Meet the Pop-Ups for March and April
Announcing Our Newest Pop-Up Grant Recipients
TACA is thrilled to spotlight three exceptional Pop-Up Grant recipients! These dynamic productions celebrate a wide range of artistic expression, inviting us to rediscover familiar stories through fresh perspectives and immerse ourselves in the creativity of the Dallas arts community.
Big Heart Theater
Rhythm & Clues & Courage
Unrestricted Grant: $2,500 Pop-Up Grant
Artist Bonus Funds: $5,000 Artist Bonus Funding
Big Heart Theater’s Rhythm & Clues & Courage is an original musical play created and performed by a cast of eleven adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities about a mysterious break-in at a 1970s rhythm-and-blues club. The play, performed at Pleasant Grove Library theater, includes themes about independence, friendship, and standing up for what’s right.
Big Heart Theater empowers teens and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to create and perform one-of-a-kind theatrical experiences for themselves and their communities — forever redefining disabilities as possibilities.
- Nurtures a culture of celebration, belonging, and unlimited possibility.
- Differences are not just accepted but embraced.
- A place where prejudices, fears, and barriers dissolve.
- Centers the voices of our actors so they can stretch their creativity and share their unique stories and voices with the wider world.
- Shows are FREE for performers and audiences.
Big Heart Theater is a sanctuary of warmth and acceptance, where every creative heart finds a welcome home. Follow Big Heart Theatre on Facebook.
Indique Dance Company & AT&T Performing Arts Center
The Wedding is Fixed
Unrestricted Grant: $2,500 Pop-Up Grant
Artist Bonus Funds: $5,000 Artist Bonus Funding
The Wedding is Fixed is a comedic dance-theater production that tells the heartwarming story of a modern-day Indian family navigating the emotions and unexpected twists that come with planning a wedding. This production also features an ensemble of local dancers, UTD’s Dhunki A Capella, and work by SMU film students.
Founded in 2008 by Latha Shrivatsa, Indique Dance Company operates as a collective comprised of dancers who have the shared mission of creating and presenting elegant productions based on contemporary, relevant themes through a blend of Indian Classical Dance, folk dance, and modern dance styles while maintaining the highest level of artistic integrity. The company includes dancers from a variety of technical backgrounds; each a creative artist in their own right. Indique members create collaboratively, independently, and in tandem to produce stunning new works, inspire conversation, expand their potential, and achieve creative distinction. Keep in touch with Indique Dance Company on Facebook and Instagram.
The Elevator Project is a series of performances by Dallas-based arts groups, presented on the AT&T Performing Arts Center campus. The series provides performance space in the Dallas Arts District to local talent, while giving audiences exposure to the vibrant arts scene around them. Drawing from all genres of performing arts, the projects are chosen through an annual submission process and curated by an independent panel of arts professionals. The Elevator Project was created in 2014 by the AT&T Performing Arts Center and is presented with generous support from the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.
There is no better place to explore and experience live performing arts than the AT&T Performing Arts Center in the Dallas Arts District. On its vibrant 10-acre downtown campus, the nonprofit Center operates three of the nation’s finest performance venues: the Winspear Opera House (the best stage for Broadway in North Texas), Wyly Theatre, Strauss Square and the welcoming public green space, Sammons Park. Keep in touch with AT&T Performing Arts Center on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
Uptown Players
We Are Continuous
Unrestricted Grant: $2,500 Pop-Up Grant
Artist Bonus Funds: $5,000 Artist Bonus Funding
Harrison David Rivers’ We Are Continuous is the story of Simon, a gay Black man; Ora, his devout Christian mother; and Simon’s husband, Abe. Together, they navigate the complexities of love, identity, forgiveness, and the resilience required to heal fractured relationships and embrace the enduring ties that bind us all.
Uptown Players believes in the power of storytelling to inspire, educate, and elevate the human experience. For over 20 years, they have been at the forefront of LGBTQ+ theatre, producing thought-provoking performances that resonate with audiences from all walks of life. Their commitment to authenticity, inclusivity, and artistic excellence has made us a beacon in the cultural landscape. Follow Uptown Players at Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube.
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 over 60 anonymous volunteers. Nominations are made each month and a selection committee meets afterward to determine grantees based on our criteria above.