March & April 2023 Pop-Up Grant Announcement

Meet the Pop-Up Grant Recipient of Dallas Arts Month

The 2023 Pop-Up Grants continue celebrating engaging events that shared history, poignant tales, and unforgettable experiences. These Pop-Up Grant recipients produced compelling art that delighted audiences everywhere.

Cara Mia Theatre

 To DIE:GO with Leaves by Frida Kahlo & Origenes/Origins

LEARN MORE ABOUT CARA MIA THEATRE

Unrestricted Grant: $2,500 Pop-Up Grant
Artist Bonus Funds: $4,000 Artist Bonus Funding for both shows

Founded in 1996, the mission of Cara Mía Theatre is to inspire and engage people to uplift their communities through transformative Latinx theatre, multicultural youth arts experiences and community action. Keep in touch with Cara Mía Theatre on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

To DIE:GO in Leaves by Frida Kahlo is a “purely, intoxicatingly theatrical” production inspired by Kahlo’s paintings and biography. The result is a journey through the lifetime of Mexico’s most famous painter and a worldwide icon. To DIE:GO in Leaves, by Frida Kahlo is a play that tells a story as much through movement and imagery as dialogue. Performances were performed in repertory in both English and Spanish. The devised work
also demonstrated the talents of the Cara Mia Theatre Company, along with the exquisite improvisational performance by veteran percussionist Kweku Codrington. Using poetry, puppetry, dance, masks, live original percussion music and a very creative set design, To DIE:GO in Leaves by Frida Kahlo thoroughly enchanted the audiences.

 

Orígenes/Origins tells the story of a teenager sent by her family to live with her father in the United States. To survive her journey, she is compelled to create a new identity in a new country while remembering her origins. Featuring masks, movement and original music, Orígenes/Origins, is performed mostly in Spanish with English supertitles. This important story of belonging (and not belonging) is told through use of masks, dance, music and various unique set pieces helped create a metaphorical experience which will stay with audience members for days after seeing the play.

 

Pegasus Contemporary Ballet

Synergy: Dallas Music In Motion

LEARN MORE ABOUT PEGASUS CONTEMPORARY BALLET

Unrestricted Grant: $2,500 Pop-Up Grant
Artist Bonus Funds: $5,000 Artist Bonus Funding

Synergy: Dallas Music In Motion celebrates the vibrant popular music scene of Dallas with three new choreographic works created in collaboration with Dallas-based musicians, presented at the Moody Performance Hall. Live performance collaborations span the genres of Jazz/Fusion, Alternative Electronic, and Americana Singer/Songwriter. You do not want to miss this collaborative production that showcases the combined creativity, energy, and passion of Dallas’s performing artists.

Commissions include collaborations between internationally award-winning choreographer Joshua L. Peugh and award-winning Dallas-based Jazz Fusion musician Kwinton Gray; choreographer and soloist Daniel Ojeda and Dallas Singer/Songwriter Dev Wulf; and Artistic Director Diana Crowder and Dallas-based electronic music producer and composer Elkin Pautt.

Synergy, Dallas Music In Motion is an exciting and unique opportunity to witness the coming together of artists across multiple genres and cultures. Exclusively featuring Dallas-based musicians, the production will showcase not only the distinctive talents of Dallas’s performing artists, but also the exhilarating results when such talents exchange ideas and share the stage.  Pop-Up nominators felt that each one of the dance pieces and its accompanying music was stylistically different and demonstrated the skill and versatility of both the dancers and the musicians.

Pegasus Contemporary Ballet aspires to be a national leader in its field; contributing world-class performances to the cultural landscape in Dallas and beyond. As innovators and artists, Pegasus Contemporary Ballet continues the legacy of ballet, expressing it as a meaningful and living art form. Their mission is to use the classical foundation of ballet to express contemporary perspectives, engage diverse audiences, and enrich the human experience. Pegasus uses contemporary ballet to create innovative performances, interdisciplinary collaborations, and exciting new works. Keep in touch with Pegasus Contemporary Ballet on Facebook and Instagram. 

 

Verdigris Ensemble

SHAMS

LEARN MORE ABOUT VERDIGRIS MUSIC

Unrestricted Grant: $2,500 Pop-Up Grant
Artist Bonus Funds: $5,000 Artist Bonus Funding

Verdigris Ensemble returns to the stage, in cooperation with the Crow Museum of Asian Art, for the WORLD PREMIERE production of SHAMS by Iranian composer Sahba Aminikia. SHAMS contains the largest collection of Rumi poetry set to music in its original Farsi, translated by poet/author Zara Houshmand. The music is further elevated with live art by Syrian artist Kevork Mourad. SHAMS tells the story of Rumi’s relationship with his mentor, Shams Tabrizi, who, in his own words, was instrumental in Rumi’s complete philosophical shift in just 40 days together. A love story that explores the intricacies of understanding and acceptance, this world premiere builds cultural bridges for its audience.

 Audience members were moved by the performance and felt that the work was notably different than other Verdigris projects in style, form, and content, and the interplay between Kevork Mourad with the visual art, the string quartet from Dallas Symphony Orchestra that performed Sahba Aminikia’s composition, which was complex and layered, creating an interesting use of the strings against the choir, showing the clear influence of Persian classical music in the melodies and harmonies. Then ensemble sang the text in the original Farsi language, translated by Zara Houshmand, and incorporated the English recitation into the program.

Verdigris Ensemble is a Dallas vocal band pushing the boundaries of the choral medium through creative concert programming, unconventional use of space, and collaboration. With a mission to invest in the future generation of choral music, the organization also provides free music lessons and mentorship to the students at W.E. Greiner Exploratory Arts Academy. Keep in touch with Verdigris on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

WHAT’S A POP-UP GRANT?
We started our Pop-Up Grant program to shine a light on arts organizations creating programming that demonstrates exceptional quality, innovation, and accessibility safely, without skimping on the creative impact.

HOW DO YOU PICK THE RECIPIENTS?
Grant recipients are meticulously selected via a nomination process that incorporates 70+ anonymous volunteers. Nominations are made each month and a selection committee meets afterward to determine grantees based on our criteria above.

To learn more about Pop-Up Grants, please click here.

HEADER PHOTO: Cara Mia Theatre, To DIE:GO in Leaves, by Frida Kahlo, Photo by Ben Torres