Celeste Lanuza discusses creating your own path!

It is my greatest joy to introduce you to Celeste Lanuza! Celeste is a true triple threat and choreographer that has worked all over the country including stints at Radio City Music Hall, The Arizona Opera, San Diego Opera, Fort Worth Opera, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Old Globe Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, and Musical Theater West just to name a few. She has also performed internationally in China and Romania and has appeared in Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime and Fuego on PBS. 

But performing is only one of her many artistic talents. As a Director and Choreographer, Celeste has been selected to present a full production at the Kraine Theater as a part of the Fringe this fall and at the mecca for contemporary dance, Gibney Dance. She has also had work produced at the Gelsey Kirkland Theater by Synthesis Dance and will soon be presenting work at the Salvatore Capezio Theater in Manhattan Sunday, November 10th co-produced with Alison Cook Beatty Dance. She has been invited to present at the DZul Dance Festival in Mexico produced by Soloist Graham Dancer Emerita. Choreographic highlights include: Laguna Dance Festival, Lula Washington Dance Theater, San Diego International Fringe, University of California Irvine, University of the Arts, San Diego Dance Theater, Gigi Dance Company, San Diego School of Creative & Performing Arts, and Long Island. 

This year, Celeste will be taking on a position at Washington and Lee University as a full time visiting professor of dance. She will also take on the position of Artistic Director of W&L Repertory Dance Company. Celeste is an artist that has accomplished so much but is only scratching the surface of everything I truly believe she will accomplish in her career. The sky is truly the limit for this young lady, and it is a complete honor to have the chance to interview her! 

How old were you when you knew you wanted to be an actress?

I believe I was always an actress before I knew I wanted to become an actress. Throughout my childhood, I dealt with a humiliating stuttering issue when I tried to speak English which discouraged me to take acting. But because I grew up spending evenings in local equity houses seeing rehearsals and learning from their process because my parents worked in the theater on creative teams, I was inspired by other Latinx actors. As a child, I grew up dancing Flamenco in Spanish night clubs with my family and was responsible for performing piano repertoire for every guest that would enter the house but didn’t feel inclined to spur up conversation.

At my performing arts middle and high school, I saw predominantly white stories being told and unrelatable musical scores performed, which steered me away from studying theater seriously. I then saw movies like Frida and Selena and knew I wanted to transform and step into someone else's shoes. Then during my sophomore year of high school, I began exploring the theater world as a featured actress in musicals soon after acting alongside two influential females during my childhood, pop star Andra Day and my friend Broadway star Chondra Profit in middle school.

Although I didn't want to join a musical theater department for college because it felt so animated and inauthentic, because I come from a family of artists with careers in theater, dance, and music, and seeing opera, tours, dance, symphonies, bands, and ballet growing up, it was inevitable that I would become an actress.  

Are there any mentors in your life who truly helped you become the amazing artist you are today?

I've been blessed to come from a household of artists who understood the importance and power art has in shifting our society, and two major mentors in my life have been my mom and dad. Because my father is a researcher with a Ph.D. in Bicultural Studies in Education and my mother also finished her Masters in Dance Education, I have had a lot to live up to, and I've enjoyed the continual drive that I give myself.

My parents are still my daily go-to in regard to the insight I trust and unapologetic responses to my work and inquiries. Working with my dad on musical compositions has given me an avenue to grow as a singer-songwriter, and having my mom give input about my choreographic work has given me eyes that see beyond movement. Modern dance legend, colleague, and chosen family Donald McKayle was a huge inspiration for me during my MFA work and helped me find my voice creating dance theater pieces.

We are living in some unprecedented times in the world. For all artists (especially actors), it is definitely a time of uncertainty. What has your everyday routine been like during Quarantine and what are some things you do to keep your spirits up? 

I have made an effort to not have an exact daily routine, but rather a weekly routine of tasks I want complete, and following the needs my spirit is led towards has been a healthy approach. I’ve been meditating, praying, doing Pilates, ballet and modern classes, writing stories, lyrics, and music through piano improv, playing favorite classical Spanish songs, blasting music and dancing, choreographing, teaching, and creating collaborative projects, sitting by the east river near my place to renew my perspective of life and call family.

I've also rejoined my Ph.D. Low Residency program where I'm researching Performance Studies looking at the Politics of the Latinx Female Presence in the Performing Arts. The reading, writing, and having time to develop my voice as a writer have really been therapeutic for me. Because I've been performing and creating so much in the last 3 years since taking a break from my Doctoral studies, it's a blessing to return with the scholarship I had before and look into ingrained discrimination in performing arts towards people of color now with the experience of a career in the field also informing my scholarly work. The first month of quarantine was rocky because I was in a Spanish TV show as a quarter-finalist performing my original music and choreography, and all of the shooting in NYC and LA got postponed.

I then got COVID and was scared out of my mind especially because NYC was the epicenter for the virus, so when production started again in July, I didn’t feel safe traveling back to California after recovering since it’s been one of the hot spots for the pandemic. After going through disturbing symptoms and completely quarantining for a few weeks and surviving COVID, I was reminded of how valuable life is and that opportunities will come in the right timing when I feel it’s safe and when I also feel it’s the right thing to do. I've been enjoying every moment, and these NYC quiet peaceful days have been exactly what I needed. 

4.) Congratulations on your new position at Washington and Lee University! Dancing has always truly been a part of you! Are there any shows, roles, or performances that will always stick out and be near and dear to your heart? 

Thank you so much! It is truly God sent and a long time coming! After turning down a couple of part-time professorships that my heart wasn't led to, I'm happy I waited for the right opportunity to be able to commit full time! I missed mentoring and being at an institution of higher learning where I am able to explore with curious individuals and have the resources to be able to do so. As the only full-time person of color in the Theater, Dance & Film Studies Department, I am encouraging dialogue about anti-racism and implementing methodologies and curricula to represent all, especially as a woman at a university that has a history of gender inequality.

Because I come from a family of dancers with a mom and aunt who after graduating Juilliard, danced with NYC company Ballet Hispanico, ballet legend Nureyev, and modern dance legend Anna Sokolow, and an aunt who was a principal with Milwaukee Ballet, I was going to dance one way or another! Three roles that stick out to me are Duende in the opera Maria de Buenos Aires, Tiger Lily in Peter Pan, and Anita in West Side Story. The role Duende has opened a door for me to have a career as an actress and being welcomed into the opera circuit has been really exciting for me. Even after booking the Broadway On Your Feet Tour a couple of times then having the role Duende reoffered to me, there was nothing like playing a principal in this timeless opera as an androgynous character which I helped develop, performed at San Diego Opera and Arizona Opera, then later Directed and covered at the Fort Worth Opera.

This was definitely my favorite role yet because I transformed from a poor old woman to a corrupt pope to a voluptuous, evil, and fascist leader in the underworld. My favorite role as a dancer was Tiger Lily because I performed the Broadway revival choreography which featured contemporary ballet and a drum solo which I loved as a musician! My most valued time performing is touring the world internationally and performing my original work. A couple of music performances that stick out to me are when I performed a full set of my songs at the House of Blues San Diego mainstage and did a one-woman show at Feinstein’s at Vitello’s in LA with my dad. A performance that is very dear to my heart is the musical The Desert Rose which I co-directed, wrote. and acted in because it reveals the realities of assimilation into a new culture as a Mexican American.

It was destiny that I didn’t open my old email account to view an offer for a small Off-Broadway production with NY Theater Barn which ran the same dates because it truly was an unforgettable experience to produce a full production alongside NY veterans and seasoned actors with a sold-out theater in East Village Manhattan. Keep a lookout for upcoming virtual events with our musical!

5.) What advice would you give any young aspiring artists in these challenging times?

My words of wisdom for all up and coming artists keep creating, collaborating, and allow your dreams to be gigantic! It's during the most challenging times that we find true growth and resilience that will last a lifetime! I've been living on my own since the age of 17, and there have definitely been times where I was unemployed. There were hurdles I had to jump over and doors were closing.

At the same time, many other doors were opening. I just had to open my eyes a little wider! You realize the more you put yourself out there and do what you love, the more choices you will have and have the liberty to be selective as to which positions are meant for you at that moment in time.

When you allow yourself to fully experience the ride of learning what truly makes you happy, what you want to accomplish, what stimulates you, what inspires you. and what excites you, that is when clarity will fly into your life, and you will feel a sense of ease as soon as you embody the power you have to create your own path! 

To learn more about this amazing artist make sure you visit her official website at - https://www.celestelanuza.com