It will take place from February 14 – 26, 2021.
Choreographer Adriana Pierce and dancers Remy Young and Sierra Armstrong, both from American Ballet Theatre, have joined the six previously-announced projects as part of a Dance Residency initiative at Hudson Valley's Bridge Street Theatre. Developmental work on #QueertheBallet will take place at the theatre, located in Catskill, NY, from February 14 - 26, 2021, during which time the artists will have exclusive access to all the theatre's resources, including its Mainstage, technical facilities, and on-site housing, as well as stipends to support their creative process - precious commodities during the current health crisis.
During the residency Adriana Pierce will start to create a non-traditional pas de deux on pointe that will serve as a loving testament to the unique and varied ways in which two women communicate and connect. For Pierce, LGBTQ+ women and their stories are egregiously missing from the ballet sphere, both onstage and off. "When I speak to queer women ballet dancers," she says, "the number one dream they (we) all have is to do pas de deux work with other women. This is simply not a common practice in ballet choreography, and, when it does occur, it's generally accomplished merely by using the physical partnering codes which already exist within ballet's binary gendered movement system. I want to create a duet for two women which honors their movement styles, physique, emotionality, and connection in a way that is not harnessed or codified by ballet's traditional technical ideals. I also feel it's imperative that audiences get to see genuine and thoughtful queer stories and relationships."Videos