the co-artistic directors
BORDERLANDS is an arts collective and community that centers art and artists that represent Nepantla: the in-between, the neither-here-nor-there, the mixed, the two-sided, the two-spirited, and the otherwise intersectional. Based in New York City, Chicago, and the Rio Grande Valley, BORDERLANDS seeks to draw connections between the ancient and the contemporary, the spiritual and the physical, the indigenous and the alien by creating ’third culture’ with artists and community members. With roots in theatrical storytelling, BORDERLANDS’ work manifests as multi-media experiences that defy category. Current projects include GET TO THE POINTE (a ballroom fantasia about the invention of the pointe shoe), DAVID & THE APOCALYPSE (an exploration of love, art, and religion), TEJANX: THE EXPERIENCE (a celebration of Tejane music and culture), and the first-ever Spanish translation of Rogers and Hammerstein’s OKLAHOMA! told through the lens of Mexican vaquero culture and folklórico. BORDERLANDS was co-founded by Artistic Directors, Diego Alejandro González and William Carlos Angulo.
BIO / WHO WE ARE
DIEGO ALEJANDRO GONZÁLEZ [he.they.any] is an NYC-based theater-maker by way of the México-Texas border. Diego co-created BORDERLANDS, a cultural arts company that centers NEPANTLA: the in-between. Diego is an inaugural 2025/26 Dir.ecting Fellow at the Mercury Store, a lab space for NYC theater artists, where they previously completed a residency for Directing Technique & LAB. Diego the SDCF Observership recipient on Broadway's HADESTOWN, a selected director of The Drama League’s 2023/24 Directors Project Cohort, and an SDC Associate Member. Recent clients include: Arts Emerson, TAMU Drama, DNAWORKS, Theater Under The Stars, NYU Tisch New Studio on Broadway, NYU Tisch Graduate MTWP, SU Drama, UVA Drama, American Opera Project, Village Light Opera Group, SDCF, The Drama League, Arts For Everybody/ONOP, Trinity Rep, The Team, Dance Lab New York, Ars Nova, Signature Theater, NYTW, The MUNY, Musical Theater Factory, WP x Sol Project, The PUBLIC Theater (PUBLIC WORKS, Shakeaspeare in the Park), Hi-ARTS, Abrons Arts Center, The Civilians, CNTR ARTS and theurbanX.org. Diego brings a creative ethos rooted in borderland identity, interdisciplinary art, devising applied theater, and collective liberation.
WILLIAM CARLOS ANGULO [he.they) is a director, choreographer, playwright, and arts educator based in New York City. His work in theater and dance has premiered in fifteen US states including Puerto Rico, as well as in Poland, France, Germany, Croatia, and Bosnia& Herzegovina. He created the first-ever professional training program at Goodman Theatre in Chicago and was an original instructor for Broadway Across Borders through the US Department of State. He created the NextGen Choreography Apprenticeship in partnership with DanceLab New York where he mentors gifted, young choreographers. He has choreographed forGrammy Award-winning recording artists like Breland, LOCASH, Florida Georgia Line, and more, and his choreography has been hash-tagged on TikTok andInstagram over 17 million times. He is creating two newBroadway musicals: HOMBRES and SHOUT SISTER SHOUT. He is a proud member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and the Alliance of Latine Theatre Artists (ALTA).
read oUR letter
This message was shared on the day we launched BORDERLANDS. It speaks to who we are, what we’re building, and why this was born. We offer it here as an invocation, an offering, and a portal.