion Arenal

Alicia Kaplan

Alicia Kaplan (Actress, Dancer, Director, Choreographer, Teaching Artist, Producing Artistic Director, Cultural Activist): Alicia began her multifaceted career as a child and a ballet dancer in Venezuela. There she studied ballet with Lidija Franklin and Nina Novak, and acting with Paul Antillano. In New York she studied with Sonia Moore at the Center for Stanislavsky Art and with Uta Hagen at H.B. Studios. Her dance studies continued with María Swoboda, Luigi, and Merce Cunningham, among others. Since then she has appeared as an actress and/or dancer in 260 productions, including theater, film, television, broadcasting, and commercials in English and Spanish in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, and Spain. In 1992 Alicia founded Danisarte, a not-for-profit bilingual production company whose mission is to develop original productions in English and Spanish with the goal of increasing understanding among people of many cultures and nations and develop and showcase the talents of minority artists. As an artistic incubator Danisarte and Alicia as its Producing Artistic Director, helped to develop, directed, and produced over 50 plays. A member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors' Equity, Alicia has received numerous humanitarian and artistic awards from various entities and countries. They included SAG's prestigious Screen Actor Guild's Joseph C. Riley Service Award, the French Diplôme de Médaille d’Argent from the Société Académique d’Education et D’Encouragement, the Palmas de Oro Award, the Aplausos Award. and several awards as an Actress, Director, and Producer from the Association of Latin Entertainment Critics of New York (A.C.E.).
In 2020 Danisarte, under the guidance of Producing Artistic Director Alicia Kaplan, became the first theatrical company to produce a virtual theatrical festival "Lorca Lives/Lorca Vive" during the world-wide pandemic.