Mexico: 4th Performing Arts Encounter (formerly Mexico: Gateways to the Americas) is a program operated by the National Fund for the Culture and the Arts (fonca) of the National Council for Culture and the Arts (conaculta) with the support of several institutions such as the National Center of the Arts, the National Institute of Fine Arts, the International Cervantino Arts Festival and the Cultural Promotion Coordination of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (unam).

It emerges from the need to open a forum of presentation for the Mexican performing artists so their proposals can be known and acknowledged in their just dimension. The main goals of the Encounter are to show the performing arts, foster strategies to develop touring, circuits, residencies and collaborative projects, as well as to open spaces for the exchange of ideas among the professionals in the field and the performing artists.