Center Stage introduces artists of high artistic quality from nations and cultures we too seldom have access to, and supports presenting organizations, increasing your capacity to host international work.

June-December 2025

Four Center Stage alumni ensembles will make independent month-long tours: Khumariyaan (Pakistan), Kurbasy (Ukraine), Mohamed Abozekry (Egypt/France), and Papermoon Puppet Theatre (Indonesia). 

Through performances, workshops, discussions, artist jams, and community gatherings, Center Stage ensembles engage with audiences and share their experiences onstage, offstage and online.

Center Stage is

• Uniquely positioned to engage diverse communities in a variety of formats – on stage, offstage, on screen, and online
• Affordable and accessible. International expenses are largely underwritten; management hurdles – from visas to taxes are project-managed.
• Prepared to respond to changing circumstances

Exchange is Key

• Half-week and full week residences (generally no single performance engagements).
• Activities may include hosted meals, sightseeing, jam sessions with local artists, and attending performances, as well as master classes, workshops, and student and public performances.
• Marketing, promotion, press, and social media campaigns draw artists, host presenters, community members, fans, and audiences together to boost access, outreach, and visibility.

new to center stage

World Culture in Context

A package of virtual educational materials about each ensemble, tailored to students in upper elementary through high school, will provide a better understanding of the context in which these artists thrive. Produced and distributed by the Center for Cultural Vibrancy (CCV).

how it works

Comprehensive booking and management provided by Lisa Booth Management, Inc.

• tour scheduling
• residency planning
• marketing, promotion, and contextual materials
• artist care
• travel arrangements including visas
• federal and state taxes
• production and backline coordination
• 24/7 tour oversight

2025 PRESENTATION FEES…

$20,000 per week plus lodging; $12,500 for a half week plus lodging

• inclusive of artist expenses, international and domestic travel, logistics, and staffing
• substantially underwritten relative to total tour costs
• may be reduced depending on overall composition of each tour and/or in-kind payments

…AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Host presenters provide venues, technical, box office and front of house services for performances and activities; local coordinating costs; local marketing and promotion; and artist hospitality (receptions, sightseeing, etc.)

contact

For information about hosting a Center Stage ensemble residency in your community, contact Center Stage General Manager:

Deirdre Valente 
LBMI (Lisa Booth Management, Inc.)
646.271.8765
artslbmi@msn.com

past presenters 

*Presented more than one Center Stage ensemble

Academy of Music – Northampton, MA

Akron International Friendship & University of Akron – Akron, OH

Alabama Asian Cultures Foundation & Samford University – Birmingham, AL

American Dance Festival – Durham, NC*

AMP Concerts – Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, NM*

An die Musik – Baltimore, MD

Ann Arbor Summer Festival – Ann Arbor, MI

Arts Brookfield – New York, NY*

Asia Society – New York, NY*

Asia Society Texas Center – Houston, TX

The Back Room – Berkeley, CA

Barn Arts – Barnard, VT*

Bar Zanzi – Oakland, CA

Baryshnikov Arts Center – New York, NY

Bay Chamber Concerts – Rockport, ME

Boom Arts - Portland, OR*

Boothbay Opera House – Boothbay Harbor, ME

Bossa Bistro/Multiflora Productions – Washington, DC*

Boston University, World Music Fest - Boston, MA

Brooklyn Academy of Music – Brooklyn, NY

Buckman Performing and Fine Arts Center – Memphis, TN*

Bucknell University, Weis Center for the Performing Arts – Lewisburg, PA*

Bumbershoot Festival – Seattle, WA

The Capitol Theatre – Yakima, WA

Cathedral of St. John the Divine - New York, NY

Cedar Cultural Center – Minneapolis, MN

Celebrity Series Boston/World Music CRASHarts – Boston & Cambridge, MA

Central College – Pella, IA

Chrysler Museum – Norfolk, VA

City Center, Fall for Dance – New York, NY

Classical Uprising – Portland, ME

Coker College – Hartsville, SC

College of the Holy Cross, Arts Transcending Borders – Worcester, MA

College of Saint Benedict & Saint John’s University – St. Joseph, MN

Colorado Mountain College – Breckenridge, CO

Connecticut College, On Stage – New London, CT*

Creative Alliance – Baltimore, MD

The Dance Hall - Kittery, ME

Dance Place – Washington, DC*

Dancing in the Streets & Casita Maria Center for the Arts and Education – The Bronx, NY

Dartmouth College, Hopkins Center for the Arts – Hanover, NH

Denmark Arts Center – Denmark, ME

Drom – New York, NY*

Double Edge Theatre – Ashfield, MA*

Duke University, Duke Performances – Durham, NC

Earshot Jazz Festival – Seattle, WA

Everett: Company, Stage, and School – Providence, RI

FirstWorks – Providence, RI*

Flynn Center for the Performing Arts – Burlington, VT*

Friars Club – New York, NY

¡Globalquerque! – Albuquerque, NM*

Global Arts Live – Cambridge, MA

The Grammy Museum – Los Angeles, CA

Great Plains Regional Puppet Festival – West Liberty, IA

Green River Festival – Greenfield, MA

Grinnell College – Grinnell, IA

Hambridge Creative Hive/Colony Square – Atlanta, GA

Helena Presents/Myrna Loy Center for the Performing and Media Arts – Helena, MT

Hibernian Hall – Roxbury, MA

Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital - Washington, DC

Howard University – Washington, DC*

Huntington Arts Council – Huntington, NY*

Indiana University – Bloomington, IN

Indo-American Association of Houston – Houston, TX

Inner-City Muslim Action Network – Chicago, IL

Intercultural Journeys - Philadelphia, PA

International Festival of Arts & Ideas – New Haven, CT

Irving Arts Center – Irving, TX

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival – Becket, MA

Joe's Pub at the Public Theater – New York, NY*

Johnson County Community College – Overland Park, KS

Joshua Tree Music Festival – Joshua Tree, CA*

Juniata College, Halbritter Center for the Performing Arts – Huntingdon, PA

Kelly-Strayhorn Theater – Pittsburgh, PA

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts – Washington, DC*

Lafayette College, Williams Center for the Arts – Easton, PA

La MaMa ETC – New York, NY

Le Mondo – Baltimore, MD*

(Le) Poisson Rouge/Ariz, Inc. – New York, NY*

Lebanon Opera House – Lebanon, NH

Levitt Pavilion – Dayton, OH*

Leeward Community College – Pearl City, HI

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts – New York City, NY*

Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center – Great Barrington, MA

Madison World Music Festival – Madison, WI*

The Markaz/Pico Union Project – Los Angeles, CA

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts –North Adams, MA*

Middlesex Bandstand – Middlesex, VT

Millpond Live Festival – Holyoke, MA

Monkeyhouse Dance – Somerville, MA

North Carolina State University, NCSU Live – Raleigh, NC

Numerica Center for the Arts  – Wenatchee, WA

Old Town School of Folk Music – Chicago, IL*

Outside the Box Festival – Boston, MA

Ping Chong and Company – New York, NY

Pinkerton Academy, Stockbridge Theatre – Derry, NH

Pittsburgh Cultural Trust – Pittsburgh, PA*

Portland Performing Arts Festival/One Longfellow Square – Portland, ME

Portland Ovations – Portland, ME*

REDCAT – Los Angeles, CA

The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts – West Palm Beach, FL*

Reggae on the River Festival – Garberville, CA

Revolutionary Spaces – Boston, MA

Richmond Folk Festival – Richmond, VA*

River to River Festival (Lower Manhattan Cultural Council) – New York, NY

Rockingham Arts and Museum Project – Bellows Falls, VT

Rockwood Music Hall – New York, NY

Roots Cultural Center – Providence, RI

Roulette/Robert Browning Assoc. – New York, NY

Sandywoods Center for the Arts – Tiverton, RI

Savannah Music Festival – Savannah, GA*

Secret Planet at Race Street Live – Holyoke, MA

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts – Scottsdale, AZ

Sheldon Theatre – Red Wing, MN

Shenandoah Conservatory – Winchester, VA

The Shrine – New York, NY

Silvermine Arts Center – New Canaan, CT

Small Town Concert Series – Chester, CT

Smith’s Olde Bar – Atlanta, GA

Sonoma State University, Green Music Center – Rohnert Park, CA*

South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center – Miami, FL*

Storefront Theater – Lyons, NE

Tau Dance Theater – Honolulu, HI

Teatro LETEA, The Clemente Center – New York, NY

Touchstone Theatre – Bethlehem, PA

Tricklock Company & University of New Mexico – Albuquerque, NM

Tropicalia/Multiflora Productions – Washington, DC*

University Musical Society – Ann Arbor, MI

University of California, ArtPower! – San Diego, CA*

University of California, CAP UCLA – Los Angeles, CA*

University of California, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts – Davis, CA

University of California, Santa Barbara Arts and Lectures – Santa Barbara, CA

University of Chicago Presents – Chicago, IL

University of Connecticut, Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts – Storrs, CT

University of Dayton – Dayton, OH

University of Denver, Lamont School of Music – Denver, CO

University of Florida Performing Arts – Gainesville, FL*

University of Hawaii, Manoa – Honolulu, HI

University of Houston/Rajput Media – Houston, TX

University of Iowa, Hancher Auditorium – Iowa City, IA*

University of Nebraska, Lied Center for the Performing Arts – Lincoln, NE

University of New Hampshire – Durham, NH

University of North Carolina, Carolina Performing Arts – Chapel Hill, NC*

University of North Carolina – Wilmington, NC

University of Richmond, Modlin Center – Richmond, VA *

University of St. Joseph – West Hartford, CT*

University of Washington, Meany Center for the Performing Arts – Seattle, WA

Upright Citizens Brigade – New York, NY

Virginia Tech Moss Center for the Arts – Blacksburg, VA*

Washington University, Edison Theater – St. Louis, MO

Wellesley College – Wellesley, MA

Wesleyan University, Center for the Arts – Middletown, CT

West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts – Claremont, NH

Wobeon – Austin, TX*

WoodSongs Old Time Radio Hour – Lexington, KY*

World Music Festival Chicago – Chicago, IL*

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts – San Francisco, CA