MISSION
TRIBE’s mission is to cultivate a space of discovery and a platform for artists – most specifically artists of color – with huge inspiration from the Afrofuturism movement. This movement states that we have a responsibility through our work to tell new stories and create a brighter future that is different, and shines more luminously, from our past.
Understanding that performance art and live art are practices of human connection, TRIBE acts nationally and internationally by developing art exchanges in collaboration with other artists and institutions, with a focus on the African diaspora.
Ultimately, TRIBE aims to bring audiences and communities into experiences that humanize Black and Brown bodies and share the colorfulness within Blackness that allows us to be multiplicitous.
ABOUT THE COLLECTIVE
TRIBE (TRI314 Multidisciplinary Visual Performances, d.b.a. TRIBE), is a Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary arts collective founded by MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellow Shamel Pitts in December 2019. The collective, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is composed of international and local artists working across mediums such as movement, choreography, lighting design, video mapping projection, poetry, spoken word, cinematography, scenography, dramaturgy, costume styling, and music composition.
TRIBE art projects include, but are not restricted to: movement-based work, live multidisciplinary performance, video art, video documentary, photography, exhibitions, commissioned dance choreography, art residencies, and workshops.
Members & Collaborators
FOUNDER & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Shamel Pitts
Artist, Choreographer, Performer,
Teacher
2026 United States Artists Fellow
2026 Jacob’s Pillow Men Dancers Award
2025 Strokes of Genius Fellow
2025 MOVE|NYC Artistic Trailblazer Honoree
2024 Bessie Award - Outstanding Choreographer/Creator
2024 MacArthur Fellow
2024 Doris Duke Artist Award
2024 Knight Choreography Prize
2024–25 CBA at NYU Artist Fellow
2023 Bessie Award Nominee
2021 Bessie Award Winner
2020 Guggenheim Fellow
2019 NYFA/NYSCA Fellow
2018 Princess Grace Award
Mirelle Martins
Creative Director, Founding Artist
Brittany Wilson
Managing Director
Eric Umble
Development Director
E Katrina Lewis
Artistic Administrator
Sarai Frazier
Artistic Production Manager, Lighting Designer
Lucca Del Carlo
Transmedia Artist, Video Light & Mapping Designer
Pam Panozzo
Digital Creative & Development Associate
Tushrik Fredericks
Performer, Stylist
Channce Williams
Performer
Edson Pavoni
New Media Artist
Ashley Pierre-Louis
Performer, Dramaturge
Marcella Lewis
Performer
Imani Gaudin
Performer
Dominica Greene
Performer
Ke’ron J. Wilson
Performer
Kris Lee
Performer
Itai Zwecker
Photographer, Cinematographer
Taylor Antisdel
Photographer, Cinematographer
The Adeboyé Brothers
Matthew Adeboyé & David Adeboyé
Photographers & Cinematographers
Alex Apt
Photographer
Sivan Jacobovitz
Musician, Composer
Mimi Lien
Scenic Design
Kaz Russell
Stage & Tour Manager
Chanel Pinnock
Stage Manager
Naomi Rapaport
Costume Designer
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MARCEL PRZYMUSINSKI – President
ALEXANDER KIPKA – Vice President
LOREN BAILEY – Treasurer
GLENN ALAN STISKAL – Secretary
TAYLOR BANKS – Board Member
SHAMEL PITTS – Board Member, Founding Artistic Director
CLAUDIA RANKINE – Board Member
For the past several years since leaving Batsheva Dance Company in 2016, I’ve been asked whether or not I would start a dance company. And I’ve always felt the answer to be no way! However, after the creation of my trilogy of works known as the BLACK Series, which engaged 11 artists from all over the globe, I realized that I had an immense passion towards creating space and giving platform for diverse artists to cultivate and share ideas through performance art. Each creation process became a revelation on my artistic directional path. It allowed me to focus my passion on what I already had, and that was a multidisciplinary performance arts TRIBE!
Art by: Synthia Saint James
GRANTS, PRIZES & AWARDS
American Dance Abroad
Arison Arts Foundation *
Artis Exhibition Grant
Audience Choice Award – Stockholm Fringe Festival
Best Out-of-Town Touring Production – ArtsATL
CROSS Award
Dance/NYC Dance Advancement Fund
Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant
The Harkness Foundation for Dance *
Howard Gilman Foundation *
Mellon Foundation *
Mid Atlantic Arts – USArtists International
National Performance Network – Creation, Development & Artist Engagement Fund
New England Foundation for the Arts – National Dance Project
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs *
New York Community Trust *
New York State Council on the Arts *
Princess Grace Foundation-USA
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
SHS Foundation *
The National Center for Choreography–Akron *
Trust for Mutual Understanding *
YoungArts Microgrant *
* Current funder
ART FESTIVALS
Adelaide Festival – Adelaide, Australia (2020)
Bates Dance Festival – Lewiston, ME (2024)
Belgrade Dance Festival – Belgrade, Serbia (2023)
BOFFO Performance Festival Fire Island – Fire Island Pines, NY (2023)
Cena Brasil Internacional – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2019)
COLOURS International Dance Festival – Stuttgart, Germany (2019)
CROSS Festival – Verbania, Italy (2019)
Fabbrica Europa – Florence, Italy (2019)
Fuori Festival – Spoleto, Italy (2019)
ImPulsTanz – Vienna International Dance Festival – Vienna, Austria (2018)
Infinite Dream Festival (Hancher) – Iowa City, IA (2024)
Let’s Dance International Frontiers (Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage) – Leicester, UK (2023, 2026)
Live Artery (New York Live Arts) – New York, NY (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
Live Ideas Festival (New York Live Arts) – Times Square, New York, NY (2021)
M1 CONTACT Contemporary Dance Festival – Singapore (2018)
Stockholm Fringe Festival – Stockholm, Sweden (2017)
ART RESIDENCIES
92Y Harkness Dance Center (2020–2021)
Baryshnikov Arts Center (2023)
Bridge Street Theatre (2021, 2022)
Catskill Mountain Foundation (2021)
CROSS Award Residency (2018)
Derida Dance Center (2018)
DOCK 11 & EDEN Studios (2017, 2018, 2019, 2025)
Gibney (2021)
gloATL (2018, 2019)
JACK (2022)
Jacob’s Pillow (2020)
Kaatsbaan Cultural Park (2025)
MASS MoCA (2026)
Miami Light Project (2021)
New York Live Arts – Live Feed Creative Residency (2020–2023)
Orsolina28 Art Foundation (2019, 2025)
Powerhouse Arts (2026)
PS21: Center for Contemporary Performance (2026)
Summer Stages Dance @ ICA/Boston (2024)
The Flea (2025–2027)
The Pocantico Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (2023)
UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance (2022)
YoungArts (2020)
FUNDING
Funding for specific works: Touch of RED, BLACK HOLE, Solace of RED, Marks of RED
Additional TRIBE commissioning, development and core operating support is provided by the TRIBE Board of Directors; Mellon Foundation; Arison Arts Foundation; Howard Gilman Foundation; Trust for Mutual Understanding; SHS Foundation; the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project with funding from the Doris Duke Foundation; Dance/NYC’s Dance Advancement Fund, made possible by the Howard Gilman Foundation and Ford Foundation; 92Y Harkness Dance Center; The Harkness Foundation for Dance; The National Center for Choreography–Akron; New York Community Trust; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
