Support Cleo Reed's Black American Circus

My name is Cleo Reed, and I am an artist, producer, composer, and performer. Alongside my friend and co-creative director Chanel Stone, I am seeking support to produce our first major stage production of Black American Circus at AFROPUNK Festival on August 26th, 2023. This is a performance-based musical work meant to revitalize Black rock music culture and provide a safe creative space for the Black circus and entertainment community.

Unfortunately, Afropunk's compensation doesn't cover the costs needed to support our full vision, so we are turning to our community for additional financial support in hopes of putting on our dream show. Typically, I would use my own revenue to cover this gap, as many independent artists do, but I will not be in this position because I am dedicating 100% of my time to the preparation and promotion of the Afropunk performance. Your donations will go directly towards ensuring equitable pay for all circus artists, musicians, and personnel involved.

We chose Afropunk as a venue to premiere the first major production of Black American Circus because of the festival's original history of creating a platform for Alternative Black art. Afropunk's version of the Circus will enable this piece to exist in museums, galleries, and creative spaces such as The Public Theater, MOCA, and more. When we made the work-in-process of this project at BRIC in January 2023, we took $2500 and turned to many of our community members for support. With only one rehearsal, I (Cleo) hand sewed our costumes (for the first time), and wore every hat possible to ensure that we could create the best show with every limitation in mind.

Your donation ensures that the Black American Circus can gain the visibility it needs and deserves to become an ever-expanding project.

The compensation provided so far will be able to cover our production costs and a fraction of our artist's fees. We're raising money to cover the remainder of our team's fees (both musicians & circus performers), costuming, rehearsal space, and more. See the full breakdown of costs below.

Any support that you can offer will help us accomplish our vision and put on the best performance possible.

Thank you,

Cleo Reed

About Black American Circus

In 2022, I was named BRIC’s youngest Artist-In-Residence. As a part of the residency, I presented my debut studio album “Root Cause” in the form of a narrative-driven, self-directed, multidisciplinary performance entitled “Black American Circus.” This project is an extension of my connection to my ancestry in the American South. Cleo was my great-grandmother, someone who lived during the vaudeville and nightlife eras that I've been studying about for these past two years. This project is a modern ode to 1910s vaudeville, circus, and nightlife acts, with references to Bauhaus, Pierrot, and revival tent framework. Performed with a five-piece band & a cast of characters, “Black American Circus” honors Black queer American artists & creatives across centuries.

Black American Circus, BRIC, January 2023:

Costs & Budget Breakdown

Goal: $7000

About Cleo Reed

Cleo Reed is a sound composer, performer, and multi-disciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Recently, they developed software instruments for Jon Batiste’s “American Symphony” at Carnegie Hall. Their debut album project, “Root Cause,” is out now and has received support from Bandcamp (Essential Releases), Vinyl Me, Please (Rising Series), Pitchfork, The Wire, OkayPlayer, amongst others. In addition to the release, Cleo presented “Root Cause” as a self-directed performance art piece titled “Black American Circus” as a part of BRIC’s Artist-In-Residence program. Cleo is also a recipient of the 2022 NYC Women’s Fund for Media Music and Theatre, a fellow as a part of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem’s Jazz is NOW: Curatorial Fellowship, and a selected composer as a part of the International Contemporary Ensemble’s “Call For ____” Commission Program. Cleo is an alumni of Harlem School of The Arts and a graduate of Berklee College of Music. At 19, Cleo Reed named themselves after Cleophus, their great-grandmother and a fellow Aquarius. Whether underground or academic, experimental or popular, they express musicianship guided by their radiance, femininity, and cyclical traumas.

Follow Cleo Reed

Instagram

Twitter

TikTok

YouTube

Our Team

About Chanel Stone

Chanel Stone is a performer, producer, choreographer, creator and skater based in Brooklyn, New York. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. She moved to NYC in 2015 to pursue her dreams of professional dance. She graduated in 2019 from LIU Brooklyn with a BFA in Dance. She has performed works by choreographers such as Stephen Petronio, Dwight Rhoden, Donald Byrd, and Alenka Cizmesija to name a few. In fall of 2019, she performed with the Donna Uchizono Dance Company at The Joyce Theatre NY Quadrille. In January 2020, Chanel joined Company XIV and has starred as the lead in 4 productions since. In April of 2021, she became a Resident Artist with Triskelion Arts where she was able to dive into her own creative potential. Chanel’s first solo show, (inner)bloom premiered in September of 2021, which coupled live performance art and film. Whilst a Resident Artist at Triskelion Arts, Chanel partnered with them in presenting Beyond the Black Box- an event and organization founded by her in Spring 2022. Beyond the Black Box (BBB) is an arts & culture organization that is dedicated to celebrating, honoring and healing the Black dance community by building connections and educating people through experiences. Chanel is also with Big Dance Theatre and will be performing at a new venue— Perelman Arts Center this Winter choreographed by Annie B Parson, Donna Uchizono, and Tendayi Kuumba. In addition to performing and choerogroahing, Chanel works as a movement director, choreographer creative producer for musicians Cleo Reed and Anna Wise.

About Nala

R&B/soul music, contemporary dance, and ecofuturism comprise Lamb's artistic vision: where the visceral meets the cerebral; where the natural enacts the synthetic. The musician, composer, choreographer, and director explores Blackness as the break that might rupture our attachments to Worlds, territories, and Man. Steeped in the aesthetic, conceptual, and political tradition of modern Black thinkers before them, Lamb's thesis is this: in a world wrought through violence, to salvage some beauty from it is to seek truth within it.

Notable works/recognition: Tribeca Film Festival Selection (LaJuné McMillian) [composer], Times Square Arts: Midnight Moment (McMillian) [dancer], FADER: "10 songs you need in your life," HEAR US Tisch Creative Research Award, Vans Channel 66 live performance, MUSE Danspace Residency. Website: https://www.biglittlelamb.com/

The Black American Circus Band

Malcolm Martin (Drums, Electronics)

Idris Frederick (Keys, Electronics)

Brooke Magidson (Guitar, Musical Direction)

Dandy McDowell (Bass)

The Black American Circus Performers

Twin Eclipse (Queen & Joni)

Brandon Looney