RELEASE: Dance-Theater, Disco, Queer Memory: David Roussève/REALITY’s World Premiere and Pittsburgh Queer History Project’s New Exhibit
This September, KST explores queer memory with a community dinner, workshop, and a two-night world premiere of Becoming Daddy AF, alongside a new exhibit on an East Liberty after-hours queer disco from 1970 to 1981.
David Roussève/REALITY’s World Premiere of Becoming Daddy AF, Photo by Ryan Harper
PITTSBURGH, PA – Throughout September, Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) uplifts queer memory through a constellation of performance, exhibition, and community events. Celebrated artist David Roussève/REALITY returns to KST with the world premiere of Becoming Daddy AF on Friday and Saturday, September 26 – 27. Earlier on opening night, Friday, September 26, at 5:30pm, KST also opens Calendar Girls in the House of Tilden, an archival exhibition from the Pittsburgh Queer History Project (PQHP) exploring East Liberty’s after-hours queer disco scene from 1970 to 1981. Before the premiere, the public is invited to engage with Roussève at the Citizens Community Dinner on Monday, September 15, followed by Kinetic Conversations, an artist feedback workshop, on Saturday, September 20.
At the center of this constellation of events is Becoming Daddy AF, Roussève’s first evening-length solo performance in 25 years. This dance-theater piece is a moving portrait of a queer African American man aware of his aging, which consequently leads to this powerful meditation on life’s purpose. Roussève blends the ancestral genealogy with his journey living with HIV and the profound loss of his husband of 26 years.
The work weaves together kinetic movement and intimate, non-linear queer storytelling to ruminate on profound moments of love and grief and serve as a life archive. As an acclaimed choreographer, Roussève incorporates movements from his repertoire over 40 years throughout this new work. “We bring ourselves out of the mundane of the everyday. And that’s what dance is meant to do: investigate those deeper, metaphoric, poetic meanings, and text tells the actual, literal narrative story,” said Roussève.
To further connect the community with Becoming Daddy AF, KST invites audience members to join the Citizens Community Dinner with Roussève on Monday, September 15. The evening features a buffet dinner and a conversation between Roussève and KST Programming Director Ben Pryor. Roussève is also leading the public-facing artist feedback workshop, Kinetic Conversations, on Saturday, September 20. It invites four Pittsburgh-based dance groups: Nick Daniels/D.A.N.A. Movement Ensemble, Shana Simmons Dance, Mitchiyaya Dance, and K-Theatre Dance Complex, to demonstrate their works in progress in front of a general audience and receive feedback from Roussève.
Calendar Girls in the House of Tilden, Courtesy of Pittsburgh Queer History Project
Alongside Becoming Daddy AF, KST highlights Pittsburgh’s own queer history through the exhibition Calendar Girls in the House of Tilden, curated by the co-founder of the Pittsburgh Queer History Project, Dr. Harrison Apple. From 1970 to 1981, House of Tilden (H.O.T.), founded by Robert “Lucky” Johns, was a hallmark after-hours queer disco and a key site of subcultural politics and pleasure during the neighborhood’s mid-century upheaval. The archive documents the vibrant nightlife at H.O.T. and the early queer, trans, and performers of color who dominated the disco era. Paired with Roussève’s deeply personal premiere, the opening of Calendar Girls in the House of Tilden offers audiences another perspective on queering and queering history in East Liberty.
Beyond dance, disco, and the queens, Dr. Apple explains, “H.O.T. was part of the underground networks where power can be created in ways that are not part of our political system or our policing system. And it was about four blocks away from where Kelly Strayhorn is now. Both these places help a lot of people find their way in the city.”
Dr. Apple has also prepared a limited amount of special handmade prints from Lucky’s archive that visitors are welcome to take home at the opening reception on Friday, Saturday, 26. “You may have missed the party, but it is never too late to become a fan!” said Dr. Apple.
Becoming Daddy AF
Friday & Saturday, September 26 – 27, 2025 | 7:30pm – 9:10pm
Kelly Strayhorn Theater | 5941 Penn Ave.
Tickets for Becoming Daddy AF are Pay What Moves You, $20 – $35 per attendee, and can be reserved here.
Pittsburgh Queer History Project: Calendar Girls in the House of Tilden
Opening Reception: Friday, September 26, 2025 | 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Friday, September 26, 2025 – Saturday, January 10, 2026
Kelly Strayhorn Theater | 5941 Penn Ave.
Tickets for the Opening Reception are Pay What Moves You, $0 – $20 per attendee, and can be reserved here
Citizens Community Dinner with David Roussève/REALITY
Monday, September 15, 2025 | 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Kelly Strayhorn Theater | 5941 Penn Ave.
Tickets for the Citizens Community Dinner are Pay What Moves You, $0 – $25 per attendee, and can be reserved here.
Kinetic Conversations with David Roussève/REALITY
Saturday, September 20, 2025 | 3:00pm – 6:00pm
KST’s Alloy Studios | 5530 Penn Ave.
Tickets for Kinetic Conversations are Pay What Moves You, $10 – $25 per attendee, and can be reserved here.
PHOTOS:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Uk_P8k2-cqeAFLkzYg5AS87H08Z8kWw-?usp=sharing
Becoming Daddy AF’s TEASER VIDEO:
https://vimeo.com/1044659245
STYLE NOTES:
Roussève requires the grave accent on the first “è”
No space on either side of the slash before REALITY
REALITY should be set in all caps
Spell Kelly Strayhorn Theater without a hyphen between “Kelly” and “Strayhorn”
CREDITS:
Written, Created, and Performed by David Roussève
Dramaturgy by Charlotte Brathwaite
Video design by Meena Murugesan
Sound design by d. Sabela grimes
Lighting design Christopher Kuhl
Costume design by Leah Piehl
Technical assistance by Padra Crisafull
Early stage dramaturgy by Julie Tolentino
Additional production support from Harper Justus and Leanne Iacovetta Poirier
Management and producorial support by George Lugg
KST’s presentation of Becoming Daddy AF is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation; and the National Performance Network (NPN) Artist Engagement Fund.
Becoming Daddy AF is a National Performance Network Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, National Center for Choreography Akron, and MASS MoCA with Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Becoming Daddy AF was created with support from Danspace Project, UCLA’s Chancellor’s Research Fund and The Chancellor’s Arts Initiative. Becoming Daddy AF is made possible with generous support from the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, and a MAP Fund creation grant.
To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov. More information: www.npnweb.org
ABOUT THE ARTISTS – BECOMING DADDY AF
David Roussève, is a choreographer/writer/director/performer, magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University, and a Guggenheim Fellow. He is known for his dynamic, socially conscious dance/theater that uniquely blends contemporary dance, theater, and multimedia elements to create immersive and thought-provoking performances. His work draws inspiration from the stories of marginalized communities, as it explores complex themes related to identity, social justice, and human connection. Roussève founded the dance/theater company David Roussève/REALITY in 1988 in New York, and REALITY has since toured throughout the US, Europe, Great Britain, and South America.
Charlotte Brathwaite is an award-winning artist and director whose genre-defying works illuminate the realities and dreams of those whose stories have been silenced or ignored. Working at the intersection of dance, theater, music, film, ritual, and installation, her practice centers storytelling as a site of resistance, remembrance, and radical possibility. Brathwaite has created work alongside Meshell Ndegeocello, Justin Hicks, Jacqueline Woodson, Kyle Abraham, Peter Sellars, and Malick Welli, and currently collaborates as dramaturg for David Roussève/REALITY.
d. Sabela grimes is a trans-media storyteller, sonic ARKivist, and movement composer whose work blends sound, movement, and visual art. Rooted in Black vernacular and Hip Hop/Street dance, he created Funkamental MediKinetics, a unique movement system. A faculty member at USC Kaufman, he’s received a Bessie Award, a USA Rockefeller Fellowship, and USC’s Associates Award. Current work includes Parable of Portals with Meena Murugesan, inspired by Octavia Butler’s life and writings.
Christopher Kuhl is a lighting, scenic, and installation designer for theater, dance, and opera. His work includes Dog Days, The Object Lesson, The Source, Straight White Men, and Cipher, presented at venues like BAM, REDCAT, The Public Theater, and Centre Pompidou. He has received Bessie, Ovation, Sherwood, Drammy, and Horton awards. Originally from New Mexico, Kuhl is a graduate of CalArts and is known for his bold, immersive visual design.
Meena Murugesan is a video and movement artist based in Los Angeles (Tongva-Kizh land), creating experimental, non-linear narratives exploring social issues. Their project Dravidian Futurities investigates casteism, colorism, trance rituals, and the mythic land Kumari Kandam. Meena has designed videos for artists like Marjani Forte-Saunders (Bessie Award 2019), Christopher Emile, and D’Lo, with work shown at The Getty, MOCA, The Broad, Jacob’s Pillow, Sophiensaele, and more.
Julie Tolentino is an interdisciplinary artist working in durational performance, installation, scent, and text. Their work has been exhibited at the Whitney Biennial, The Kitchen, and the New Museum, as well as internationally. Collaborations include projects with Kia LaBeija, Cynthia Madansky, and the HIV Doula Collective. Founder of the Clit Club (1990–2002), Tolentino is senior editor of TDR – The Drama Review and earned an MFA from UC Riverside in Experimental Choreography in 2020.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS – CALENDAR GIRLS IN THE HOUSE OF TILDEN
Harrison Apple is co-founder of the Pittsburgh Queer History Project with Dr. Tim Haggerty. Their artistic and scholastic research focuses regional LGBT political community in mid-century Pittsburgh. They received their PhD in Gender & Women’s Studies and Information Science from the University of Arizona. They are the Associate Director of the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry in the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University.
ABOUT KELLY STRAYHORN THEATER
Named after 20th century entertainment legends Gene Kelly and Billy Strayhorn, both natives of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) is a home for creative experimentation, community dialogue, and collective action rooted in the liberation of Black and queer people. We welcome our home to all who uplift Black, Indigenous, people of color, and queer voices.
KST is an institutional arts anchor in Pittsburgh’s East End that has served the community for more than two decades. Since launching KST Presents programming in ’08, KST has been Black-led, fostering radical imagination for Black and queer arts, culture, and community in Pittsburgh by cultivating BIPOC and/or queer artists, entrepreneurs, and arts administrators, developing their careers, and shifting narratives around Black possibility.