Map shows islands, atolls, points of anchorage, and shoreline details in the Caribbean along the coasts of and to the east of the Bahamas and Cuba, and along the coast and to the north of Santo Domingo [Dominican Republic]. Relief shown by hachures. Depths shown by soundings. Scale not given.

Photograph of moderator George Dorris and some of the panelists from the "Investigation and Documentation: Contemporary Policies and Its Impact in Dance" panel at the World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2003.

Photograph of Board of Members Reunion at the World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2003.

Photograph of the "Presentation Versus the Public's Expectations" panel at the World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2003. Moderator Ruth K. Abrahams is pictured, along with panelists Jan Hanvik, Ilona Copen, and Monika Despradel.

Photograph of moderator George Dorris and panelists Madeleine Nichols, Mary Jane Warner and Marili Gallardo during "Investigation and Documentation: Contemporary Policies and Its Impact in Dance" panel at the World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2003.

Photograph of Ruth K. Abrahams, then ex-president of the World Dance Alliance, providing a welcome to attendees at the World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2003.

Photograph of "Our Students' Voice" forum at the World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2003. Panelists Alejandra De Los Santos, Nicole Marie Colón, and Gabriela Dorries are pictured along with moderator Ilona Copen.

Photograph of "Maintaining Dance in Education" panel at the World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2003. Moderator Penelope Reed Doob, along with panelists Judith Marcuse, Kaitha Manning, Marinella Sallent, Jorge Riverón, Mary Jane Warner, and Alan Stark.

Photograph of "Creating Dance in the 21st Century" panel at World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2003. Moderator Vanesa Harwood is standing to the left and the panelists Jorge A. Mendoza, Peter Palacio, Nejla Yatkin, and Edmundo Poy are seated at a table behind her.

Photograph of Board of Members Reunion at the World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2003.

Photograph of Adrienne Kaeppler providing the introduction to the World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2003.

Photograph of "Maintaining Dance in Education" panel at the World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2003. Moderator Penelope Reed Doob, along with panelists Judith Marcuse, Kaitha Manning, Marinella Sallent, Jorge Riverón, Mary Jane Warner, and Alan Stark.

Photograph of Alan Stark giving a talk entitled "Contemporary Traditions: A Personal View of Survival and Revival" at World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2003.

Photograph of Kari Schroeder giving a talk entitled "Salsa Culture Redefined: A Sexual, Political and Cultural Exploration" at World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2003.

Photograph of "Creating Dance in the 21st Century" panelists Jorge A. Mendoza, Peter Palacio, Nejla Yatkin, and Edmundo Poy seated behind a table at the World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in April 2003.

Photograph of Alan Stark dancing at the 2003 World Dance Alliance V General Assembly of The Americas closing ceremony dinner. The venue was the Museum of the Royal Houses (Museo de las Casas Reales) in the Dominican Republic.

Throughout the history of the Dominican Republic, theater has played an instrumental role in the cultural life its people, one which transcends purely artistic and cultural dimensions extending its influence into the political and social fabric of the nation. In spite of Spanish colonization and later Haitian occupation, a nascent national identity began forming early on. The staging of certain plays exposed latent conflicts and revealed sectorial, class interests. Theater provided a means of expression for popular sentiments, thus revealing an urge by the people to manifest their concerns, usually under the heavy weight of censorship. This thesis focuses on key moments of the first 140 years of Dominican Republic theater. It is organized into three chapters: "Historical Antecedents", "Theater of the Dictatorship" and "Theater of the Post-Dictatorship." The first chapter deals with the struggle for independence through 1844; the next focuses on the theatrical plays and political climate of bloody Rafael Leonidas Trujillo dictatorship which spanned from 1930 to his assassination in 1961, and the third presents the theater that appeared in the subsequent years of the equally repressive Joaquin Balaguer presidency (1966-1978). The analysis of these key historical moments, in conjunction with the dramaturgy of playwrights such as …