Center Stage

Bringing Vibrant Contemporary Performers to the U.S.—and Cultural Diplomacy to Main Street America.   www.centerstageUS.org

Diplomacy doesn’t just happen in conference rooms or at embassies. It can burst out in classrooms and dance studios, at town greens and landmarks, in coffee shops and arts centers, moving from person to person, between artist and arts lover.

Center Stage^SM tours:

• provide opportunities for international performing artists to engage with diverse communities, including youth, throughout the U.S.
• offer Americans the chance to grow in understanding and appreciation of other nations
• provide for deeper engagement for both Americans and visiting artists, who will return home with direct experiences to share in their own communities

Center Stage, an initiative of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, brings compelling contemporary artists from abroad to the U.S. to engage Americans in cultural diplomacy as a way to create opportunities for greater understanding. Administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts in cooperation with the Regional Arts Organizations,  with funding for the 2012 tours from the Asian Cultural Council, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, and the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art,  and with general management by Lisa Booth Management Inc., this public-private partnership is the largest public diplomacy effort to bring foreign artists to American stages in recent history.