The Pilot Performing Americas Program Creation Fund (PAPCF)
Over the years, PAP staff and curators have come across hundreds of outstanding artists working in Latin America and the Caribbean that have a great desire to tour in the United States. Artists located in large urban centers such as Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Mexico City, to name a few, often have the production resources and access to media and management support that allows them to launch their work—provided their work is in demand and has a tour-ready production value—on their national and international tour circuits.  Traditionally, PAP has sought out tour-ready artists that are emerging, or mid-career, and who have had little or no exposure in the United States.

PAP staff and curators have traveled to diverse regions in Latin America in order to see work from outside of these large urban centers, but find that many of the artists that interest the curatorial team—particularly those outside of these large cultural centers—are lacking support to finalize key aspects of the work. This is often an indicator of lack of access to infrastructure, not artistic quality, and it has narrowed the program’s ability to represent Latin America and the Caribbean, and its true regional, cultural and linguistic diversity. In acknowledging that the curatorial team often selects artists from these same urban centers, and gravitates towards work that is more ‘highly produced’, we wanted to explore ways to support emerging work so that curators could feel confident in programming it, while providing tangible resources for artists to raise the production level of what they do, so that touring is viable.

Renata Petroni, PAP Director, asserts that, “Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo are the ‘New Yorks’ of Latin America. Artists coming from those centers will always have an advantage. If our program is about serving the full spectrum of the Americas, then we have to expand our idea of ‘tour-ready’ and implement additional support to make the work accessible for U.S. presenters and audiences alike.”

To explore how PAP can address this need and break some of the established programming patterns, we have chosen to focus on artists from Trinidad-Tobago for the pilot phase of the PAPCF to assist in the commissioning of a new work. The idea for this work, Women of Calypso, was conceived by former PAP curator and Creative Exchange artist Idris Ackamoor, and had been on the table for some time, but lacked the production resources to get it off of the ground.  It is an ideal project to start with, as it features artists from a region that has never toured through PAP, (and also represents the English speaking Caribbean), and is the result of relationships forged through the PAP Creative Exchange. The pilot phase is supporting a week-long residency for the artists in Knoxville, hosted by Carpetbag Theatre, as a way to provide creative work time, leverage potential commissioning support from NPN Partners, and expose this aspect of Performing Americas’ work to the network.  
 
The PAPCF will provide direct support to artists and commissioners by funding and acting as the liaison internationally for project activities. Following the NPN Creation Fund model, the PAPCF will start with $10,000 in commissioning support for artists and the project.  Additionally, PAP will provide travel support in the creation-production phase.

Women of Calypso – About the Project

Calypso music is renowned throughout the world and rivals reggae music as one of the most versatile, political, entertaining, and uplifting musical genres to captivate an international audience.  Calypso rhythms can be traced back to the arrival of the first African slaves brought to work the sugar plantations of Trinidad. Since the first Calypso recording in 1914, the music has been a male-dominated genre until the 1960s saw the arrival of Calypso Rose, who became the first “Queen of Calypso.” Through their songs, these women of Calypso sing about contemporary life in Trinidad. All three are seasoned performers and songwriters, and have won hosts of awards and regularly place in the finals of Calypso competitions during Carnival and year round.  Calypso is a music of the people, and although the more popularly known Calypso singers have been male, such as The Mighty Sparrow, Shadow, and Lord Kitchener, “Women of Calypso” showcases the best of female Calypso singers from Trinidad who are now more than ever competing with and rivaling their male counter parts.  

Women of Calypso will be an evening of music, theater, social commentary, and autobiographical musings in a concert setting. The music will be center stage with the addition of “singing narratives” taking the audience on a musical and spiritual journey into the lives of these three powerful women.  The project will be produced in collaboration by Cultural Odyssey and the National Performance Network and directed by Cultural Odyssey’s Co-Artistic Directors, Rhodessa Jones and Idris Ackamoor. Professor Rawle Gibbons of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad will act as a creative consultant.