CRITICAL BREAKS

CRITICAL BREAKS is a residency program for artists who are in a pivotal phase of developing new theater and/or performance work. The residency aims to provide artists with time and space to concentrate on a specific project and/or element of a project. This is an ideal for works that have already been started, and/or have perhaps received some institutional support, but are still in need of additional concentrated focus, funding and space.

Forms of work may include traditional theater, dance, performance and/or storytelling, or it may experiment with new technologies, movement, duration, site-specificity, hybridity, and more.

The residency period culminates with a WORK IN PROCESS [WIP]. [WIP] programs are designed in collaboration with the artist and Hi-ARTS.

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CRITICAL BREAKS ARTISTS

Artist

Maleek Rae

Maleek Rae is a multi-disciplinary artist from Detroit’s Eastside.
As a Hi-ARTS CRITICAL BREAKS Artist, Maleek will develop GUTTAH PART II: ecdysis, the second installment of the trilogy series set in Detroit that reframes life in the hood as one of royalty, spirit, and ceremony. The work employs music and movement to explore Black bloodlines, family, transness, and transformation. During their Hi-ARTS residency, Maleek will focus on developing Part II, deepening music as a foundational ceremonial practice.

Luz Lorenzana Twigg

Hi-ARTS CRITICAL BREAKS Artist Luz Lorenzana Twigg is a playwright, dramaturg, doula, and folk herbalist. Her practice explores diasporic identity, ritual, theatre as a living archive, as well as ancestral healing as the gateway for reimagined theatrical pedagogy and praxis.

Nikhil Mahapatra

Hi-ARTS CRITICAL BREAKS Artist Nikhil Mahapatra is a multi-disciplinary writer based in Brooklyn. They write about queerness/race/power/family/non-family/existence/politics, but most of all, where grief and joy meet together, which, as one audience member once said, had “mixed results, but I guess I liked it”.

Reynaldo Piniella

Reynaldo Piniella (he/him) is an actor, writer, activist and educator from East New York, Brooklyn. As a CRITICAL BREAKS Resident, Reynaldo is continuing the development of his WORK IN PROCESS Afroborinqueño.

Andrea Ambam

CRITICAL BREAKS Artist Andrea Ambam (she/her) is a storyteller and truthteller whose roots sprout from Cameroon. As a politically-engaged performance artist and writer who believes in the art’s potential for movement-building and transformative justice, Andrea puts narrative to use – creating theatrical experiences that world bend and record truth.

During her time in residence she will continue the development of TWELVE ANGRY BLACK WOMEN, a Black feminist re-interpretation of Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men wherein the United States of America is on trial and its fate lies in the hands of an all Black, all femme

Evelyn Tejeda

Evelyn Tejeda (she/her), originally from the Dominican Republic, is a Dominicana's Got Talent Semifinalist and a Founding Member of the Contemporary Dance National Company of the Dominican Republic, directed by Marianela Boan. During her time in residence as a CRITICAL BREAKS Artist, she will continue the development of Temporary Flesh.

Jay Saint Flono

As a CRITICAL BREAKS Artist in Residence, Jay’s will continue the development of Spirit in the Vine: A Sankopera. Spirit in the Vine: A Sankopera takes place in the mythic realm of Zaradús, drawing direct inspiration from the African-American folktale High John and Devil’s Daughter while expanding its lore. The story begins when a wise woman creates a baby of extraordinary magical ability for the childless rulers. Their joy, however, is darkened when the High Queen is suddenly murdered.

Alle Mims

Alle Mims (they/them) is a Black, biracial genderfluid artist living in NYC. They are a cultural archeologist and political satirist who writes about Black, Queer, and Radical History.

As a CRITICAL BREAKS Artist, Alle will continue the development of A Soviet Film on Negro Life in America. A Soviet Film on Negro Life in America is a satirical history play that uses masks and puppets to tell the unbelievable true story of the Soviet Film that almost changed the world.

Cheri L. Stokes

While in residence, Cheri will work on the development of Around the Way Gurl, a movement investigation that highlights and celebrates the cultural significance and the contributions of women in Bed-Stuy have made to Brooklyn and HipHop culture during the 1980s and 90s.

Curtis Turney

While in residence at Hi-ARTS, Curtis will continue the development of and addition of choreography to Homenaje a los Rumberos. Homenaje a los Rumberos is an original music composition that pays homage to the rich legacy of traditional Afro-Cuban Rumberos and serves as a heartfelt tribute to Rumbero's living and past.

CRITICAL BREAKS is intended for theater and performing artists. Artists must be willing and able to commit to 50 hours of development over a 4 week period.
All artists and residency collaborators must be able 18 years or older and legally allowed to work in the United States. All personnel are required to complete a W9 form in order to receive payment. If you have questions about student participation, citizenship, or other eligibility questions that are not answered in the FAQs below, please contact us at programs@hi-artsnyc.org.
Hi-ARTS considers an artist’s individual experiences, perspectives, and values with the same degree of care and attention that we pay to your creative portfolio. Both are considered alongside one another during the application process. We value artists who:
- respond to social justice themes and/or bring visibility to their lived experiences;
- innovate and push known aesthetics into new and dynamic interdisciplinary forms;
- create new original works that expand the perspectives traditionally represented in contemporary theater, performance, and other creative areas;
- value interaction with the community as a means of both developing content and providing broad public engagement;
- embody diversity along the lines of race, ethnicity, culture, gender, and sexuality;
- create boundary-pushing forms of expressive culture and aesthetic practice.
Hi-ARTS welcomes applications from all artists and strongly encourages Artists of the Global Majority to apply. For the 2026-2027 Residency Cohort, Hi-ARTS is prioritizing solo and duo projects.
Artists must complete an application form which includes a project description and/or proposal as well as work samples. Candidates can apply for both CRITICAL BREAKS and SKY LAB Residencies in the same application form.
Please note, the application form must be submitted in one sitting. Your answers do not save if you exit the application. Click here for an Application Preview.
The application asks for:
- Applicant Information: Applicat and Collaborator names and roles and basic information
- Project Information: Project overview and current stage of development
- ResidencyInformation: Ideal timeline and residency goals
- Budget Submission: Preliminary outline of needed resources and monetary allocation
- Work Samples: 1-3 examples of the applicant's work and/or the project
- Demographics: optional questions for statistic and funding purposes only
For questions, or assistance accessing any part of the application, please contact us at programs@hi-artsnyc.org.
General
- Rehearsal space at L10 Arts and Cultural Center (studio and theater)
- Artist Stipend
- Project Budget
- Residency Administrative Assistant
- WORK IN PROCESS Program
- Archival photo and video documentation
- Pre- and post-residency reflection and evaluation spaces
Creative
- Creative consultation and check-ins with Hi-ARTS staff
- Programmatic and curatorial support
- Administrative and scheduling support
- Collaborative marketing support
Financial & Administrative
- Budgetary advising and preparation support
- Financial Distribution (paying, etc.)
- Hiring Support (for both creative and technical collaborators)
- Personnel contracting
- Material purchasing and/or printing
Applications for the 2026-2027 Cohort of CRITICAL BREAKS and SKY LAB artists will open on June 1, 2026. The application deadline is June 30th, 11:59 PM. Artists will be notified of their status by August 3rd, 2026. Pre-residency administration will begin in mid-August, and the cohort will be publicly announced September 2026.
Residencies will take place in the months of: September 2026, October 2026, February 2027, March 2027, and April 2027. The application will ask you to specify which month(s) you prefer. We do our best to work and accommodate artist schedules, but do ask for flexibility.
To preview the application, please click here.
We recommend reading our Frequently Asked Questions. For any additional questions, please contact us at programs@hi-artsnyc.org. You can expect a response within 2-3 business days.