Performance for Young Audiences Cohort Track

Performance for Young Audiences Cohort Track supports 5 artists with a $750 stipend, mentorship, and full presentation at Liberty Lands

Socrates by Eliana Fabiyi (Wide Eyed Studios)

PYAC Track is funded entirely by donations from our community.

Performance for Young Audiences Cohort Track supports artists of all disciplines developing new works for young people ages 0-18 and their families.

Thank you to all who applied!

‘24 PYAC Panelists

  • Ganiah Bracy

    Ganiah Bracy (She/Her) is currently studying Spanish, Communication Arts with an emphasis in Theatre and Business at Washington and Jefferson College. Performing Arts has always been an integral part of Ganiah's life whether she was in the performance or enjoying it. It is important to her that youth experience quality performances because she was once the youth desiring the quality performances.

  • Zephyr Saffron Matsushima Brick

    As a child of parents who choreograph, direct and design for theater and dance, Zephyr Saffron Matsushima Brick has grown up immersed in performance. From before she could speak she has been tumbling around the floors of rehearsal studios and falling asleep at late night shows. As a young performer/ creator she has performed a variation of Headlong Dance Theater’s improvisational dance duet, Permit, with actor Jaime Masada and her dad, David Brick. She has also rehearsed with devised theater company Ninth Planet on a new work called Holy Fool. She is honored to be invited to be on this panel.

  • Adam Kerbel

    Adam Kerbel (he/him/el) is an artist and educator whose work with young audiences spans family festival programming, experiential learning, and teaching through storytelling. A former educator and puppeteer at Noah’s Ark at the Skirball in Los Angeles, Adam implemented original music, dance, and hybrid programs including Skirball’s first native plant garden. Adam mentors artists in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and St. Louis, drawing on his interests in developmental learning. With Almanac Dance Circus Theatre, he has curated immersive educational workshops for young people in physical styles ranging from a wide cross section of Philadelphia’s dance crews and movement artists since 2014. His presentations include Skirball Cultural Center, CalCreative, New York Live Arts–Fresh Tracks, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and Breaking Walls Festival in Cairo, Egypt. Visit adamkerbel.com.

  • Sam Tower

    Sam Tower (she/her) is a theatre director, curator, and cultural producer of Lebanese and Irish descent based in Philadelphia. She is a Co-Artistic Director of Ninth Planet and a Program Manager of Cannonball. Sam has dedicated her 15-year long career to creating and producing experimental works of performance focused on women, queer people, people of color, children and families.

PYAC at Cannonball

  • 5 artists from the Performance for Young Audiences Cohort will be offered a combination of Friday, Saturday and Sunday showtimes at the Liberty Lands outdoor stage during daylight hours. These performances will include stage management and production support. (Use of other Cannonball venues can be discussed on a case-by-case basis.)

  • Selected artists will receive mentorship and guidance from Cannonball Producer Adam Kerbel and Program Manager Sam Tower, and attend conversations and workshops with Philadelphia-based and regional artists with expertise in the field of performance for young audiences

  • PYAC artists will have the opportunity to share private work-in-progress showing with cohort artists and young audiences, and are expected to attend the work-in-progress showings of 3-4 other cohort artists

  • PYAC artists will have the opportunity to work with local partners such as libraries, camps and arts organizations to offer development workshops with their intended audience of young people

  • PYAC artists will receive $750 stipend, FringeArts Festival registration, Cannonball production and marketing support, and an optional one-on-one conversation with a Cannonball producer about how to make an impact at the Fringe

  • PYAC performances will be offered to family audiences free of charge, and artists will receive 100% of all revenue earned from “Pass the Hat” donations after performances

About PYAC

Returning for a second year, the Performance for Young Audiences Cohort has established Cannonball as Philadelphia’s annual hub for new performance young people and their families. Our Cannonball Kids program fills a need for artists creating work that specifically engages with younger audiences - this is especially vital in a city like Philadelphia, where the largest age demographic is 0-19 (26% of total population). PYAC advances the field of performance for youth, locally and nationally, by offering artists a place to development new works, and engage in artistic exchange tailored to their interests. In recent years, we have seen inactivity and disinvestment of funds from long-standing organizations and a lack of attention on local self-producing artists from major presenters. PYAC offers an opportunity for independent artists in search of community and artistic development to unite and invest in the future of children’s performance.

The emphasis of PYAC is on new works and works in development - however, previously presented works will also be considered. PYAC will focus on supporting Philadelphia artists of color, queer and trans* artists, and disabled artists. We welcome artists with a wide range of experience creating performance for young audiences. We encourage live performance of any genre that will make a genuine connection with young people and families, and will be consistently engaging on an intellectual, emotional and aesthetic level. Performances for young people ages 0 - 18 will be considered, including work intended for the whole family.

Submissions will close on April 16, 2024. Due to tight timelines for scheduling performances at our venues, we cannot accommodate late submissions. Selected artists will be notified by May 10, 2024.

Review Process

The cohort artists will be selected by a mixed-age panel of performance-makers and producers combining the expertise of both youth and adult practitioners. We strongly encourage artists to submit work samples with their application.

Panelists will evaluate proposals according to ISN’T:
Intention - Are the artists’ goals clear? Is the proposed project compelling for the stated age group?
Skill - Does the artist’s past work and/or experience demonstrate the ability to craft the project successfully?
Necessity - How is the work serving a need for its intended community?
Then you’re in!

Panelists will review the applications individually and then meet to deliberate. Selected artists will be notified by May 10, 2024.


About the Cohort Mentors

Adam Kerbel is a former Educator, Puppeteer, and Storyteller with the ensemble at the Noah’s Ark at the Skirball in Los Angeles, CA. He develops family festivals, weekly music and dance family programming, and new plays for YA. He implemented Skirball’s first educational native plant garden, taught through YANJ-EP, and toured internationally with Almanac Dance Circus Theatre.

Sam Tower is a developer of groundbreaking new performances for YA that range from babies and their caretakers to teenagers with her company, Ninth Planet. From 2012-2021, she served a vibrant global arts presentation membership with International Performing Arts for Youth, leading IPAY’s international CultureCrew youth selection workshops and panels. She began Cannonball’s PYAC Track in 2023 with development opportunities, work-in-progress showings, and full production at Liberty Lands.

Questions? Feedback? Contact us at admin@thealmanac.us.