Rising YOuth Staff Rocks!
Rising Youth Theatre’s staff is comprised of youth apprentices, young adult staff members, and adult staff members. As a staff team, we work in a collaborative, horizontal power sharing structure, where major organizational decisions are made collectively.
Our Staff
Trini Lugo, Transforming Artistic Collaborator
Trinity “Trini” Lugo is latinx artist and is an transforming artistic collaborator for Rising Youth Theatre. Trini was first introduced to Rising Youth when she auditioned for the Light Rail Plays in 2016, and has been with the company ever since. Her arts include poetry, photography, and theatre. She will become a famous writer one day, and will hopefully star in movies. The art she creates allows her to express the world in her eyes, but also a way of sharing who she is in a deeper sense. She spends her time either losing herself in a book, or playing video games for a win. Her hopes for Rising Youth is that one day we will look back, and say "We did it". She also hopes that our work will impacted people, but especially help youth activate their voice and power.
Ty Muhammad, Transforming Artistic Collaborator
Thameenah “Ty” Muhammad is a Black {Afro-Carribean} queer artist and activist. They are a Transforming Artistic Collaborator with Rising Youth Theatre since 2017. She first started working with RYT as an ensemble member in the Light Rail Plays in 2015.
Ty is a multidisciplinary artist whose main mediums include: acting, dancing, poetry/spoken word, and visual art. They create art about their past, present, and future inspired by fantasy, social justice, Afro-futurism, sci-fi, and memes.
Her hope for the future of Rising Youth Theatre is that “the lives touched by the performances and content created by Rising Youth Theatre help ignite the fire within everyone to fight with peoples on margins".
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Sarah Sullivan, Producing Artistic Collaborator
Sarah is a theatre artist, a writer, a mom and a community member living, working & creating in Phoenix. She makes art because it’s how she makes sense of the world, how she builds connections and bridges between people, how she learns and grows. It brings her joy and it brings her into contact with the best people. And Sarah truly believes that it can make the world a better place. She hopes that Rising Youth Theatre never stops listening, learning and growing. She hopes that our work is always relevant and in response to the world around us. She also hopes that every person who comes into contact with our work, as an artist, audience member or community partner, feels valued and seen by us and our artistic practice.
Quinn Pursell, Transforming Artistic Collaborator
Quinn Pursell is a 19 year old theatre artist and second year student at ASU. He makes art because he thinks it is an important medium for us as a community to build the world we want to live in and to work within our values. His hope for Rising Youth Theatre is that we come out of this pandemic stronger and more equitable.
Julio-Cesar, Producing Artistic Collaborator
Julio-Cesar is a producing artistic collaborator, and has been with RYT for 4 years. Artistically, he is motivated by social movements and creates from a personal and emotional place. He hopes that Rising Youth Theatre can deepen the relationships with the community and expand our work artistically.
Xanthia Walker, Producing Artistic Collaborator
Xanthia Angel Walker is adventurous, loving, and conceptual. She is a loud-bellied laugher, and a larger than life imaginer. She is an artist, a colleague, a partner, a friend, a student, a facilitator, and collaborator. Xanthia is the person to call for a last minute road trip to the ocean. She is a cat lady. She is an adult accomplice, and learns more everyday about how to embody that fully.
Xanthia makes art because it is the best way she has found to be a part of the community, to make change, and to make more humanizing spaces. She believes art can hold a space where people not only see, hear, and understand each other, but can also dream together and do hard work together. She makes theatre specifically because she loves how it is live, embodied, shape shifting, blends multiple forms, and requires an ensemble in order to thrive. She also makes theatre because it is her belief that it can be a practice of shared power, and a process for investing in many leaders. Theatre is nothing more exciting to her than soul-stirring process and performance- in all the different ways that can look.
It is her hope that Rising Youth Theatre continues to learn more everyday about how to live our mission and purpose more fully. She hopes that we are always reflecting, expanding, adapting, shifting, and growing in our capacity to thrive and practice solidarity across all our relationships as an organization.
Sofia Fencken, Apprentice Artistic Collaborator
Sofia is a musician born and raised in Arizona! She is a student at ASU majoring in public service and public policy. Her favorite animals are dogs and frogs, and she likes to watch movies and play games with friends.
Sofia makes art as a form of expression. She thinks that art can be an effective way of communication and exploration of new ideas for non-traditional spaces.
Her hope for Rising Youth is that we can all continue to grow together as a company, leaving no one behind. She hopes that we can be genuine and transparent in pursuing our mission, and that we can make meaningful connections with our wider community!
Kate Haas, Financial Collaborator
Kate is a Phoenix-based theatre artist and Financial Collaborator for
RYT. She is also an animal lover, science nerd, and enjoys learning
new skills. Kate believes in the power of art to stimulate
conversation, empathy, self-expression, healing, and social change.
Her hope for RYT's future is that we continue our work in exploring
and engaging with communities and helping people tell their stories
through theatre.
Mariah Aguilar, Teaching Artistic Collaborator
Mariah Aguilar is a multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Phoenix, AZ. She is a recent alum from The Herberger Institute of Film, Theatre, & Dance at Arizona State University; where she received her BFA in Dance in 2018. She currently trains, and choreographs within the Arizona Dance Community, while also teaching for Rising Youth Theatre as a dance teaching artist.
She creates art as her sense of peace in the world. Art for her is a way of expressing, sharing, and voicing her stories and perspective on life. It also provides her with the opportunity to share and exchange with other inspiring artists.
Her hope is that Rising Youth Theatre continues to build and create opportunities for the youth that allows their voices to be heard and uplifted when doing collaborative and justice centered work.
Carlos Lara, Teaching Artistic Collaborator
Carlos A. Lara is a Latinx artist. He received his Bachelors in Theatre at Arizona State University. He has had the honor to work in his field of study for several years now. He is an actor and devising artist. Carlos continues to work in the arts because it is his passion and he strongly believe that arts have the power to change the world. To influence what we believe and how we see each other. As a Latinx artist, representation matters to him, a lot. It is important for him to be on stage and on TV to let others know that we matter regardless of color, race, or economic backgrounds. If he can do it, we can do it. Working with Rising Youth Theatre it provides him a platform to perform his art and collaborate with others while providing his expertise and giving the youth a platform for them to be able and voice their stories in a creative way.