Works & Process: Masterz at Work Dance Family
Company:
Works & Process
Works & Process Commission
Masterz at Work Dance Family: ALL INCLUSIVE AND MORE by Courtney Washington Balenciaga, with The Masterz Ball in the rotunda
Presented with Black Trans Femmes in the Arts Collective
Monday, November 21 at 7:30 pm
Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Peter B. Lewis Theater and Rotunda
Tickets - $35, Choose-What-You-Pay
A legend within the ballroom community, founder of the Kiki House of Juicy Couture, leader of The House of Balenciaga, and this year's Latex Ball Avis Penda'vis Angel Award winner, Black trans femme choreographer Courtney Washington Balenciaga creates dances that are a representation of resiliency, and which foster community in under-resourced areas of Brooklyn. Her new Works & Process commission, ALL INCLUSIVE AND MORE fuses street dance, street jazz, ballroom, vogue, and hip-hop. Informed by her own experience as a queer teenager who found refuge from teasing in dance, the work conveys how her gender transition spurred transformative emotional, creative, and physical liberation. An expansion of ALL INCLUSIVE, which was commissioned in 2020 and performed in the Guggenheim's rotunda as performances were reopening in New York on March 31, 2021, this latest work furthers her ambitions toward shaping a more inclusive, fair, representative, and colorful world. Mya Donyale Bonilla, Producer and Programs Manager at Black Trans Femmes in the Arts Collective, will moderate the discussion with Courtney Washington Balenciaga.
In conjunction with the Guggenheim's Member Mondays, this performance in the theater will continue into the rotunda with The Masterz Ball featuring commentating by Snookie Juicy West and music by DJ Byrell. All audience members are encouraged to participate in the ball, with categories including All Inclusive, Best Dressed, and Creative Expression.
Commissioned by Works & Process in 2020, this work was developed in a Works & Process bubble residency at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park in March 2021. This work will also receive a two-week Works & Process LaunchPAD "Process as Destination" residency at Bethany Arts Community in November 2022, which will provide creative time and commissioning resources for Masterz at Work Dance Family and its uplifting and inspiring dancers Luis, Lamell "Jay Parel" Clemons, Jai'Quin Coleman, DeAndre Cousley, Mehki Cuffee, Rasheed "NewBorn" Lucas Jr., Guya Marie, Armani Moore, Dashaun "DayDay" Peals, and Brian Starke.
ABOUT WORKS & PROCESS
An independent process-focused non-profit performing arts organization, Works & Process illuminates the artistic process of creators from the world's largest organizations and simultaneously champions artists representing historically underrecognized performing arts cultures by providing rare longitudinal studio-to-stage fully-funded creative residency, commissioning, and iterative presenting support. Works & Process provides audiences with unprecedented access to creative process with programs that blend artist discussions and performance highlights, with the goal of fostering greater understanding and appreciation and broadening representation. This season Works & Process celebrates New York artists, street and social dance, and after four decades at the Guggenheim expands beyond the museum to also present at Gibney Center, Lincoln Center, and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, with the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. Our ongoing LaunchPAD "Process as Destination" residency program knits together a constellation of 12 residency centers across New York state to support creative process.
"An exceptional opportunity to understand something of the creative process" – The New York Times
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