ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
ONE WHALE’S TALE is a multidisciplinary arts incubator that fosters independent work with emerging and established artists. We create decentralized ecosystems that give artists agency over their ideas, stories, voices and ancestry.
We work with many communities, approaching collaboration through dialogue, exploration and mutual aid. Our work is responsive to the needs we uncover in our community and often uses containers like cultural festivals, ceremonies, and nightlife events to address complex issues. Our work incorporates bold colors, live music, food, and participatory elements for the audience.
We prioritize fair pay for all collaborators.
One Whale’s Tale is guided by Magical Urbanism, an aesthetic we’ve developed, which examines how the ancient traditions of our company members and collaborators exist within a modern urban landscape.
ELLPETHA TSIVICOS (Director, Co-Creator)
Ellpetha Tsivicos is a Cypriot-American artist, director, curator and producer who makes lively subversive, dialogical and immersive work in community gardens, public parks, NYC waterways, and the occasional theater. She is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Drama with a Minor in Art & Public Policy. She has conceived and curated and creative produced the inaugural season of Sugar, Sugar! along with Public Assembly.
Ellpetha leads a creative arts healing program I Wish I Knew How where she mentors a community of formerly incarcerated people, is the co-founder of the Brooklyn Cumbia Festival, and continues her lifelong advocacy for her homeland as the founder of The Cyprus Foundation. She has also directed and produced a number of short films, documentaries, and music videos. Her production of QUINCE in August of 2020 became the first live theatre to happen in New York City during the COVID pandemic establishing her as a leading voice in immersive, site-specific and large-scale performance.
Ellpetha has created work with and at Lincoln Center, The Public Theater, The SHED, The People’s Garden, the Bushwick Starr, the TEAM, Onassis Stegi, Phaneromenis 70, the cell Theatre, the Goethe Institute, Double Edge Theatre, We Are Here, the Exponential Festival, PS 1, and Art Basel. Her work has been supported by the Brooklyn Arts Council, A.R.T./New York, Humanities New York, NYSCA, the City Parks Foundation, the Venturous Theater Fund and the Citizens Committee for New York City.
CAMILO QUIROZ-VÁZQUEZ (Playwright, Co-Creator)
Co-founder, writer, and producer of One Whale’s Tale, Camilo has created work through Lincoln Center (Quince, The Public Theater, The SHED, the Bushwick Starr, the TEAM, Onassis Stegi, the cell Theatre, Double Edge Theatre, We Are Here, and as part of the Exponential Festival.
Camilo leads the grant writing team for One Whale’s Tale, collaboratively receiving funding from the Venturous Theater Fund, A.R.T./New York, the Brooklyn Arts Council, NYSCA, Humanities New York, CitizensNYC, the Foundation for Contemporary Art, the Awesome Foundation, the City Parks Foundation, and entering into the semi-final round of the O'Neill Playwrights Conference.
Camilo loves Cumbia music and has spearheaded the development of the Brooklyn Cumbia Festival, bringing together artists from Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Los Angeles, Denver and Houston.
CREDITS:
Directed by Ellpetha Tsivicos
Written by Camilo Quiroz-Vázquez
Created + Produced by One Whale’s Tale
