Josefina Báez papers, 1970s-2020, bulk 1985-2016
Collection context
- Creator:
- Báez, Josefina
- Abstract:
- Josefina Baez (1960–) is a Dominican-American multi-hyphenate artist and the founder and director of Latinate/Ay Ombe Theatre (est. 1986). She is a performer, writer, poet, dancer, educator, and self-described devotee. The papers contain scripts, programs, posters, notebooks, notes, newspaper clippings, binders, calligraphy, children's book illustrations, CDs, cassettes, textiles, jewelry, ephemera from Báez' travels, and photographs (including headshots, contact sheets, and negatives).
- Extent:
- 16.5 Linear Feet (17 manuscript boxes, 1 tall manuscript box, 5 oversized flat boxes, 1 tube box, 2 small AV boxes, one mapcase folder)
- Language:
- In Spanish, English, and "Dominicanish," with a few documents in Russian.
- Scope and content:
-
The collection is eclectic across genre and form and generates much visual interest. It contains eleven total scripts of Dominicanish in various forms, including a script that Báez annotated with her onstage bodily movements. Other materials related to Dominicanish include its published performance text, large presentation binders (binders with clear plastic sleeves), program notes, flyers, tickets, contracts, production photos, correspondence, CDs, cassettes, clothing, jewelry, materials related to its 10th-anniversary performance ("OM is 10"), and materials related to Báez' 2002 tour throughout New Zealand.
The collection includes flyers, programs, photos, and performance texts related to staged works for which Báez wrote, directed, and/or acted, including Am-e-Rican (1984), Lo mío es mío (1994), Nuestro Canto con Viva Emoción (1995), Apartarte/Casarte (1995-2000), Comrade, Bliss Ain't Playing (2008), and Levente no. Yolayorkdominicanyork (2013). It also contains posters, binders, notebooks, notes, photographs, published performance texts, newspaper clippings, CDs, and cassettes related to Báez' participation in international theatre festivals.
Báez participated in many conferences and lectures; she also performed readings of her work in various contexts. Many of these activities took place in the context of colleges and universities both within and outside of New York City. The collection includes materials from Báez' activities at colleges and universities, including extended visits to Pontificia Universidad Católica in Santiago, Chile. The collection also contains flyers, posters, audiovisual materials, and programs related to Báez' participation in conferences, lectures, and readings outside of university contexts.
Báez led a great number of workshops and retreats throughout her career, including International Ay Ombe Theatre Retreats in New Zealand, Chile, India, and the United States, as well as Performance Autology Retreats in the Dominican Republic, Spain, and the United States. The collection contains materials related to workshops and retreats led by Báez, including binders filled with retreat itineraries, notes, secondary source materials, photographs, correspondence, applicant statements, audiovisual materials, and posters. Báez' own participation in fellowships, residencies, and workshops is documented in the collection in the form of photographs, film negatives, binders filled with notes and travel ephemera, and correspondence.
The collection contains materials related to Báez' published works, including her illustrated children's book (Why is my name Marysol?), books, short stories, and hand- and typewritten notes pertaining to various published projects (both titled and untitled). Materials related to Why is my name Marysol? include mock-ups, paintings, sketches, pastels, and an annotated hardcover draft. Other published books (apart from her performance texts) include collaborations with Yolanda Velázquez and photographer Giovanni Savino. Exhibit-related materials include correspondence, program flyers, photographs, and film negatives primarily related to the Dominicaras Dominicosas exhibits.
The collection contains materials related to Latinarte as an organization, including: flyers, programs, newspaper clippings, and posters generally related to events and to the "España y República Dominicana" concert series more specifically. Other Latinarte-related materials in the collection include project descriptions, secondary sources used by Báez, general news features about Báez, Báez' "PoesiAlmanaques," Báez' bios/resumes/artist statements, and photographs.
Báez' unpublished and unstaged material also appears in the collection, in the form of hand- and typewritten documents and notes originally labeled as "unpublished writings." Some assorted writings arrived to the collection not specified as either published or unpublished, and these feature in the collection as "uncategorized documents and notes." Other unpublished materials include Báez' notebooks and notepads as well as some personal correspondence. Báez' calligraphy practice/training, as well as her visual art practice across other media (pencil sketches, ink, watercolor), also appear in the collection.
There are a considerable number of photographs in the collection that could not be easily integrated into existing categories pertaining to Báez' professional activities. These photographs include, but are not limited to, photographs taken by Báez (photos of schoolchildren and photos labeled by Báez as being "creative sources"); photographs of travels to India, Russia, and Mexico; photos of Josefina Báez only (headshots and portraits); photographs of miscellaneous creative projects that do not appear elsewhere in the collection; photographs of the Dominican Day Parade in New York City in the 90s; and photographs of Báez' various teaching gigs.
Audiovisual materials will be processed in 2026. According to the labels on the cassettes and CDs in the collection, AV material of performances and readings relates to: Dominicanish; The Art of Rice Traveling Theatre; performances at the Museo del Hombre (Santo Domingo), Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Santiago), and Universidad Científica del Sur (Lima); Comrade, Bliss ain't playing; and Levente no. Yolayorkdominicanyork. According to the labels on the cassettes and CDs in the collection, AV material of workshops and retreats led by Báez relates to: International Ay Ombe Theatre Retreats, workshops at the Pontificia Universidad Católica (Chile), and a workshop at the University of Delhi. The precise nature of the content of some AV materials in the collection remains to be determined through digitization, but likely relates to one-time performances, dialogues, and appearances at conferences and readings.
Báez shared in July 2025 that most materials from the 1970s that otherwise would have appeared in the collection were lost in an apartment fire. Báez often placed items in presentation binders (binders with pre-attached plastic sleeves) for each new retreat, workshop, residency, fellowship, or other contained experiences. In general, the binders have been kept in the collection; for ease of access, materials were almost always unfolded, visually reorganized, and/or partially removed from binders, such that it is not necessary to remove any materials from binder sleeves in order to read them.
AV materials comprise 42 CDs/DVDs, 86 MiniDVs, and 1 minidisc.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Josefina Báez was born in January 1960 in La Romana, Dominican Republic. In 1972, she immigrated to New York City, where she attended Brandeis High School and then resided throughout her professional adult life. Prior to the founding of Latinarte, Báez acted and worked as a program developer for Teatro Cuatro, Inc. in New York City; worked as an assistant to the director of the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre's School Unit; and traveled internationally to participate in theatre festivals and workshops.
Báez served and continues to serve as the founder and president of the Latinarte/Ay Ombe Theatre, which was founded in April 1986 and strives to promote Latino (and specifically Dominican) art, artists, and culture in a variety of genres and media (theater, visual arts, literature, music, and dance). Among the events organized by Báez through Latinarte included the "España y República Dominicana" concert series, church recitals in New York City with acclaimed concert pianist and Latinarte member Martin Söderberg, and a photographic exhibition entitled Dominicaras Dominicosas. Báez began travelling to India in the mid-80s after having met her spiritual teacher, Swami Guru Devanand, and was initiated in Mantra Yoga meditation. Báez expanded her artistic and pedagogical practice in the 90s, working as a writer in the Arts Council of the Essex (New Jersey) Area's school program and as a writer-in-residence in New York City public schools through the Teachers & Writers Collaborative. The children's book Why is my name Marysol?, with artwork by Báez' niece Jennifer Báez, was first published in 1993. Around this time, Báez collaborated with Dominican director Claudio Mir (who would soon direct Dominicanish) on the play Lo mío es mío (1994); Latinarte staged the ensemble work Nuestro Canto con Viva Emoción (1995); and Báez toured her one-woman performance-dialogue project entitled Apartarte/Casarte in homes and apartments in New York City. She continued performing at international theatre festivals and participating in workshops throughout the 90s, for which she traveled to Denmark, Chile, and Russia, among others. Báez first performed Dominicanish at Dance Theatre Workshop in New York City in November 1999, which has been recognized and celebrated as an influential expression of the Dominican diasporic experience and the subjectivity/identity of migratory in-betweenness more generally. She performed Dominicanish over a period of ten years (1999-2009) in a variety of versions and contexts, including but not limited to: at festivals; on tour in New Zealand (2002); at universities; and for a 10th anniversary performance-exhibit entitled "OM is 10" (2009). Báez was first trained as a dancer in ballet and then came to practice classical Indian Kuchipudi dance, which she later uniquely integrated into her theatrical work (as has been most widely recognized in Dominicanish). The first edition of the performance text of Dominicanish was published in 2000. The new millennium saw Báez continuing to hone her craft and guide others towards honing their own, including at: the APPEX (Asia Pacific Performance Exchange) fellowship; festivals organized through The Magdalena Project (an organization run by and for female theater-makers); the Art of Rice Traveling Theatre Troupe; and residencies in Spain and the U.S.
It was in the mid-2000s that Báez began leading annual International Ay Ombe Theatre retreats, which took place in New Zealand, Chile, India, and North Carolina, U.S., among others. These retreats formed the foundation for Báez' Performance Autology practice––and the workshops and larger community born from it––whose importance within her body of work she emphasized as recently as July 2025. Báez is a theorist and researcher in her own right, and the culminating product of this research is her Performance Autology practice. Báez defines Performance Autology as a "creative process based on the autobiography and wellness of the doer." Each creator/participant develops their own Autology, which is at once a creative and healing process. This process reflects a synthesis of the practices that Báez studied and taught throughout her personal and professional lifetime, including "silence, theatre biomechanics, walking, meditation, calligraphy, toys & games, world dance, music, literature, [and] theatre," among others (phrasing from Báez' website). As of 2025, Báez continues to work with longtime collaborators across various media, including staged works and photographic compilations.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
This collection has no restrictions. Audiovisual materials will be digitized in 2026.
This collection is located onsite.
Portions of the collection contained mold, and as a result some materials were professionally cleaned. Although everything can be used in the reading room, patrons that are sensitive to mold may still experience a reaction to certain materials.
- Terms of access:
-
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
- Location of this collection:
- Before you visit:
- Researchers interested in viewing materials in the RBML reading room must book an appointment at least 7 days in advance. To make the most of your visit, be sure to request your desired materials before booking your appointment, as researchers are limited to 5 items per day.
- Contact:
- rbml@library.columbia.edu