The BIPOC New Work Presentation Track creates opportunities for individual artists of color, and collectives run by artists of color, to present new full-length performances at Cannonball Festival.

The BIPOC New Work Track is funded entirely by donations from our community.

The BIPOC New Work Track is a competitive commission opportunity that includes:

  • Full co-production and presentation at one of Cannonball’s performance spaces* with no buy-in fee (please review our Open Call 2024 page for more information)

  • A $2,950 stipend

  • 50-50 split of all ticket revenues

  • Additional marketing support before the run including a promotional photo shoot, and professional photo and video documentation of your work

  • Additional rehearsal and tech rehearsal hours

  • One-on-one support from track Artistic Producer Nathan-Alford Tate

  • Opportunities for peer-to-peer resource sharing and connection with the other Awardees

  • One selected Awardee will also receive the Wilma Residency, with access to studio space, limited access to the Wilma’s costume and prop inventory, and mentoring from Wilma artistic director Lindsay Smiling

Please note: commissioned artists must agree to present their work for at least three paid, ticketed performances* during Cannonball.
*If presenting a site-specific, immersive, or intimate work, artists must agree to work with Cannonball to create ticket inventory for at least 120 patrons.

Finalists who are not selected to be a part of the track may be offered a co-presentation opportunity at Cannonball, which may include a smaller stipend.

How to Apply

Submissions for the 2024 award opened on February 15, 2024, and will close on April 16, 2024. Due to tight timelines for scheduling performances at our venues, we cannot accommodate late submissions.

Review Process

Applications will be reviewed by a panel of Philadelphia-based, working BIPOC performing artists led by Almanac Company Member and Cannonball Producer Nathan (Nate) Alford-Tate. Panelists are paid for their time in reviewing applications; the full panel will be posted after decisions are made.
As a panel member and a producer, Nate will liaise with other Cannonball producers to first make sure each application is logistically possible at Cannonball by reviewing technical requirements. Then, panelists will review each application, evaluating them according to the following:

MERIT: Does the work demonstrate an attention to craft and discipline? What does the work inquire? What is it in conversation with?

IMPACT: Is this track necessary for the Artist? Does the stipend provide the Artist with the opportunity to present new work that could otherwise not be presented? How much impact would the stipend provide for the artist presenting this piece?

RISK: What does the Artist envision through this work? What artistic risks are involved? Is the work pushing forward on form, content, or political/social discourse?

REACH: Is the work grounded in an inclusive worldview? Does the work connect to BIPOC communities, foster ongoing dialogue, and expand representation at Cannonball Festival? 

After the panel meets to discuss the applications, panelists will select finalists. Finalists will be selected and notified by May 1, 2023. Finalists may be invited to participate in a brief 15-30 minute video interview about the work.

Awardees will be notified no later than May 15, 2024.

5 works will be selected for the BIPOC New Work Track. Applications that are not selected may be offered a co-production opportunity at Cannonball, or a slot in the festival through the artist buy-in model.

Selected artists will be asked to participate in a post-festival conversation evaluating their experience at Cannonball.

Questions? Feedback? Contact Nate at nate@thealmanac.us.
We want to hear from you!

‘24 BIPOC New Work Panelists

  • Danielle Currica

    Danielle is a Philadelphia-based movement practitioner, whose eclectic dance training has allowed her the opportunity to play, work, and evolve alongside choreographers and artists, such as Charles O. Anders, makini poe, Antoinette Coward-Gilmore, Lela Aisha Jones, Meredith Rainey, Tania Isaac, Kate Watson-Wallace, Megan Mazarick, Shannon Murphy, Gunnar Montana, and Mel Cotton. In 2009, she became Sophie Sucre with Philadelphia Burlesque Troupe, The Peek-a-Boo Revue, helping to establish the Philadelphia Burlesque Academy in 2012, currently serving as teaching artist to burlesque/ecdysiast enthusiasts.

  • Nathan Alford-Tate

    Nathan Alford-Tate is a devising artist, and educator from Detroit, MI. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Western Michigan University and a Masters of Fine Arts from University of the Arts/Pig Iron School. He has performed throughout Philadelphia, at The Museum of the American Revolution, The National Constitution Center, Arden Theatre Company, Theatre Exile, Quintessence Theatre Group, and Tribe of Fools.

    He’s been a company member with Almanac Dance Circus Theatre since 2018, helping to devise and perform in multiple shows such as, Grounds That Shout, The Fleecing, Permission to Monster and I Hear You and I'd Like to Respond.

  • Liana Irvine

    Liana Irvine (liana/ she/ they) is playful, methodical, and optimistic as a dramaturg, producer, and community organizer in bringing new work and reimagining the cannon to life. With intimate interrogation and empathetic communication, Liana faithfully deepens the entanglement of artists' worlds and audiences' realities. Being an Asian artist, transracial adoptee, and environmentalist informs how liana crafts performance, manifests spaces for congregating, and visualizes performing arts’ futures. Current Credits include National New Play Network's Producer in Residence at InterAct Theatre Company, Groundwater Arts's Advisory Council, and Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas’s Vice President of Regional Activity.

  • Kaylee McNeil

    Kaylee McNeil (she/her) is a Philadelphia-based artist whose work lies in highlighting our shared humanity and vulnerability. Her artistic background and values focus on creating healthy, artistic spaces for art-loving outsiders, building a space where art imitates life, not just on the stage, but within the community that sets that stage. She's very excited to continue her artistic journey alongside other creative, risk-taking artists throughout Cannonball.

  • Faysal Dakni

    He is an international teaching artist, actor and director. He is also co-founder and co-artistic director of Sahne 367 Theatre Company in Istanbul, Türkiye.