The Joyce Theater Foundation presents ballet artists “breaking the boundaries of the binary,” said a Joyce Theater Foundation spokesperson, with the premiere of #QueertheBallet’s Animals & Angels, under the artistic leadership of choreographer and founder Adriana Pierce.
Created, performed, and filmed entirely by a team of LGBTQ+ artists led by #QueertheBallet’s founder Adriana Pierce and cinematographer Emma Penrose, the work is described by a Joyce Theater Foundation spokesperson as an “affectionate and sensitive depiction of the blossoming of a queer relationship that honors the female dancers’ emotional and physical connections to each other. Allowing two women to experience through dance the first moments of intimacy without remaining beholden to traditional ballet’s gender roles, Animals & Angels brings inclusion with integrity and pride performed by Audrey Malek and Cortney Taylor Key to the world of classical dance.”
Choreographer Adriana Pierce created the initiative #QueertheBallet to “broaden the definition and representation of classical ballet to meaningfully include LGBTQ+ narratives and creative voices. Focusing on queer women and non-binary dancers in ballet, #QueertheBallet explores choreographic connections often absent from ballet stages and seeks to queer our ballet spaces with intention, authenticity, and pride. By developing and producing works by queer artists, providing aid and support for LGBTQ+ dancers and creators, and promoting and facilitating outreach and education, #QueertheBallet hopes to expand ballet partnering and choreography, open new models of ballet gender representation, shift perspective, inspire conversation, and include communities that have not seen themselves represented on ballet stages.”
