The Apollo Theater will support the development of 10 new projects under its first multi-work commissioning initiative, Apollo New Works. The inaugural series of commissions will be workshopped and presented in various stages of development at the Harlem theatre.

Among the recipients are Bessie Award-winning and Tony-nominated choreographer Camille A. Brown, who will create and perform a new dance-theatre work entitled Queens. Co-commissioned by The Joyce Theater, the satirical, “historic phantasmal fairytale” will be about the five boroughs of New York City.

Keith Josef Adkins of The New Black Fest will curate and produce 20 ten-minute plays by different playwrights. Writers will respond to an urgent prompt similar to past New Black Festival themes, such as “Hands Up” or “Facing our Truth.”

Black Gotham Experience, led by artist and historian Kamau Ware, will design a site-specific, immersive walking tour that centers on and celebrates the Harlem Renaissance and the Apollo’s rich history.

The other inaugural recipients are Ballet Hispánico; Haitian-American composer and violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain and the site-specific vertical performance artists BANDALOOP; movement artists and choreographers Lil Buck and Jon Boogz; artist and scholar Ebony Noelle Golden; New York-based multimedia group Soul Science Lab; five-time Grammy-nominated vibraphonist, educator, and thought leader Stefon Harris; and scholar, playwright, and director Talvin Wilks.

Next up at the Apollo, beginning in April, will be the Phylicia Rashad-helmed production of Charles Randolph-Wright and Nona Hendryx's Blue.