Duane Binion is the Co-Creator of True T Pittsburgh (PGH), a Pittsburgh-based 501-c3 organization that serves the LGBTQIA+ Community of Color through creative art & entertainment, social activism, and meaningful resource sharing. He is a social change-maker, producer of art, and community leader working to build social awareness for LGBT+ POC and community members of the iconic underground Ballroom scene for over 10+ years. Duane is a 2013-2014 Pittsburgh Public Ally Alum, and former Producer at Pittsburgh’s historic Kelly Strayhorn Theater. Through his 5 year tenure with the theater, Duane has adapted a diverse background in arts management, program development, community engagement, marketing, media, and performance art. Under the curatorial leadership of then-Executive Director of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater; janera solomon, he has managed projects for an exciting mix of artists including; Carmen de’ Lavellade, David Rousseve, Bill Shannon, Thaddeus Phillips, Staycee Pearl Dance Project, slowdanger, and more! Duane has a passion for creating platforms that aid in dismantling the negative stereotypes and portrayals of black and brown queer people. In 2019 he was awarded his first Advancing Black Arts grant by the Pittsburgh Heinz Foundation to create a new project highlighting the rich creativity of the underground ballroom scene. He has served on a number of panels and committees, and most recently was recognized by Coro Pittsburgh with the 2019 Distinguished Coro Alumni Leadership Award.

Rickia Davenport is a native of Pittsburgh’s Hill District and South Hills areas. She has been shaping the lives of students through dance and fitness for over 12 years. Rickia has always had a love and passion for dance, even when the path was difficult to navigate. She began to realize that dance not only helped to shape who she was becoming, but also allowed her the freedom to dream. Her life journey is reflected in her teaching methods. Rickia has a strong background in Hip-Hop, Ballet, Contemporary Dance and Fitness. Ms. Davenport attended Potomac State College in West Virginia where she performed in the musical “Chicago”. She has taught for dance schools and companies throughout the city of Pittsburgh and surrounding regions. Currently, Rickia serves as the Arts Education director with K-Theatre Dance Complex and is a lead Dance Instructor for Propel Charter Schools. She has also cultivated dance partnerships with Voices against Violence, Gwen’s Girls, Dance Junction, Be Healthy Be Smart Fitness and more! Aside from the networks of dance Rickia has developed, she is also the proud CEO of Kai FiTT. Kai FiTT focuses on fitness, mental wellness and health. “Sometimes its the Journey that teaches you a lot about your Destination”.

Kontara Morphis is a native of Pittsburgh, PA. She is a resilient visionary who has an undying passion for the arts. Kontara is the Artistic Director of K-Theatre Dance Complex, a Dance Academy that provides quality dance instruction in several major areas of dance, which include Ballet, Contemporary, Modern and Hip Hop. The Academy’s curriculum also incorporates Dance Theory, Terminology and Dance Theater. KTDC has largely impacted the physical, academic, creative, and personal development of its’ students. Kontara has led choreographic works for The Kelly Strayhorn Theater, The Dance Alloy, Propel Schools, Pittsburgh Public Schools, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, The University of Dayton, Wright State University, and more. Kontara has served as the Assistant Artistic Director of REED Dance in Pittsburgh, PA. Currently Kontara is contracted with Propel Charter Schools as a dance instructor. She is pursuing her bachelor’s degree at La Roche University as a Dance Education major.

We Got Next – An American History Story,  focuses on Black American History. The work pays homage to those that were the “First”’, regardless of the risks and fear. Although laying the foundation is hard and necessary, those that pick up where they left off is extremely important. The next generation is here and ready to become the next politicians, lawyers, doctors, leaders, and so much more we just have to continue showing them the line of leaders they came from.

Alumni Theater Company (ATC) is a year-round program providing talented Black youth in grades 6-12 with high quality performing arts training and a platform to express their ideas. ATC is currently in its 15th season of creating bold theatrical work that gives fresh voice to the experience of young Black artists and highlights their rich contribution to our community. 

Jacquea Mae is an international singer, actress & spoken word artist that has graced the stage and has featured at many venues, theatrical productions and engagements throughout Pittsburgh, Switzerland, Ghana and beyond. Ms. Mae continues to receive rave reviews for her powerful, often passionate, free, from the gut and soulful performances.

Through the generous support of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Jacquea Mae created & performed Steel In My Veins for Freshworks 2022, a story about being a Black woman in Pittsburgh. With steel instead of blood in her veins, the world tells her that she must carry it when she wants to just be. The work takes the audience on the journey of a Black woman who comes to terms with exhaustion, self-sacrifice, and deciding to save herself – no matter what the world tells her.

Hill Dance Academy Theatre (HDAT), a Pittsburgh Cultural Treasure is a 501c3 non-profit organization located in the Historic Hill District of Pittsburgh, PA., founded in 2005 by Ayisha Morgan-Lee, Ed.D. to provide children, youth, and teens, ages 3 to 18, access and opportunity to dance. ​HDAT trains students ages 3 – 18 in various styles of concert dance, fitness and nutrition, and leadership skills. HDAT’s mission is to provide professional level training in Black Dance traditions, history, culture, and aesthetics that engages and empowers students to pursue careers in Black dance. HDAT’s developmentally designed curriculum is rooted in Black Traditions of Dance while creating a holistic approach to Dance with a curriculum that uses Dance as the core and the skills and knowledge of other Artistic professions and careers that support Dance such as Theater, Technology and Writing.

In 2007, HDAT established Ju.B.Lation, Spirit Filled Feet, a multi-generational Liturgical Dance Pre-Professional Company that uses Sacred Dance to celebrate the Cultural and Spiritual traditions of the Black Church experience. Ju.B.Lation is a pre-professional company that provides performance opportunities for dancers and greater exposure to Black Dance in the Pittsburgh region and nationally. HDAT is committed to empowering children, youth and teens to develop techniques, and skills that facilitate achievement and success in the world of Dance and everyday life in a nurturing and caring environment.

HDAT’s company members have studied and performed with noted national master artists such as Carmen de Lavallade, Misty Copeland, Debbie Allen, Ronald K. Brown Evidence Company, Lauren Anderson, Cleo Parker Robinson, Philadanco, Desmond Richardson, Kathy Smith, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC), Lindsay Benton, Princess Mhoon, Sholoa Roberts, Leslie Anderson-Braswell, Baba Chuck Davis, Papa Assane Konte, Joselle Audain Deans and Buddy Thompson. Company members have attended summer intensives with Joffrey Ballet, Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem and DCDC.

Assemble envisions diverse neighborhoods of empowered people who create, connect, learn, and transform together. We build confidence through making by uniting communities of artists, technologists, makers, and learners both in our space at 4824 Penn Ave and beyond. assemblepgh.org/

Movement and dance is for everyBODY! The Alloy School is a creative community where individuality is celebrated and all gender expressions and cultures are welcome. Each Saturday from 10:00am to 1:00pm, expert teaching artists guide six 50-minute classes in KST’s two dance studios that cater to participants from toddlers to elders in a comfortable and engaging atmosphere. The program culminates with a Showcase and Let’s Move! Family Dance Party at Kelly Strayhorn Theater on Saturday, April 8! 

Curious to know more? Check out the Open House on Saturday, February 4 at 10:00am.  

Union Project is a historic space that is community restored and maintained; the building itself was transformed as a creative solution to a community problem. We believe that art can create change, and help us build a more inclusive, empathetic, and just community. Union Project’s Wheel Mobile is a vehicle equipped with clay, tools, a potter’s wheel, and a Raku kiln. This mobile studio extends UP’s ceramics programming by bringing clay anywhere there’s a road. Our teaching artists can literally show up at a playground, neighborhood festival, library, etc., and provide wheel throwing, hand-building, and Raku firing demonstrations and activities. 

Ready to bring clay to your community center, classroom, or festival? Email WheelMobile@UnionProject.org today!

The Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation (BGC) exists to improve the quality of life for all in Garfield and surrounding neighborhoods through active community engagement. Community-based and board driven, one of the BGC’s main goals is to get as many people in the community as possible to participate in efforts aimed at physical revitalization, an improved economy, and strengthened well-being.