Mission Statement

When Caribbean people are portrayed in mainstream media, it often feels inauthentic. We don't sound like that! Braata was founded to develop a sense of pride, where Caribbean folks tell and sing their own stories, and can see themselves on stage through the incredible performers and artists.

The Story

Braata is an award-winning production company, home to theatrical productions as well as the popular Braata folk singers! We are bringing the Braata Folk Singer's concert Off-Broadway this year, with the goal of solidifying Braata's place as a top-shelf purveyor of performing arts, which also happens to be Caribbean.

As a Black and Brown-led organization founded just 15 years ago, we are often the first to be hit by budget cuts when the arts are defunded. So we are coming to you for help. Braata has always been people-powered. This is a new, ambitious chapter in our history — and like everything we do, it’s only possible thanks to you.

When Caribbean people are portrayed in mainstream media, it often feels inauthentic. We don't sound like that! Braata was founded to develop a sense of pride, where Caribbean folks tell and sing their own stories, and can see themselves on stage through the incredible (and well-known!) performers and artists.

WHO WE ARE

Braata Productions is dedicated to giving Caribbean and Caribbean-American artists a platform through which to showcase their work and talents. Braata Productions was founded in 2009 to bring Caribbean folk culture, music movement, stories, artists and theatre to the United States.

Our mission is to bring Caribbean folk culture, artists, music, stories, movement and theatre into prominent spaces while achieving greater recognition for our various art forms. We provide entertainment and education to our patrons and give voice to our diverse experiences, performers, writers and directors. We aim to represent with creative authenticity the folk culture of the Caribbean islands.

The company is a full-service professional production company, offering the highest quality theatrical and educational productions and programs to the tri-state area, as well as on tours. Since its inception, Braata Theatre Workshop has presented 20 productions from both established and up and coming artists.

PRAISE FOR BRAATA:

“A phenomenal theatrical experience” - The Amsterdam News: Not About Eve (December 14, 2012)
Nomination in Outstanding Performance in Art Direction for the New York Innovative Theatre Awards for Off-Off Broadway Theatre.

WHAT WE ARE DOING

For the first time, Braata is bringing its work Off Broadway! We’ve been supporting artist by and for our community for more than 14 years, and we want to give Caribbean folk culture a bigger platform and mainstream spotlight.

Our 3-week Off-Broadway run will feature a theatrical choral music concert from the Braata Folk Singers.

THE SHOW:

Braata Folk Singers has established itself among Jamaicans and others in the wider Caribbean Diaspora for its unique and dynamic presentation of the region's folk music, combining new choral arrangements with intricate choreography, design elements and costume. The Braata Folk Singers are proud ambassadors of and the foremost authority on Jamaican and Caribbean folk music performance in the United States. Braata has constantly wowed audiences on some of the most prestigious stages both locally and internationally and has reaped awards of excellence from the world’s most astute connoisseurs of choral music. The group has established itself among Jamaicans and others in the wider Caribbean Diaspora for its unique and dynamic presentation of the region's folk music, combining inspired choral arrangements with drama, intricate choreography, design elements and eye catching costume using traditional folk forms from the Caribbean region. The result is a theatrical presentation best described as “choral theater.”

WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP

A message from Andrew - Braata is a labor of love. Love for Caribbean folk culture, for artists, creators, and our community. It is a mission to tell our stories in authentic fashion on the biggest stages. Our stories are important and need to be told.

When we see our stories told and ourselves on stage, the pride we feel is unmatched. Watching people come together over the culture that means so much to me is a gift.

We started in 2009 with an idea. A group of friends in theatre from Jamaica decided to do a stage reading for Trevor Rhone’s “Positive,” and Braata Theatre Workshop was born. Some months later in a living room in Brooklyn, strangers came together because of a call from a Facebook post, and the Braata Folk Singers was born.

That same year, the theatre workshop presented it’s first fully mounted production of "Positive" at the now closed Spoon Theatre, and the following year, the Braata Folk Singers made their concert debut at the Lang Recital Hall in Manhattan.

Over the last decade and more we’ve been to stages as near as New Jersey, Connecticut, Atlanta and a far as Canada, St Kitts & Nevis and Trinidad & Tobago. The Braata Folk Singers won awards at the World Choir Games and Theatre Workshop have garnered much critical acclaim with three AUDELCO Award Nominations for Excellence in Black Theatre for “Not About Eve” in the categories: Best Ensemble, Best Production, and Best Playwright.

Off Broadway is next, where we will expand our reach, making sure the art is appreciated and uplifted by more people in the Diaspora and beyond!

Braata is people-powered. This is a new, ambitious chapter in our history — and like everything we do, it’s only possible thanks to you.

Braata Off-Broadway Fundraiser

Celebrating 15 Years of Elevating Culture

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