Pennsylvania Ballet and Mural Arts Philadelphia Announce SPREAD YOUR WINGS Spring Exhibition

Pennsylvania Ballet, in partnership with Mural Arts Philadelphia, announces the opening of a new public art exhibition, Spread Your Wings at Cherry Street Pier on the Delaware River Waterfront. The free public exhibition is a dynamic display of photography, video, an indoor mural, and live performances. The exhibition opens on Friday, May 7, 2021, at Cherry Street Pier, coupled with a free live performance by the Pennsylvania Ballet II. The exhibition is meant to spread the joy of movement to all Philadelphians.

Media are invited to a press preview of the exhibition and performance on Thursday, May 6, at 1 pm at Cherry Street Pier, 121 North Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia.

Spread Your Wings Mural by David McShane

The Spread Your Wings exhibit will run at Cherry Street Pier from Friday, May 7 until Sunday, June 6. See Mural Arts Philadelphia Artist David McShane's newest mural as part of the exhibition, inspired by Shawn Theodore's photography featuring Pennsylvania Ballet company dancers. Also on display will be large scale photography of these dancers by Vikki Sloviter, Arian Molina, and Shawn Theodore as well as a video directed by Michael Candelori.

"Spread Your Wings is an exciting project for Pennsylvania Ballet," stated Sarah Cooper, Director of Community Engagement for the Pennsylvania Ballet. "The idea behind this project is that everyone can connect to the beauty of dance no matter what their interests are, and we want the opportunity for people to do just that. Movement is universal, and we simply want people to notice and celebrate it with the help of prominent Philadelphia cultural partners."

The Opening Night on Friday, May 7, at Cherry Street Pier, will include a live performance by the Pennsylvania Ballet II at 7 pm. Choreographer Maria Konrad uses the backdrop of Philadelphia's rich artistic community to create new, vibrant choreography for the event. Dancing to the soundtrack of original classical, spoken word, electronic and jazz music, Konrad attempts to encapsulate the intangible grit, joy, and energy of the city in PHrenetic. The performance is in collaboration with underground Philadelphia musicians and artists. Following opening night, Pennsylvania Ballet II will be performing a matinee at 2 pm on Saturday, May 8.

"At Mural Arts Philadelphia, we love collaborating with other arts groups to share messages of hope and healing," said Mural Arts Philadelphia Executive Director Jane Golden. "The bringing together of visual arts and movement is inspiring to all of us, and we look forward to having Philadelphians experience this powerful combination with the talented dancers of the Pennsylvania Ballet."

Making dance personal and accessible, the Pennsylvania Ballet's Spread Your Wings encompassed a variety of activities that encourage creativity and personal engagement with dance and storytelling. Through the visual arts, photography, choreography, and creative writing opportunities, Spread Your Wings is about equipping Philadelphians to engage with art-making and movement, to become agents of their own creative experience.

Partners for Spread Your Wings are Pennsylvania Ballet, Mural Arts Philadelphia, Cherry Street Pier/Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, Fleisher Art Memorial, Big Picture Alliance, Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus, Art Reach, and Mighty Writers. Funding is provided by Reliance Standard Life Insurance.