Magdalena Gómez is a jazz poet, playwright, teaching artist and the co-founder/artistic director of Teatro V!da, the first Latin@ identified theatre in the history of Springfield, MA. Her plays and performance poetry have been staged in venues that include: Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts, MA; Pregones/PRTT, NYC; INTAR53; Boston Women on Top Festival; and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, among others. She is an affiliated artist with Sleeping Weazel Theater, MA. Collaborators include musicians and composers, Taylor Ho Bynum; Abraham Gómez Delgado; and the late Fred Ho. Her award-winning solo show, Chopping, will be performed by Elise Santora at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater in October. She was the 2010-2011 NEA Master artist of Pregones Theater, NYC. She performed at the 2015 Lincoln Center Out of Doors, La Casita. ¡Alza!, Magdalena’s flamenco opera, is currently in development and in search of a home.