The Soul of East Liberty | Winter/Spring 2023

What you want
Baby, I got
What you need
Do you know I got it?
All I’m askin’

Is for a little respect when you come home.

– Aretha Franklin

The Winter/Spring 2023 KST Presents season continues to be a home for celebrating the Soul of East Liberty. Guided by our recently released strategic direction, “Owning Our Future. Thriving Where We Live.” KST is welcoming the new year with bold programming and renewed vision. We are determined to own our future and remain a home where artists and Pittsburgh residents of all backgrounds can thrive.

This Winter/Spring season, KST mutual Aid resident PearlArts is looking forward to bringing CIRCLES: going in, a work debuted with KST at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Pittsburgh, on tour to The Dance Center at Columbia College Chicago on February 23. At home at KST’s Alloy Studios, PearlArts brings a full class season, with Open Company Dance Classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. For experienced dancers, 20-weeks of Adult Dance Clubs will begin on January 18 and run through the end of May. PearlArts hosts two Synchronized with Soy Sos events, February 25 and April 28. PearlWatch/charrette is back on March 24, showcasing new and unseen dance-for-camera and live choreography in different stages of development. Finally, on May 12, PearlArts shares an evening of multi-disciplinary and collaborative explorations with INTERIM: Props Prompts Play.

KST begins the Winter/Spring Season with two staples of Youth & Family Programming: On January 16, The Audacity to Believe, an MLK day Celebration reflects joyfully on the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Then, The Alloy School Open House kicks off February 4 with a free survey of KST’s weekly dance classes, followed by an eight week class session and celebratory Let’s Move! Family Dance Party!

Our Community Partnerships include Black Culinary Excellence, a showcase of Black chefs presented with Exposure Fellow Chris Ivey that includes a moderated discussion with legendary Steeler and restaurateur Franco Harris. On March 11 we co-present a workshop from writers Dorothy Santos & Adrian Jones with The Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry.

Boundary-pushing new Freshworks performances will come to KST’s Alloy Studios in April and May. Choreographer Nick M. Daniels presents the globally-inspired Nonsensical search for truth and understanding, while B Kleymeyer uplifts Pittsburgh’s trans community and celebrates every part of transition with i’m not done with this body (and i never will be).

Our Local & Global Performance offerings include contemporary works of music, dance, and theater—something for everyone! Dwayne Fulton returns to KST on February 11 with R.E.S.P.E.C.T. An Aretha Franklin Tribute Concert, featuring Anita Levels. Carrying on this musical momentum, on March 18 KST presents the annual Sunstar Festival: Women & Music, this year co-curated by the SCALE Fellowship Program.

From April 12-15, KST welcomes choreographer and 2020 Guggenheim fellow Shamel Pitts back to Pittsburgh with a Welcome Dinner and Artist Talk, Gaga Dance Workshop, and the Pittsburgh premiere of BLACK HOLE: Trilogy And Triathlon, an evening-length multi-media performance work that is a journey in movement through an evocative soundscape. Our Local & Global Performance program closes with Or Forever Hold Your Peace, a performance from Pittsburgh’s Big Storm with big dance numbers and even bigger laughs.

Finally, throughout this season, visit the KST lobby for a new visual art exhibition for the BOOM Gallery: Neighbor to Neighbor, featuring Takara Canty, Sophia Fang, atiya jones, Maggie Negrete, Jameelah Platt, Danielle Robinson, which will run from February 11 through May 27.

Joseph Hall, Executive Director

For information on our COVID-19 policy and protocols, please visit this page.

DANCE | MUSIC | PERFORMANCE | COMMUNITY
The Audacity to Believe
A MLK Day Celebration

Monday, January 16
12:00pm – 3:00pm

Kelly Strayhorn Theater | 5941 Penn Ave.
Pay What Moves You: $0 – $25

The Soul of East Liberty | Winter/Spring 2023

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