The BIPOC Acro Collective Care Ecosystem
Take Power, Make Power
Residency Program
Take Power, Make Power is an interdisciplinary residency program, spanning 7 months, that empowers BIPOC acrobats with tools to develop and amplify their artistic voices, while building and sustaining skills for their semi-professional, professional, or/and personally fulfilling creative acrobatic practice.
Program Overview
Art is historically the most powerful form of propaganda, and it is critical to our cultural landscape that those most targeted by systemic oppression are resourced to share their stories in ways that can reach and impact wider audiences, through creation processes rooted in cultural context, peer-based interdisciplinary sharing, and artistic self determination.
TPMP resources BIPOC acrobatic artists with tools to combat the colonial culture we exist under in the so-called “United States” that endeavors to strip BIPOC of their bodily autonomy and imagination, silence marginalized artists, and center White supremacist value systems when analyzing and crafting artistic work.6-8 acrobats will be selected to attend the inaugural TPMP residency, which will be held remotely via zoom April through September, 2025, and will culminate in an in-person, three-day training in San Francisco (venue TBD) Oct 17th - 20th, followed by a show creation intensive and three final performances at ODC Theatre in San Francisco, Oct 21st - 26th, 2025.
What do residents receive?
An unrestricted, minimum $500 stipend
24+ hours of remote artistic workshops and mentorship from BIPOC mentoring artists April-September 2025
Recorded sessions of workshops and any additional materials offered by mentoring artists
12+ hours of cohort and small group mentorship from a BIPOC artistic director and creative doula April-September 2025, within a virtual ensemble building space
Invitation to optional, in-person jams and training sessions leading up to the intensive
10+ hours of personalized, acrobatic instruction from world-renowned BIPOC coaches, as a part of the week-long in-person intensive
20+ hours of in-person ensemble show development and rehearsal, facilitated by the artistic director and doula, plus open rehearsal/training time
Full production of three shows, plus documentation of all shows and panel discussion at the acclaimed ODC Theater in San Francisco
The option to apprentice the TPMP project manager and administrators to gain more insight and skills regarding project management, production, tech, marketing, and more
Promotion across BACCES and community partner social platforms, including the San Francisco Arts Commission, ODC Theater, and Independent Arts & Media
A resource packet including offerings from community partners, ongoing opportunities, and consolidated information relevant to acrobatic training, creating, and producing artistic and cultural work
How is this residency adjudicated?
This residency is adjudicated by members of the The BIPOC Acro Collective Care Ecosystem, with input from external contractors who will be working closely with residents. If a part of an acrobatic duo, trio, or group, each person must submit an application individually.
Who can apply?
All Take Power, Make Power residents must:
Identify as BIPOC
Have a current, consistent partner or group acrobatics practice
Have a desire to connect with other BIPOC acrobats, artists, and social change makers
Have a desire to create artistic work that shares their lived experience, and/or promotes a meaningful message, in alignment with the program’s vision and offerings
Have a curiosity/desire towards learning experimental and cross-disciplinary artistic practices
Have a curiosity/desire towards devising acrobatic performance with a cohort of BIPOC acrobats
Be able to commit to six hours per month of online residency workshops April - September, 2025
Be able to commit to being in an intensive training and creation process, and perform in three public shows in San Francisco October 17 - 26th, 2025
What else is considered?
For our first year, TPMP will be prioritizing applicants who are local to the San Francisco Bay Area (within a 50 mile radius), with a long-term dream to expand to become an annual or bi-annual national program.TPMP takes into consideration any additional information applicants feel called to share about their social location such as race, ethnicity, economic status/class history, gender, sexuality, disability status, religious and cultural practice, and/or criminalized experience/experience with the carceral system; we recognize that all of us are impacted by White supremacist colonial capitalism, and that the impact is greater for those at multiple intersections of oppression, and we therefore strive to resource applicants who are least likely to receive opportunities such as this one.
Why Acrobats?
Partner and group acrobatics is unique as an artistic discipline, in that it is not possible to do without collaboration, and requires us to ask, "what can we do together that we could not do by ourselves?" The TPMP residency believes that acrobatics is an inherently powerful performance language with the potential to catalyze deeper thinking and social change. As with most artistic and movement disciplines in the so-called “United States,” BIPOC acrobats face systemic and social barriers that often prevent them from accessing further education, training, funding, and other resources to support their practice. American circus in particular has a history rooted in the exploitation of and violence towards impoverished Black, Brown, and Asian people; White supremacy culture remains prevalent in contemporary circus as well, within both the “recreational” and “professional” spheres. Reparations, resource redistribution, and opportunities centering BIPOC circus artists are long overdue.
Timeline & Residency Details
Timeline Overview
November 2024: Applications Open
January 2025: Applications Close
March 2025: Residents, creative and administrative staff, and mentoring artists announced
April - September 2025: Virtual workshops, mentorship, and ensemble building sessions
October 17th - 26th, 2025: In-person residency and performances
November - December, 2025: Post-residency reflections
During the remote portion of the program (April - Sept),
residents will receive 6 hours of workshops and mentorship each month:
A two hour workshop with a seasoned BIPOC artist - these mentoring artists span all disciplines of live performance, with a focus on creating experimental, immersive, and impactful performance that catalyzes shifts in audience perspectives, and creates tangible social change. These workshops will provide residents with a variety of tools to tap into the stories they feel called to share, develop their creative voice, experiment with different performance languages, and merge new storytelling and cultural practices with acrobatics. These monthly workshops will also be open to the public on a paid, sliding-scale basis, with the proceeds being split between the teaching artist and BACCES. Residents will be provided with recordings of each workshop, and any supplemental materials provided by the mentoring artists.
A two hour mentorship session - In addition to the two hour skill sharing workshops, the resident cohort will receive an additional two hour mentorship session from each mentoring artist. These sessions are open for the residents, TPMP artistic doula, and residency director only. In these sessions, residents can connect on a deeper level with the mentoring artists, ask further questions, and receive dedicated time and attention in service of expanding their creative practice and critical analysis of artistic work, in alignment with their curiosity and desires, in a BIPOC-only space.
A two hour integration session - At the end of each month, the resident cohort will meet with the TPMP artistic doula and/or residency director to share how they have been reflecting on and integrating the teachings from that month’s mentoring artist. Additionally, these sessions help prepare residents for the in-person intensive and show creation process; residents can discuss their visions for the final performance, show works-in-progress, and offer/receive feedback from the cohort, artistic doula, and director.
The residency will culminate in an in-person, 3-day training in San Francisco (venue TBD) Oct 17th - 20th, followed by a show creation intensive and three performances
at ODC Theater in San Francisco, Oct 21st - 26th, 2025.
During the three day training and beginning of the creation intensive, the residents will receive personalized acrobatic coaching from world-renowned BIPOC instructors. They will also attend devising sessions with the artistic doula and director, who will guide them as they put the tools they’ve learned over the course of the residency into practice, culminating in a full-length, cross-disciplinary acrobatic show.
At the end of this intensive, residents will perform three showings of their devised piece: one free showing for BIPOC community members followed by a community discussion, and two ticketed, public performances. The workshops and performances will be documented for the residents’ personal and professional use after the program concludes.
Sounds Great! How do I apply?!
Submit the Jotform linked below!Alternatively, You are welcome to submit a video or audio application by recording yourself answering the questions just as you would on the form, then emailing a link to [email protected]. You can also download a PDF with the full program description and application questions here.Please only submit ONE application - via video OR audio OR jotform. If you are in an acrobatic partnership or group, each person must submit their own application.APPLICATION DEADLINE:
January 13th, 2025 at 12AM EST
Take Power: TPMP advocates beyond simply seeking “inclusion” of BIPOC acrobats in artistic spaces; rather, this residency centers holistic support of BIPOC circus artists.
This is realized by redirecting resources- including money, time, space, connections, and knowledge- directly to our residents, based on their requests.
Throughout the residency, the TPMP team will conduct outreach to our networks of artists, producers, community partners, and potential funders to direct a diversity of resources into the program.
Additionally, we will consistently check in with the residents to ensure the resources we are offering are aligned with their visions, desires, and artistic goals.
Make Power: Throughout the program, in addition to pedagogical workshops, residents will have ample space to connect with each other, the artistic mentors, and TPMP staff.
We offer space for residents to dream, discuss, and further their artistic practice in community as they integrate their learnings.
We offer direct lines of communication to the administrators of the program, and the opportunity for residents to shadow the “behind the scenes” production and administration of the residency, if they are interested in building those skills.
We center relationship building and transparency, so that residents can exit the program feeling empowered with new tools to build collective power in their extended communities by amplifying their artistic voices and visions for the future.
Values we are centering as the TPMP production team
We are taking this opportunity to invest in artists first; people are more beautifully complicated than the constructs of money or time can make space for. We will never be able to unwind all of capitalism’s constrictions, but we have the power to loosen the grip. If it doesn’t serve the people, it doesn't serve our purpose.
We will lead this project this with patience and care; we will not allow urgency to overcome our process. We always have time, it comes to us in abundance. We have done much more with much less.
This project will not be perfect. Perfection does not exist; but we can ask ourselves: is this nourishing for all involved? Whose desires are being heard, centered, and fulfilled? How can we bring more connection, creativity, and joy into the process? We are always learning, what a gift.
Get in touch - support tpmp!
This project is only possible through the generous support from the San Francisco Arts Commission, ODC Theater, and our fiscal sponsor, Independent Arts & Media.You can join us in empowering BIPOC acrobatic artists by making a fully tax deductible donation at bacces.org/donate. Make sure to mention TPMP in your Message of Support!Interested in sponsoring the program, offering other kinds of support, or collaborating in a different way?
Reach out to us at [email protected]!
