La Vuelta Ensemble

02/25/2026

AQUÍ O ALLÁ is open!!! 🎉

(Photos by Steven Townshend | Distant Era except the second one by Thomas Hurley for The Daily Northwestern)

May we all find our way home, wherever it may be.

CREATIVE TEAM:

Director/Creator: Raquel Torre
Circus Direction & choreography: Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi
Stage Manager: Maydi Díaz
Assistant Director: Madie Doppelt
Composer/Sound Design/Foly Artist: Satya Chavez
Costume Design: Sally Dolembo
Rigging Coord/Poster Design: Griffin DiStasi
Props/Scenic Design: Shokie Tsuemah
Projections Design: Eme Ospina-Lopez
Lighting Designer: Henry Muller
Costume Supervisor: Sophie Uno
Costume Assistants: Zachary Grasee, Sophie Uno, Kamryn Wise, Maria Lucia Gomez
Costume Craftsperson: Caitlin McLeod DesSoye
Associate Makeup Designer: Finty Critchley, Fiona Carroll
Production Manager: Erin Nicole Hollway

CAST:
DEE: Jean Carlos Claudio
SLOH: Kaitlyn Andrews
CAD: Glenna Broderick
OZ: Kat Hoil
The Resident: Satya Chavez

CITY FOLK: The Actors Gymnasium Teen Ensemble
Amanda Comess, Corinne Donati, Brennan Dorr, Frances Fairman, Cecelia Goodrow, Hawthorne Hong, Rodrigo Sanchez Jurado, and Oona Cannon (Ensemble U/S)

02/21/2026

IT'S HAPPENING!

11 years after we premiered the first iteration of AQUÍ O ALLÁ in Puerto Rico, we are about to premiere a whole new version of the show as the Winter Production for Actor Gymnasium.

What a gift to have our work produced at the Gym! For us...

✨ This is a FULL CIRCLE MOMENT! ✨

Storytime:
Raquel and Jean moved to Chicago in 2016 so Jean could complete the Professional Circus Training Program at the Actors Gym, and the last show we performed together in Puerto Rico WAS a first version of ¿Aquí o Allá?.

With so much learned and grown through, with an amazing team of collaborators and performers, and with a new story that expands on the themes of the original... La Vuelta Theatre Lab and Actors Gymnasium premiere this first version of the new version, true to our name (dándole vueltas al asunto; over and over)... and you don't wanna miss it!

Expect chaos. Expect clowns. Expect banging music. Expect breathtaking circus.

AQUÍ O ALLÁ runs 2/21-3/22! Do you have your tickets yet? 👀

11/14/2025

LA VUELTA
is a theatre lab based in Chicago creating new works of high physicality & delightful absurdity. Since 2014, we've been devising full-scale shows that have gotten produced at Teatro Vista, at The Goodman Theatre, and at the Actors Gym. We are a resident company with UrbanTheater Co.

We are in PROCESS.
We are in MOTION.
We are in CONTEXT
We are in COLLABORATION.

In the image:
Jean Claudio and Gardy Gilbert in 2019's workshop production of TRY TO BE at UrbanTheater Company.

[Photo by Cole Simon]

11/13/2025

< BIG ANNOUNCEMENT >

Hey world, we haven't been active in our socials but boy oh boy have we been working at it!

This past year we had TWO works developed through La Vuelta get produced by major theatres (Memorabilia at Teatro Vista and BOOK UP! at The Goodman), with a third one coming up (AQUÍ O ALLÁ at the Actors Gym)!

This really connected us to the core of La Vuelta, why we started this together more than 11 years ago... to have a name under which we'd create new works of high physicality.

So, after much thought put into it, we're coming out with a redefined and refocused identity: LA VUELTA THEATRE LAB.

We're honing in on creating and experimenting with work that can get picked up by other entities, allowing us the space and bandwidth to concentrate on the process.
The name LA VUELTA evokes the action of spinning around or coming back to something, which is often what a creative process is. Looping around a piece of work over and over, like clay getting shaped.

As artists in residence at UrbanTheater Company, we’re privileged to have a home where we can play! Join us as audience members for freshly baked shows that you’ll (hopefully) see served and produced down the road. Or for local works celebrating the community we’re lucky to reside in.

Know that our PILLARS are what we’re being:
in process. in motion. in context. in collaboration.

Get ready to see a lot us here and check out more of us at our webpage (our new name followed by a .com: https://lavueltatheatrelab.com/)

GRACIAS por el apoyo y por seguirnos mientras nos seguimos redefiniendo, familia.

11/18/2024

¡La Vuelta se dio la vuelta por ENCUENTRO 2024!
We are beyond grateful to have been a part of this grand event in Latine theatre in North America. And to top it off, we are delighted to have appeared in the LA Times.

These 3 weeks of performances, workshops, and connections have been a balm during difficult times in the US and Puerto Rico. So many new and important relationships have been forged! We returned to Chicago inspired and recharged, ready to take this show to its next level ✨

Thank you for inviting us and supporting us. It was such a path-altering experience; thank you for believe in us and our work. Thank you for being our Fellow and caring for us so much. WE MISS YOU ALREADY 😭😭 May, Nicolas, Sam, and the AMAZING production/teach team… y’all are family now.

Memorabilia is a clown/circus/physical theatre piece created and performed by , directed and co-written by , and stage-managed by

We workshopped the original run at , our artistic home in Chicago, back in 2022 and will soon discover a new chapter of this show with familia here in the city… details soon to be shared 😉😉

09/24/2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjaco-0od8k&t=1s

We invite you to experience the journey of Salvador, a soft-spoken yet frazzled inventor who creates an apparatus to preserve his most beloved memories… and maybe to face the reality of the darker ones. With courage and foolishness, Salvador will walk you through his days of chaos, memories, and wonder.

Memorabilia:
Created and performed by Jean Claudio- Circus/Physical Performer
Directed by Raquel Torre González
Video: Matthew McCanna Molina

Festival Encuentros- Los Angeles, California
Latino Theater Co. at The LATC

PERFORMANCE DATES:

Friday, October 25 at 5:00 PM
Saturday, October 26 at 8:00 PM
Friday, November 1 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, November 2 at 4:00 PM
Friday, November 8 at 6:00 PM
Saturday, November 9 at 2:00 PM

We invite you to experience the journey of Salvador, a soft-spoken yet frazzled inventor who creates an apparatus to preserve his most beloved memories… and ...

08/07/2024

What a beautiful closing to our Night Out In The Parks mini tour of BOOK UP! The wind and clouds did not stop us or our audience at Humboldt Park, and we celebrated reading and community, along with our friends from and ✨

We’re so grateful for and their support. Much thanks as well to for their constant support and mentorship. We hope to continue performing this show, celebrating the importance and magic of books!

Photos by 📸

08/05/2024

Mañana mañana mañana!

Come check us out at Humboldt Park, as we perform our outdoor show “BOOK UP!” at 5:30pm near (or in) the boathouse. Joining us will be our friends from and ✨

08/03/2024

Shabbona Park this past Thursday was amazing! We got a delightful crowd and a beautiful clear day. Thank you to everyone that came out and enjoyed some books and circus with us. 🎪 📚

Now, we got one more performance of our family-friendly circus show BOOK UP! for you to enjoy. We’ll be performing near the Humboldt Park boathouse (or within it if it rains) this Tuesday (8/6) at 5:30pm.

08/01/2024

For today (8/1) at Shabbona Park… fear not! We have a rain plan. If it rains (as currently predicted) we’ll head inside the Shabbona Park’s fieldhouse and hold our performance there at 5:30pm, as scheduled.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to stay outside, right in front of the fieldhouse. But we’re prepared!

07/31/2024

Chicago:
For a VERY long time keep asking me, when you and Raquel are performing together? Well, this is your chance to see us performing together! Raquel, Xavier Claudio, and myself will be performing “Book UP!”, a family friendly show about reading, playing, and learning.
Catch La Vuelta Ensemble before is too late!

*these two last performances were adjusted from the original one. Raquel Torre will be performing as the Librarian, and myself as The Kid*