My People: A QTPOC Festival of the Arts
KST Presents
Presented in partnership with the Pittsburgh Dance Council
Wednesday, November 10 – Saturday, November 13
Various Times & Venues
Created in honor of Out, Queer, and Black namesake Billy Strayhorn, My People is Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s annual festival featuring Queer and Trans Artists of Color that began as a film series and lives on as a multi-disciplinary, multi-event festival. For 2021 the program will be co-presented with Pittsburgh Dance Council and will center the work of Black, Queer, Pittsburgh native and MacArthur Genius Award Winning Choreographer, Kyle Abraham.
Tickets On Sale Now!
FEATURING:
Love and Relationships: a Screening and Conversation
with Kyle Abraham, Brian Broome, Akasha L. Van Cartier, Staycee Pearl, and sarah huny young
Wednesday, November 10
8:00pm
KST’s Alloy Studios | 5530 Penn Ave
Pay What Makes You Happy
My People begins on Wednesday, November 10, the city of Pittsburgh’s official Kyle Abraham Day, and celebrates the art of Abraham with an in-person screening of a new dance film. Set to a tender soundtrack, the film was created by Abraham in collaboration with the dancers of his contemporary dance company A.I.M by Kyle Abraham and filmmaker Dehanza Rogers. The 30-minute piece features performances from Abraham, Tamisha A. Guy, Keerati Jinakunwiphat, Claude “CJ” Johnson, Catherine Kirk, Jae Neal, Donovan Reed and Gianna Theodore.
The film screening is followed by a panel discussion with Abraham and Pittsburgh based artists including Brian Broome, Staycee Pearl, and sarah huny young. Centered around queer relationships in Pittsburgh, the conversation will explore self love, Black love and the multiplicity of ways love is exchanged between queer folx and across race.
Photo Credit: Gianna Theodore
Get Ur Spades On: An Immersive Card Playing Experience
Thursday, November 11
7:00pm – 10:00pm
KST’s Alloy Studios | 5530 Penn Ave
Pay What Makes You Happy
Calling all Spades players! Come out and get into the game at KST’s first spades tournament, led by Trini Massie! Sign up with a partner in advance or at the door and play the night away for prizes including tickets to My People’s Friday and Saturday night performances!
Community Class
with Kyle Abraham
Friday, November 12
10:00am – 12:00pm
KST’s Alloy Studios | 5530 Penn Ave
Pay What Makes You Happy
Proof of Vaccine + Masks Required
Classes taught by A.I.M emphasize four of the company’s core movement values: exploration, musicality, abandonment, and intuition. The opening warm-up sequence focuses on the fluidity of the spine, articulation, and core body strengthening; and then builds up to challenging, creative and invigorating phrase work. Students experience a personalized postmodern movement vocabulary full of intricate gestures and signature A.I.M moves.
Credit: A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, Photo by Alice Chacon.
Black, Queer, & Here
Curated by sarah huny young
Friday, November 12
7:00pm
KST’s Alloy Studios | 5530 Penn Ave
Pay What Makes You Happy
The heat gets turned up with an evening of live performance curated by sarah huny young, based on her recently realized epic queer extravaganza for TQ Live at the Carnegie Museum of Art in September 2021! Get cozy at KST’s Alloy Studios for a more intimate encounter with the Pittsburgh queer performance scene.
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham
An Untitled Love
Presented by Pittsburgh Dance Council in partnership with Kelly Strayhorn Theater
Saturday, November 13
8:00 pm
Byham Theater | 101 6th Street
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust COVID-19 policies
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.
Photo by Carrie Schneider
