August 4, 2021
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Media Contact:
Diana Roth, Senior Communications Manager
roth@trustarts.org | 412-471-8717
2021-2022 Pittsburgh Dance Council Assets
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Announces
Pittsburgh Dance Council
2021-2022 Season
Celebrating its 51st Anniversary of Presenting Exceptional
Contemporary Dance Companies, Choreographic Works & Performers-From Around the Globe!
Pittsburgh, PA−Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announces the Pittsburgh Dance Council 2021-2022 Season, celebrating its 51st year, opens in November 2021 at the Byham Theater and wholeheartedly welcomes everyone back to the Cultural District to experience being a part of live performances again on stage.
Randal Miller, Director of Dance Programming and Special Projects for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust shares, “This 51st season of dance will feature a diversity of artists to entertain, connect, challenge, and reframe the understanding of our community as it relates to the content of these works and dance as an art form. The lineup includes some artists whose performances were canceled due to the pandemic and several new ones including two U.S. premiere engagements. I am very excited to relaunch the Pittsburgh Dance Council series with the opening event by Pittsburgh native Kyle Abraham and his company A.I.M in partnership with the Kelly Strayhorn Theater.”
“It is an honor to support dance through this long-standing series and the 51st season will continue this legacy by showcasing some of America's most established and respected movement artists alongside emerging international companies. It will also include a large scale outdoor and site-specific work that has become a trademark of the Pittsburgh Dance Council and our goal to reframe how our community perceives dance,” comments Mr. Miller.
Pittsburgh Dance Council 2021-2022 Season
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham (United States)
Saturday, November 13, 2021
8:00 p.m.
Byham Theater
Presented by Pittsburgh Dance Council in partnership with Kelly Strayhorn Theater
An Untitled Love
An Untitled Love is Kyle Abraham’s newest evening-length work. Drawing from the catalogue of Grammy Award-winning R&B legend D’Angelo, this creative exaltation pays homage to the complexities of self-love and the Black love, while serving as a thumping mixtape celebrating our culture, family, and community
Led by Artistic Director and Pittsburgh native Kyle Abraham, whose accolades include being named a 2013 MacArthur Fellow and 2016 Doris Duke recipient, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham creates work that is galvanized by Black history and culture, and characterized by a sensual and provocative vocabulary that is informed by a vital blend of artistic influences.
This engagement is presented in partnership with the Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) and will include a full week of residency activities, events and performances centered around Mr. Abraham as part of KST's My People Festival which celebrates BIPOC queer and trans-people of color. KST’s festival will conclude with the Pittsburgh Dance Council 2021-2022 season opening presentation of Mr. Abraham’s newest work, An Untitled Love, at the Byham Theater. For more information about KST’s My People Festival, please visit kelly-strayhorn.org.
Botis Seva | Far From The Norm (United Kingdom)
Friday, February 18, 2022
8 p.m.
Byham Theater
BLKDOG
U.S. Premiere Tour
Vital and gripping, BLKDOG is Botis Seva’s Olivier award winning, haunting commentary on surviving adulthood as a childlike artist. A genre-defying blend of hip hop dance and free form antics, BLKDOG explores the inner battlefield of an aging artist trying to retain his youth.
With music from long standing collaborator Torben Lars Sylvest and performed by Botis’ powerhouse company Far From The Norm, BLKDOG searches for coping mechanisms in the ultimate hunt for acceptance.
Pilobolus (United States)
April 9, 2022
Byham Theater
8:00 p.m.
BIG FIVE-OH!
For this fiftieth anniversary celebration, Pilobolus questions its own “givens,” turns its traditions sideways, and brings its past into the future – in a thoroughly engaging new way. As fresh and vibrant as ever, Pilobolus – that feisty arts organism– puts the “Oh!” in BIG FIVE OH!, and continues to morph its way thrillingly into audiences’ hearts and minds. The celebration includes signature works from vintage classics to their trend setting innovative work in shadow. For more information, visit pilobolus.org.
Complexions Contemporary Ballet (United States)
May 7, 2022
8:00 p.m.
Byham Theater
Bach 25 and Woke
Combining technical precision, power and passion, Complexions Contemporary Ballet transcends tradition in a groundbreaking mix of styles ranging from ballet to hip hop. Founded by Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden, former members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the company has been featured several times on the hit show So You Think You Can Dance.
Showcasing the company’s dynamism, the evening’s program features two contrasting pieces: Bach 25, a fast-paced, jubilant work celebrating the music of classical composer Johann Sebastian Bach, and Woke, a sociopolitical work set to a remix of music by Kendrick Lamar, Logic, Drake, Diplo, and more.
Motionhouse (United Kingdom)
June, 2022
Times/Location: to be announced, free and open to the public
Special Event, Part of the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, a production of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
Torque
U.S. Premiere
Outdoor genre-bending adventure
Motionhouse creates world class dance-circus productions that tour extensively to rave reviews across the globe. Their stunning productions integrate athletic physicality, powerful narrative, and an emotive sound score, taking inspiration from common human concerns and our connection to the world in which we live.
A whirlwind of excitement and thrilling entertainment for all ages, Torque is a fast-paced show which sees four performers dancing in an extraordinary partnership with two JCB construction vehicles in a display of strength and agility. The piece premiered at the International Dance Festival Birmingham in 2016 and will make its U.S. debut during the 2022 Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival.
Motionhouse is supported by Arts Council England with additional support from Warwick District Council and is a Hippodrome Associate Artist.
Tickets
Single tickets (as low as $10) for the Pittsburgh Dance Council 2021-2022 Season (51st presenting season) will be available at a later date at TrustArts.org/DANCE, by calling Guest Services 412-456-6666.
Subscription packages are available for $40-$220. To subscribe, call 412-456-1390. Groups of 10 or more tickets, please call 412-471-6930. For more information visit, TrustArts.org/DANCE.
Information about Know Before You Go: Health and Safety Protocols, visit: TrustArts.org/Health.
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The Pittsburgh Dance Council joined the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust as a programming division in 2002. The mission of Pittsburgh Dance Council is to bring the best contemporary dance companies from around the world to the Cultural District. Each season, Pittsburgh Dance Council presents diverse, world-class contemporary works, including U.S. and world premieres.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has overseen one of Pittsburgh’s most historic transformations: turning a seedy red-light district into a magnet destination for arts lovers, residents, visitors, and business owners. Founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit arts organization whose mission is the cultural and economic revitalization of a 14-block arts and entertainment/residential neighborhood called the Cultural District. The District is one of the country’s largest land masses “curated” by a single nonprofit arts organization. A major catalytic force in the city, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a unique model of how public-private partnerships can reinvent a city with authenticity, innovation and creativity. Using the arts as an economic catalyst, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has holistically created a world-renowned Cultural District that is revitalizing the city, improving the regional economy and enhancing Pittsburgh’s quality of life. Thanks to the support of foundations, corporations, government agencies and thousands of private citizens, the Trust stands as a national model of urban redevelopment through the arts.
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