Данте Альберти запускает новый сезон в Центре исполнительских искусств Лихмана с акцентом на доступность и связь с сообществом Бронкса

Dante Albertie is no stranger to the Bronx arts scene. For decades, he worked to bolster local artistic offerings as the founder and director of Lehman Stages at Lehman College, using years of experience in community arts spaces he had begun accumulating when he was only a recent graduate of college. Now, as he embarks on his first full season as executive director of Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, located at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard W. and nestled within the campus he has long called his professional home, those experiences are shaping his plans for the future of the center’s role in the community. Previously, Albertie served as the center’s leader on an interim basis, joining when he said plans for performances were already largely in motion. But this season, the responsibility of planning was his to shoulder — and it wasn’t one he took lightly. Albertie described the season’s performance lineup as a “living, breathing thing” that continues to be subject to change. But already, community members who peruse its offerings are likely to notice the vast range of artistry coming to the center’s stage — from beloved Latin music performers and Lehman Center staples like La India to new performances geared toward children and young adults, such as Plim Plim Live and Princess Nokia. That eclectic mix is no mistake, Albertie said. The lineup is unified by his mission to draw in new audiences while honoring the center’s legacy in the borough affectionately known as the Boogie Down Bronx. In part, this means honoring the center’s place in the Latin community, “because they really feel like they have a home here,” he said. But he also expressed a passion for “diversifying” the center’s programming — both by representing a vast array of Latin music and cultural performances, as well as by bringing in new performers whose work resonates with audiences the center might not otherwise attract. “What we want to do is just let people know, this is your place,” he said. “The heart of this place is a nonprofit. It’s on a college campus. It’s about creating opportunities for people.” Such opportunities, he said, could be opportunities for young people and families to be exposed to performing arts, perhaps for the first time, opportunities for performers to take on a sprawling venue or opportunities for the Bronx’s diverse communities to gather and feel seen. Albertie’s role may be new, but his passion for creating such opportunities by making the arts accessible is not. When he got his official start in the arts management sphere at the Theater for the New City shortly after graduating from college, he quickly found that, for him, that kind of behind-the-scenes coordination was “the closest thing to, for lack of a better term, God’s work.” Not long after getting his footing in the industry, he had the opportunity to join an old friend in the creation of the Belmont Playhouse, where he was a co-founder and the artistic director into his early thirties, he said. Once his time at the playhouse came to a close, Albertie eventually found his way to Lehman College, landing a gig as coordinator of the Lovinger Theatre. It was in that position that he saw the opportunity to create something new on the campus. “The theater program has these wonderful spaces, underutilized spaces,” he recalled thinking. “Why don’t we combine them all and call it Lehman Stages?” Building Lehman Stages as its founder and director, Albertie said he found pride in offering stability to the performing arts programs at the school, while also offering accessible programming that “raised the profile” of the college. Years later, he said, while engaging with students on campus, he’ll hear that some of them attended shows there when they were little. Now, he’s looking to expand on those kinds of experiences, both by inviting young kids to the space, kindling a love for the arts early with programming just for them, and by bridging the gap between the center and the students who might mill past it each day without stepping inside. Performances aren’t the only way he hopes to draw community members to the center. In July, the center hosted a Salsa Under the Stars event, allowing attendees to dance, mingle and enjoy the center in a new way, free of charge. The event’s success has inspired Albertie to pursue similar community festivities centered on accessibility and connection in the future. He could have gone with a season packed with “no-brainers,” he said — performances that did well in the past and were sure to do so again. Instead, he hopes to use the lineup to reach a hand out to beckon new people into a space he hopes they’ll return to again and again. “What this is about is me looking,” he said. “Looking and trying to get a dialogue with an audience where they’re saying to me, ‘Yeah, I like that. Do more of that.’” Information about the season’s events, performances and tickets can be found on the center’s website, lehmancenter.org.