The beginning of June will kick off the summer with a motion-packed, dance-filled week, hosted by PearlArts Studio, entitled pearlPRESENTS Dance Festival. June 3-9 will prove to be a dynamic seven days— offering a plethora of performances and master classes brought to us by both national and Pittsburgh-based artists.
Co-artistic director of PearlArts Studios, Staycee Pearl, a leader and inspiration to the Pittsburgh dance community and beyond, shared with us some inside scoop on this exciting week. She will be starting the week-long venture herself, by teaching a progressive training workshop using soul sounds and a practice “designed to connect your charisma and your performance quality to your technique.” In the following days, classes and performances will be offered by STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos (SPdp&SS), Sidra Bell Dance New York (SBDNY), slowdanger, Jasmine Hearn, Maree ReMalia, Island Moving Company, chitra.MOVES, Joy-Marie Thompson, and more. The festival will take place at the New Hazlett theater in the Northside of Pittsburgh and there will be something there for everyone- from ballet to experimental movement, Indian dance, groove, and more.
With various artists teaching classes every day, and every night featuring a different performance, this week will have a ton to offer, chock-full of opportunities to explore your own movement and absorb the movement of others, all while in a safe and supportive space.
“Every night is a different scene,” says Staycee Pearl.
A lot of hard work by the employees/ dancers of PearlArts Studios and participating artists went in to curating the festival, but it all came together sort of naturally. Pearl says that it was an “evolutionary” process. With many collaborations going on at once, the company decided, why not combine them? “We cover all these genres and styles and it just made sense to curate it into groups together,” Pearl says.
The masterclasses and performances compliment and support each other, yet they are all unique… providing a platform for both the artists and attendees to open up and build upon new ideas, opportunities, and genres of dance while still practicing their own style, whatever that may be.
The choice to combine projects not only offers multiple valuable, unique experiences in one package, but also feeds the missions of PearlArts. PearlArts want to offer Pittsburgh a chance to come together and dance while also being committed to offering a safe space to build and explore and continuing to make Pittsburgh a destination for national and international dance.
“I’m excited about it!” says Pearl, “It’s a big deal to have more and more dance in Pittsburgh. Because we are a small city, some people think can only have one of this and one of that, but the truth is the more, the merrier.”
By working together and supporting each other, we can continue to build Pittsburgh on the national and international map, while providing more and more opportunities for local artists. PearlPRESENTS is both a fantastic week of events, but also an amazing contribution to the dance world and the city of Pittsburgh— a huge thank you to PearlArts Studios, Staycee Pearl, and all of the people who worked so hard to make this happen.
Whether you’re looking to dance, or just to sit back and take in new works, make sure you check out the week’s schedule and come on out to the New Hazlett in the Northside!
For full information on PearlPRESENTS, visit their page.
Categories: Feature