Pioneers presents: CROSSROADS at Socrates Sculpture Park

June 12 & June 13

CROSSROADS Series: Curated by Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte, Remi Harris and Philip Treviño in partnership with Socrates Sculpture Park.

June 12: Liberty Styles, Vanessa Rappa, Diovanna Obafunmilayo

June 13: Orlando Hernandez, Cara Hagan, Heather Dutton, Anna Thérèse Witenberg

June 12

Adventures in Success - Choreography/Direction by Liberty Styles. Performance by Liberty Styles, Orlando Hernandez, and Naomi Funaki

Anak, nasaan ka - Choreography/Performance by Vanessa Rappa

HAINT BLUE! - Choreography/Performance/Music by Diovanna Obafunmilayo

June 13

Cave Dances - Choreography/Performance by Orlando Hernandez

LOAM (excerpt) - Choreography/Performance by Cara Hagan

Duet - Choreography/Direction by Heather Dutton, Middle Child Dance Theatre. Performance Heather Dutton

Sleep - Choreography/Direction by Anna Thérèse Witenberg. Performance by Ethan Huffman

PURCHASE PERFORMANCE TICKETS HERE

CROSSROADS, CROSSWINDS, CROSSCURRENTS, CROSSFIRES

A series empowering multigenerational LGBTQ and feminist artists in dialogue with their communities.

CROSSROADS Series by Pioneers Go East Collective is a high visibility curated series of works-in-process. Since 2017, we empower multidisciplinary artists who explore new genres and known performance and art-making modes to share their creative practices with other artists and their audiences. Each evening we witness different generations of artists dealing with day-to-day, contemporary challenges to further discussion between artists and communities and to activate a network of exchange and inclusion with social and artistic intervention.

LOCATION:

Socrates Sculpture Park - 32-01 Vernon Blvd, Queens, NY 11106

Entrance located at the intersection of Vernon Boulevard and Broadway.

DIRECTIONS:

BY SUBWAY: Take the N/W train to the Broadway station in Queens and walk eight blocks west on Broadway to the intersection of Vernon Boulevard.

BY Bus: Take the Q103 or Q104 to Broadway and Vernon Boulevard. Take the Q69 or Q100X to Broadway and 21st Street.

ACCESSIBILITY: The Park has a handicap-accessible parking spot at our main entrance and a paved path around the perimeter of the lawn. Mobi-mats are available for wheel-chair access. For more information please email info@socratessculpturepark.org or leave a voicemail at 718-956-1819 x105.

Out-FRONT! Fest. curated by Pioneers Go East Collective

January 3-11, 2026

Radical Queer dance, film, and performance

Presented in partnership with Judson Church and JanArtsNYC/ APAP

A Radical Queer Art + Dance festival championing LGBTQ+ and Feminist artists for a lively exchange of art and culture. Curated & produced by Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte, Remi Harris, Joyce Isabelle, and Philip Treviño.

Press:
The New York Times "Out-FRONT! fills a gap in the dance calendar, showing incandescent works"
The Observer featured article 
TDF Festival Pick

Tickets (Sliding Scale)

A high-visibility platform for radical artists whose rigorous, playful, and fabulously outrageous creative practices speak to our community in new, unexpected, and beautiful ways.

Out-FRONT! Festival 

Ian Andrew Askew! 

Alexa Grae!

Dominica Greene!

Corentin JPM Leven!

Johnnie Cruise Mercer!

Suzzanne Ponomarenko!

Owen Prum!

Sugar Vendil!

Jo Warren!

***************************
Out-FRONT! Films 
Stephen Shynes! Nyala Moon! Eleonora Privitera! Carrie Hawks! Cari Ann Shim Sham*! Irishia Romaine!

Program Schedule:
Saturday, January 3, and Monday, January 5, at 7pm (Split Bill)

Suzzanne Ponomarenko in Selections From: Tapestries & Dominica Greene in openings

More info and tickets

‍ ‍

Tuesday, January 6, and Wednesday, January 7, at 7pm (Split Bill)

Sugar Vendil in Antonym: the opposite of nostalgia & Alexa Grae in Tone Pillar

More info and tickets‍ ‍

Thursday, January 8, and Friday, January 9, at 7pm (Split Bill)

Jo Warren in All Mouth & Owen Prum in Slow Silver

More info and tickets‍ ‍

Saturday, January 10, and Sunday, January 11, at 7pm (Split Bill)

Ian Andrew Askew in SLAMDANCE punk lessons & Johnnie Cruise Mercer in Mercies of a Butterfly

More info and tickets‍ ‍

Sunday, January 11, at 3pm

Corentin JPM Leven in Birds Of Ill Omen

More info and tickets ‍ ‍

‍ ‍

Saturday, January 10, at 4:30pm

The Out-FRONT! Film Series moderated by Remi Harris

Tickets (Sliding Scale)

Location: Judson Church (Wheelchair accessible entrance at 243 Thompson Street, New York, NY 10012).

APAP|NYC is a founding partner of JanArtsNYC, celebrating 12 years of partnership in 2025. Every January in New York City, more than 45,000 performing arts leaders, artists, and enthusiasts from across the globe converge for JanArtsNYC. A partnership among independent multidisciplinary festivals, indispensable industry convenings, and international marketplaces, JanArtsNYC is one of the largest and most influential gatherings of its kind. #JanArtsNYC. Promotional support provided by the New York City Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment.

Photo: Dominica Greene. Photo Steven Pisano

Distance /decay /
by Pioneers Go East Collective in partnership with Time & Space Limited

An immersive art and media exhibition for the TSL Gallery
On view to the public August 12–23, 2025

Culminating in a closing event on Saturday, August 23 from 4pm–6pm

Distance /decay / is an art and media exhibition inspired by poet Alejandra Pizarnik’s writings and archival records, which explore themes of displacement and artistic agency. Designed for the gallery at Time & Space Limited, it offers an immersive experience, blending dance and new media in a visual installation environment created by Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte (director/ filmmaker/ visual installation), Anabella Lenzu (choreographer/ performance artist), syd island (composer / film performance artist), Philip Treviño (production design), Mark Tambella (visual installation); Adele Overbey, joy burklund and Todd Carroll (cinematographers/ editors).

The exhibition includes a performance + short films presented throughout the gallery + new pencil drawings by Mark Tambella + pencil drawings by Joyce Isabelle.

The Closing exhibition event on Saturday, August 23, 2025 from 4–6 PM, includes a solo performance by choreographer Anabella Lenzu. The 25-minute performance is developed in residency at Time & Space Limited during the month of August 2025. The performance and installation is created by Pioneers Go East Collective’s lead artists Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte (director/ filmmaker/ installation), Philip Treviño, and syd island (composer).

DIRECTIONS: Time & Space Limited
434 COLUMBIA STREET, HUDSON, NY | (518) 822-8100 | FYI@TIMEANDSPACE.ORG

This project is made possible thanks to the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

Crossroads curated by Pioneers Go East Collective

Dance + performance art in partnership with Socrates Sculpture Park

June 6-8, 2025

A Radical Queer Art series championing the voices of LGBTQ+ and Feminist artists for a lively exchange of art and culture.

Curated by Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte, Remi Harris and Philip Treviño

RSVP (free and sliding scale)

Friday, June 6, 6.30pm

Dominica Greene

Jo Warren

Lavy

Saturday, June 7, 6pm

Darvejon A. Jones

Catherine Chen

Hunter Sturgis

Sunday, June 8, 6pm

Star Mitchell

Ching-I Chang

Remi Harris /JoyFlux

Become an Underwriter and support the Crossroads and Out-FRONT! Festival 2025/26. Your support will help us pay artists, designers, and curators.

DIRECTIONS:

Socrates Sculpture Park

Address: 32-01 Vernon Blvd, Queens, NY 11106

The entrance is located at the intersection of Vernon Boulevard and Broadway.

By Subway: Take the N/W train to the Broadway station in Queens and walk eight blocks west on Broadway to the intersection of Vernon Boulevard. Check the MTA’s website for updates on train service.

By Bus: Take the Q103 or Q104 to Broadway and Vernon Boulevard. Take the Q69 or Q100X to Broadway and 21st Street. Check the MTA’s website for updates on bus service.

ACCESSIBILITY: The Park has a handicap-accessible parking spot at our main entrance and a paved path around the perimeter of the lawn. Mobi-mats are available for wheel-chair access. For more information please email info@socratessculpturepark.org or leave a voicemail at 718-956-1819 x105.

Photo: Dominica Greene by Elyse Mertz

NEXT! Workshops: Eco Art by Pioneers Go East Collective in partnership with Socrates Sculpture Park

Teaching Artist: Maira Duarte

June 6-8 & 13-14, 2025

For inquiry, please email: community@pioneersgoeast.org

RSVP (free)

Friday, June 6: Seniors | 11am-1pm

Saturday, June 7: Youth | 11am-1pm

Sunday, June 8: Youth | 11am-1pm

Friday, June 13: Seniors | 11am-1pm

Saturday, June 14: Seniors and Youth | 11am-1pm

*Participants are welcome to attend single or multiple sessions. 

La instructora también habla español.

Eco Art and Performance workshops: In this intergenerational workshop, facilitated by Maira Duarte from Dance to the People, participants will engage in the exploration of movement in nature and will manufacture wearable art pieces made of reused materials. Participants are welcome to bring materials they would like to create their pieces with, such as clothing in need of mending or objects that they have in excess (socks, plastic cutlery, cardboard, etc.). These workshops will explore the themes of land, water, and access to public natural spaces as well as the power of art and performance in manifesting the relationship between the individual, the community, and earth. Eco Art and Performance workshops provide a way of using art to explore environmental issues affecting our community. Activities will take place outdoors. Participants will engage in movement forms such as modern, improvisation, story-based creative movement, indigenous Mexican dance, as well as some exercises from the theater of the oppressed with discussions about waste management, sustainable  practices, and human and animal rights. Participants will also learn to create costumes, posters, or other artifacts made from repurposed materials. Eco Art and Performance workshops aim to bring together community members of all ages, artists, and local activists into conversation about the defense of the land and the right of the land’s inhabitants to live free from pollution.

Maira Duarte (Instructor)is a Mexican artist, educator, and organizer based in New York City. In 2014, she founded Dance to the People/Danza para la Gente (DTTP), a collective dedicated to fostering anti-capitalist forms of artistic exchange, operating in both New York and Mexico. DTTP uses dance, ritual, environmental education, and costume making to address the exploitation of people and the natural world. The collective’s work emerges from participatory public experiences, workshops, community forums, and dance laboratories. DTTP has received support from the CUNY Dance Initiative, Queens Council on the Arts, and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Maira has taught for over 16 years in innumerable public schools in NYC and New Jersey, through the organizations Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Dancewave, The New Victory Theater and Dance Theater of Harlem. A 2022 Emerge alumna, Maira has been the Artist in Residence at Grace Exhibition Space since 2023. She also co-manages The Woods, a low-cost rehearsal and performance space in Ridgewood, Queens. dancetothepeople.org

Become an Underwriter and support the FREE NEXT! Educational program 2025/26. Your support will help us pay teaching artists.

DIRECTIONS:

Socrates Sculpture Park

Address: 32-01 Vernon Blvd, Queens, NY 11106

The entrance is located at the intersection of Vernon Boulevard and Broadway.

By Subway: Take the N/W train to the Broadway station in Queens and walk eight blocks west on Broadway to the intersection of Vernon Boulevard. Check the MTA’s website for updates on train service.

By Bus: Take the Q103 or Q104 to Broadway and Vernon Boulevard. Take the Q69 or Q100X to Broadway and 21st Street. Check the MTA’s website for updates on bus service.

ACCESSIBILITY: The Park has a handicap-accessible parking spot at our main entrance and a paved path around the perimeter of the lawn. Mobi-mats are available for wheel-chair access. For more information please email info@socratessculpturepark.org or leave a voicemail at 718-956-1819 x105.

Photo: Maira Duarte. Credit Dance to the People

Out-FRONT! Fest. curated by Pioneers Go East Collective

January 7-13, 2025

Radical Queer dance, film, and performance

Presented in partnership with BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) and Judson Church with the support of JanArtsNYC

A Radical Queer Art + Dance festival championing the voices of LGBTQ and Feminist artists for a lively exchange of art and culture. Curated by Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte, Daniel Diaz, and Philip Treviño.

Press:
The New York Times "Out-FRONT! fills a gap in the dance calendar, showing incandescent works"
The Observer featured article 
TDF Festival Pick

Tickets (Sliding Scale)

A high-visibility platform for radical artists whose rigorous, playful, and fabulously outrageous creative practices speak to our community in new, unexpected, and beautiful ways.

Curators & Producers Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte, Philip Treviño, Daniel Diaz; Producer & Outreach Remi Harris; Cultural organizer Joyce Isabelle.

Out-FRONT! Festival @Judson Church:
Miranda Brown + Noa Rui-Piin Weiss! 
Blaze Ferrer!
Stuart B Meyers!
Jill Sigman/thinkdance!
Nattie Trogdon + Hollis Bartlett!

*******************
Out-FRONT! Festival @ BAM Fisher Hillman Studio:
Kyle Marshall Choreography!
Angie Pittman! 

Program Schedule:
Tuesday, January 7 and Friday, January 10, at 7pm at Judson Church
Split Bill:
Miranda Brown + Noa Rui-Piin Weiss
!!simon says~~!:));)$$
Nattie Trogdon + Hollis Bartlett
VESSELS

Wednesday, January 8 and Thursday, January 9, at 7pm at Judson Church
Jill Sigman
Re-Seeding (Encounter #4)

Friday, January 10 at 8.30p and Monday, January 13, at 7pm at Judson Church
Split Bill:
Blaze Ferrer
Dick Biter
Stuart B Meyers
thegarden

January 11 at 3pm at Judson Church 
Film Screening showcasing 5 dance-film and experimental shorts

*************************************************************************************
Saturday, January 11, at 7pm at BAM Fisher Hillman Studio
Angie Pittman
Black Life Chord Changes

&

Kyle Marshall Choreography
Joan (NYC Premiere)

Please note the order of the evening: Angie Pittman (50 minutes); Kyle Marshall (20 minutes)

Out-FRONT 2025 will take place at BAM Fisher Hillman Studio (321 Ashland Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217) and Judson Church (55 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012).

APAP|NYC is a founding partner of JanArtsNYC, celebrating 12 years of partnership in 2025.

Every January in New York City, more than 45,000 performing arts leaders, artists, and enthusiasts from across the globe converge for JanArtsNYC. A partnership among independent multidisciplinary festivals, indispensable industry convenings, and international marketplaces, JanArtsNYC is one of the largest and most influential gatherings of its kind. #JanArtsNYC. Promotional support provided by the New York City Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment.

Photo: Angie Pittman. Photo Brian Rogers

Kaatsbaan Cultural Park presents

A Sea in-MOTION by Pioneers Go East Collective

Friday October 25, 6pm

Tickets

A Sea In-MOTION, at the crossroads of dance, music video, and archival documentation, the project looks back at the groundbreaking works of Françoise d'Eaubonne, who founded the ecological and social movement of Eco Feminism; and the groundbreaking book A Thousand Plateaus by French psychoanalyst Félix Guattari. The work will blur the lines between our fantasies and everyday realities to champion gender-nonconforming voices and launch a dialogue on LGBTQ+ agency in today's socio-political climate. 

Collaboratively conceived by Pioneers Collective 
Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte (director/filmmaker)
ALEXA GRÆ (composer/performance artist)
Symara Sarai (choreographer)
Philip Treviño (production designer)
syd island (musician/performance artist)
Jesse Timm (musician)
Darrin Wright (dancer/performance artist)
Noa Rui-Piin Weiss (dancer/performance artist)

Tickets
Kaatsbaan has a no refund policy. 
Email boxoffice@kaatsbaan.org with any questions
Kaatsbaan Cultural Park
DIRECTIONS: 120 Broadway, Tivoli, NY 12583

This project is made possible thanks to the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

La MaMa Moves! 
presents a shared program
Electric Blue by Pioneers Go East Collective
&
Naked Vanguard by Arthur Avilés and BAAD!

RSVP

May 23 - May 25, 7pm 

Electric Blue
Inspired by Allen Ginsberg, Electric Blue celebrates past and present LGBTQ+ resilience, pacifism, and the antiwar movement in pursuit of artistic and personal freedom.

Director/ archival research – Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte
Composer/performer – ALEXA Grae
Choreographer/ performer – Joey Kipp
Performer – Daniel Diaz
Production designer – Philip Treviño
Installation design – Mark Tambella 
Video design – Bryan BAIRA
Choreography consultants – Symara Sarai and Hollis Bartlett
Producer – Jo Wiegandt
This project is developed with a residency at Collar Works Gallery (Troy, NY) 

Where:

La MaMa

The Ellen Stewart Theatre
66 East 4th Street

Accessibility: The entrance at 66 East 4th street accessible (use door on the left)

Photo credits: Pioneers Go East Collective, ALEXA Grae, photo by Bug

Crossroads curated by Pioneers Go East Collective at Judson Church

April 23 & 24, 2024

Radical Queer dance in partnership with Judson Arts Wednesdays

A Radical Queer Art series championing the voices of LGBTQ and Feminist artists for a lively exchange of art and culture.

Curated by Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte and Philip Treviño

RSVP

We need your support!
There are two ways you can donate! Your support will help us pay artists, designers, and curators.
Become an Underwriter and support the Crossroads and Out-FRONT! Festival 2024/25.
Raffle! - Donate to Pioneers Go East Collective and select one of these items from the drop-down menu! (Or enter for all five!). Join us for Crossroads on April 23rd to donate and claim your prize in person, or opt to accept remotely.

Tuesday, April 23, 8pm
Angie Pittman 
Orlando Hernández with Leonardo Sandoval, Lucas Santana, Isabella Serricella, and Liberty Styles
syd island

Wednesday, April 24, 8pm

Owen Prum

Films by Omega X, Fana Fraser, and Pioneers Go East Collective

Where:

Judson Church
DIRECTIONS: The entrance is located at 243 Thompson Street

RSVP

Tuesday, April 23, 8pm

ANGIE PITTMAN

Black Life Chord Changes (an excerpt) uses dance, text, and sound to create an experimental improvised movement portal. Blackly so. The choreography pulls from folk traditions of liturgical dancing, Soul line dancing, Umfundalai, and post-modern improvisation. Through these visceral Black womanist traditions, the work slips in and out of deep listening, seeing, improvisation, and truth telling.

ORLANDO HERNÁNDEZ

Too soon to discover planets, too late to discover islands uses technologies of tap dance and mask-work to tell the story of two people who arrive in a new land, only to be killed in a terrible storm…

syd island. Join us after CROSSROADS for a special performance by syd island.

Wednesday, April 24, 8pm

OWEN PRUM

Absolute force - A dance between 3, a work at the nexus of body, city and history. How can a human be crushed under the weight of time and blood? Winter turned spring, red chalked blue. We are all muscle and the right now!

Nesting Created by Fana Fraser

Interdisciplinary artist Fana Fraser will present a new short film, originally commissioned by TBA21- Academy (Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary) for TBA21 on st_age.

And I Was Recognized  Created by Omega X, Danni Venne, Matt Harvey, and Laura Marie Marciano

And I Was Recognized is a portrait film on trans parenthood. The work uses sound and visual abstractions to offer a poetic lens to the intricate and tender space of family.

Dragons by Pioneers Go East Collective

Director Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte; Filmmakers Adele Overbey and joy burklund; Design Philip Treviño; featuring syd island, Vanessa Rappa, Daniel Diaz, and Lynn Ligammari

Dragons is a two-channel film part of a performance and media triptych by Pioneers Go East Collective. A meditation on creative agency and queer identity, thee amplifies contemporary stories of resilience and otherness amidst censorship. Dragons fictionalizes a series of conversations between Audre Lorde and James Baldwin referencing his essay Here are the Dragons. The film utilizes fantastical imagery, overhead shots, and intimate conversations about civil rights in the US between the protagonists.

Accessibility: Our accessible entrance is by way of 243 Thompson St. Use the lift to get to the Meeting Room on Level 3 or our accessible bathrooms on Level B (basement). Return to Level 1 for street access back to the corner of West 4th & Thompson St.

The introductions for each event will be scripted with captioning shown through projection.

Photo credits: Angie Pittman by Rachel Keane

Out-FRONT! Fest. curated by Pioneers Go East Collective

January 10-20, 2024

Radical Queer dance, film, and performance at The LGBT Community Center and Abrons Arts Center

A Radical Queer Art + Dance festival championing the voices of LGBTQ and Feminist artists for a lively exchange of art and culture. Curated by Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte, Daniel Diaz, Hilary Brown-Istrefi, and Philip Treviño.

Presented at The LGBT Community Center from January 10- 15, 2024; and Abrons Arts Center from January 17-20, 2024. The festival features performances by Arthur Aviles and Collaborators, Joey Kipp with Pioneers Go East Collective, Christopher Unpezverde Núñez, Jason Anthony Rodriguez, Paz Tanjuaquio, Ogemdi Ude, and Annie MingHao Wang, as well as films by Fana Fraser, Omega X, and Tourmaline.

Where:

The LGBT Community Center
208 West 13th Street - New York, NY 10011

 &

Abrons Arts Center

466 Grand St, New York, NY 10002

2024 Out-FRONT! Festival Schedule

Jason Anthony Rodriguez

Take a Good Look / Meet Me in the Moon 

Wednesday, January 10, at 8pm, and Thursday, January 11, at 7pm

The LGBT Community Center, Theatre 301

 Ticketing

Vogue artist and Pose star Jason Anthony Rodriguez’s work Take a Good Luck takes a direct look into one’s queerness through the perspective of a Dominican, dancer, actor, Gaymer. The work looks closely at the layers that make us, build us, and rip us apart, exploring tools that allow us to regroup in a healthy manner. Meet Me in the Moon is a piece set by choreographer/teacher Kevin Wynn on the Joffrey Ballet School Summer Intensive in 2013. It will be reset as a solo for these performances.

*   *   *

Joey Kipp with Pioneers Go East Collective

Tracing Lorraine (World Premiere)

Thursday and Friday, January 11-12, at 8pm

The LGBT Community Center, Theatre 301

  Ticketing

Joey Kipp’s Tracing Lorraine is a theatrical performance and sharing of Kipp’s connection with the Black queer playwright Lorraine Hansberry and her ghost, pulling forth the common thread of personal memory and erasure. Through a trilogy of works by Hansberry, Kipp imagines her humanistic vision for a contemporary audience. Rooted in an early pandemic video work by Kipp based on Hansberry’s play What Use Are Flowers?, Tracing Lorraine deepens his research into the author’s life and work with the addition of two more plays, The Drinking Gourd and Les Blancs. The theme of erasure to rebuilding prevails not only in the plays’ narratives, but also in Hansberry’s and Kipp’s personal histories, separated by over 60 years, in confronting the loss of their identities within normative society and their respective creative/cultural communities.

*   *   *

Ogemdi Ude

Hear

Saturday, January 13, at 7 pm & and Sunday, January 14, at 6 pm

The LGBT Community Center, Theatre 301

  Ticketing

In Hear, choreographer Ogemdi Ude pulls from a bereft archive of video and sound bites in an attempt to materialize and present the profile of someone lost. The solo, originally a part of a trilogy, is of Ude’s ongoing practice in deriving coping rituals in the aftermath of loss. Her work is built by grieving the loss of loved ones, and preserving the language, movements, and creative actions that emerge from that grief. She opens portals to the dead to communicate with them, retell their stories, and preserve their memory. Can we connect to people who aren’t here anymore by making something out of all the bits that are? Featuring sound by slowdanger. Hear was originally commissioned and presented by Abrons Arts Center in 2022 through the Performance AIRspace Residency, which is supported by the Jerome Foundation.

*   *   *

Christopher Unpezverde Núñez

YO OBSOLETE

Sunday, January 14, at 7pm, and Monday, January 15, at 8pm

The LGBT Community Center, Theatre 301

 Ticketing

Created by Christopher Unpezverde Núñez, In YO OBSOLETE childhood memories intertwined with intergenerational trauma. Escapism from reality to worlds of fantasy and symbolism. Parallels between the mystical and embodied experiences. YO OBSOLETE meditates on imagination as a survival mechanism. The performance navigates through altered states of consciousness, reaching deep levels of ancestral memory embodied in the form of poetry, songs, movement, installation and story telling. Music by: Alfonso Castro. Design by: Original idea by Christopher Unpezverde Núñez. Curatorial revisit,, care & repair, installation, new set & props by Branden Charles Wallace.

*   *   *

Arthur Aviles and Collaborators

Naked Vanguard

Wednesday, January 17, and Friday, January 19, at 8pm

Abrons Arts Center Playhouse

 Ticketing

Arthur Aviles continues his Naked Vanguard series, which reimagines several of his classic nude solo dance works. In addition to revealing the body, the works peel back the conventions of Latinx and Black cultures. The works use Aviles’s Swift/Flow dance technique and will be performed by Nikolai McKenzie Ben Rema, Hunter Sturgis, and Aviles. The program includes Morning Dance (2021), In the End, Let’s Begin (2021), Untitled #5A After Ted Shawn AKA Dansé Mexicaine & Jamaïquaine Américaine (World Premiere), and the Bessie Award-winning A Jamaican BattyBwoy in America (2021).

*   *   *

Annie MingHao Wang

had my mouth (World Premiere)

Thursday, January 18, at 8pm and Saturday, January 20, at 5pm

Abrons Arts Center Playhouse

 Ticketing

Constantly shifting between renewing dualities of being and place, had my mouth is a performance that asks: How do we use dance to speak and to build protected spaces? Derived from choreographer Annie MingHao Wang’s personal and physical inquiries into the human invocations of animal energies within Chinese culture, the work pulls specific inspiration from the lion dance and martial arts. Beyond their role as entertainment, these movement forms were historically practiced as covert training in self-defense as protection against oppressive governmental systems. had my mouth furthers this stance by referencing the diverse influences of martial arts in the US to convey the timeless search for protection through self-expression. Performed by Catherine Chen, Ching-I Chang, and Annie MingHao Wang. Music by Eldar Baruch.

*   *   *

Paz Tanjuaquio / TOPAZ ARTS Dance Productions

Silweta (World Premiere)

Friday, January 19, at 7pm, and Saturday, January 20, at 6pm

Abrons Arts Center Playhouse

 Ticketing

TOPAZ ARTS Dance Productions will premiere an evening-length dance, Silweta, choreographed and performed by Paz Tanjuaquio with a trio of guest performers, and created in collaboration with sound and visual artist Todd B. Richmond. With Silweta, based on silhouette images of traditional dance forms of the Philippines, Tanjuaquio traces a distant dance in her ongoing process of creating new movement. Behind the silhouettes, Tanjuaquio explores cultural connections, migration, and displacement. Inspired by various texts, including Dead Stars, a short story by her namesake Paz Márquez-Benítez, in which the idea that light from dead stars still shine can be a metaphor for lives lost and a presence of culture that resonates within our bodies. Silweta brings to light edges of a distant dance, tracing the outer limits of our connected lives. The work includes Petroglyph by Indigenous composer Brent Michael Davids, a digital dance of silhouettes made with Onome Ekeh will also be incorporated within the performance.

Film Screenings

Saturday, January 13, 5pm-6:30pm

The LGBT Community Center, Gallery 101

   Ticketing

Interdisciplinary artist Fana Fraser will present a new short film, originally commissioned by TBA21-Academy (Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary) for TBA21 on st_age.

And I was recognized is a portrait film on trans parenthood. The work uses sound and visual abstractions to offer a poetic lens to the intricate and tender space of family. 

The film is created by Omega X, Danni Venne, Matt Harvey and Laura Marie Marciano, and produced by gemstone readings. 

The Personal Things (2016) is an animated film by writer, filmmaker, and activist Tourmaline, whose practice highlights the experiences of Black, queer, and trans communities and their capacity to impact the world. Tourmaline writes, “You have to find your own way to strike back. Black trans elder and legendary activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy describes how everyday personal acts fuel her political activism.”

Workshops at The LGBT Community Center

  Ticketing

Teen Voguing Workshop with Jason Anthony Rodriguez

Friday, January 12, 3-4pm

Storytelling Through Dance for Older Adults with Magda Kaczmarska

Sunday, January 14, 5-6:30pm

Accessibility: The LGBT Community Center and Abrons Arts Center are wheelchair accessible venues.

The introductions for each event will be scripted with captioning shown through projection.

Crossroads series curated by Pioneers Go East Collective at The 14/Y.  Artists: Noa Rui-Piin Weiss & Miranda Brown; GREYZONE; Cara Hagan; Abby Felder; Sabrina Canas, Alex Oliva & Johnny Butler; Angela Schöpke, Emilee Lord, & Mor Mendel. Curators: Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte; Hilary Brown-Istrefi; Anabella Lenzu

RSVP

Free event & sliding scale tickets. All are welcome!

Monday October 30th, 8p
Noa Rui-Piin Weiss with Miranda Brown; GREYZONE with Lindy Fines, McCall Atkinson, Katerina Belmatch, Chisato Yanagisawa; Cara Hagan
curator: Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte

Tuesday October 31, 11a-noon
Abby Felder with Asheville Creative Arts
This iteration of Crossroads + NEXT! Workshop was curated for Young Audiences. Ages 0-5 encouraged, all ages are welcome!

Wednesday November 1, 6p-7p
NEXT! Workshop. Teaching artist: Alex Oliva & Johnny Butler

Wednesday November 1, 8p
tidbit collective with Sabrina Canas, Alex Oliva & Johnny Butler
curator: Hilary Brown-Istrefi 

Thursday November 2, 8p
Angela Schöpke, Emilee Lord, & Mor Mendel
curator: Anabella Lenzu

Crossroads performance and video art series curated by Pioneers Go East Collective.

CROSSROADS (CROSSWINDS, CROSSCURRENTS, CROSSFIRES) Performance + art + poetry + music + dance + food + community. A curated series presented by Pioneers Go East Collective. Crossroads Series features artists who explore new genres and known performance and art-making modes to share their creative practices with other artists and their audiences. Each evening we witness different generations of artists dealing with actual, day-to-day, contemporary challenges to further discussion between artists and to activate a network of exchange and inclusion with social and artistic intervention.

DIRECTIONS: The 14/Y

The 14 Street Y. The entrance is located at 344 E 14th St, New York, NY 10003. Subway: L to 1st Ave or 4, 5, 6, N, Q, R to Union Square.

Subway: Subway: L to 1st Ave or 4, 5, 6, N, Q, R to Union Square.

Accessibility: //The 14 Street Y main entrance is wheelchair accessible with an elevator on the ground floor to provide access to the theater located on the 2nd floor. Restrooms located on the 2nd floor are wheelchair accessible. //The evening’s introductions will be scripted with captions shown through a projection.

ART LIKE LOVE by Pioneers Go East Collective

Collar Works

Featuring: Agosto Machado, ALEXA GRAE, Paul Simon, Mark Tambella, Daniel Diaz, Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte, Joey Kipp, Philip Treviño, Richard Morales, Kathleen Kelley, Bryan Baira, Azmi Mert Erdem, Bree Breeden.

Opening & reception: Friday August 25, 2023, from 5pm-7pm
Gallery Exhibition: Friday August 25 to Saturday October 7, 2023

An art exhibition and media installation on how queer art is an act of revolution

Collar Works is pleased to announce Art Like Love! (ALL!), a cycle of films and performance installations by Pioneers Go East Collective, a music performance by ALEXA GRAE, and a new series of drawings and sculptures by collaborators Mark Tambella and Paul Simon. Art Like Love (ALL!) draws on DIY, camp, and genderfuck aesthetics to celebrate and develop otherness as a way to see what the queer community is, where it has failed, and how it can grow. 

Collar Works
621 River Street  ||  Troy, NY 12180  
Hours: Thursday 3-7 pm ||  Friday 3-7 pm  ||  Saturday 10-2

NEXT! Workshops at Judson Church and New York Public Library

Workshops for all ages, no experience necessary. Free events. All are welcome!

All guests will be required to be fully vaccinated (please bring proof of vaccination). All visitors will be required to wear a face-covering at all times while they are at Judson Church. In addition, all surfaces are being sanitized on a regular basis. Please note the performers will perform maskless, but they are fully vaccinated and observing New York State’s Department of Health protocols for in-person events.

DIRECTIONS: Judson Church

The entrance is located at 243 Thompson, New York, New York, 10012

Subway: A, C, E, B, D, F, M to West 4th Street or N, Q, R to NYU 8th Street.

Accessibility: Our accessible entrance is by way of 243 Thompson St. Use the lift to get to the Meeting Room on Level 3 or our accessible bathrooms on Level B (basement). Return to Level 1 for street access back to the corner of West 4th & Thompson St.

Out-FRONT! Fest. curated by Pioneers Go East Collective

Radical Queer dance, film, and performance at The LGBT Community Center.

RSVP / Free events. S25 donations suggested & sliding scale. All are welcome!

Listen to your Mother by Anabella Lenzu.

Choreography & performance Anabella Lenzu

Wednesday, January 18 & Thursday, January 19 at 7pm

Choreographed and performed by Anabella Lenzu, Listen to your Mother is redefining the place of

mothers, artists, and immigrants in the United States. The work is part of a research/choreographic

art project by Lenzu to capture histories, testimonials, and experiences of mothers who are also

immigrants and artists living and working in New York City to create dialogue, appreciation, and

social support. Music landscape, technology advising, and multimedia by Todd Carroll.

Creative collaborator: Fernando Santiago. Mask design and makeup by Lenzu.

DIRECTIONS: The LGBT Center // The entrance is located at 208 W 13 St, New York, NY 10011

Subway: A, C, E, L to 14 St / 8 Av or 1, 2 train to 18 Street.

Accessibility: Our accessible entrance is in front of the building

Anabella Lenzu. Photo by Todd Carroll

Out-FRONT! Fest. curated by Pioneers Go East Collective

Radical Queer dance, film, and performance at The LGBT Community Center.

RSVP / Free events. S25 donations suggested & sliding scale. All are welcome!

COLLUSIONS OF GRANDEUR - transfiguration by ALEXA Grae

Tuesday, January 17 & Wednesday, January 18 at 8pm

COLLUSIONS OF GRANDEUR – transfiguration, by interdisciplinary artist and composer ALEXA

GRÆ, is a surrealist multimedia opera engaging stories manifested through body evolutions. It is a

place where messages of trans and queer identity, spiritual downloads, ADHD, Blackness, and

magic interact. A rediscovery of personal power adjacent to movement by way of running. Where

internal truths collide with external myths and reverberate with the body as the messenger.

Negotiating the singular and collective rage, the work opens up Afrofuturistic visions, justice

strategies, and fantastical thoughts tethered by escapism to self-regulate. Vocalized joy poems

bend genres and arias of longing evoke a grand opera thrust into the multiverse.

DIRECTIONS: The LGBT Center // The entrance is located at 208 W 13 St, New York, NY 10011

Subway: A, C, E, L to 14 St / 8 Av or 1, 2 train to 18 Street.

Accessibility: Our accessible entrance is in front of the building

Photo: ALEXA GRAE (film still)

Out-FRONT! Fest. curated by Pioneers Go East Collective

Radical Queer dance, film, and performance at The LGBT Community Center.

RSVP / Free events. S25 donations suggested & sliding scale. All are welcome!

Salt and Spirit by Jasmine Hearn

Concept and Direction: Jasmine Hearn 

Produced by Nora Alami with Marýa Wethers 

In collaboration with Out-Front Fest Organizers, Pioneers GO East Collective and The Center 

Choreography: Jasmine Hearn with Nora Alami, Dominica Greene, jhon r. stronks, Kendra Portier, Charmaine Warren, and Marýa Wethers 
Sound Design: Jasmine Hearn
Sound: Jasmine Hearn with Coline Creuzot, Lily Gelfand, Angie Pittman, Becky Selles, and Jo Stewart 

Sound references “My Journey to the Sky” by Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Marie Knight

Garment Design: Jasmine Hearn and Athena Kokoronis of Domestic Performance Agency 

Additional Production Support: Nora Alami, Jasmine Hearn, and Myssi Robinson

DIRECTIONS: The LGBT Center // The entrance is located at 208 W 13 St, New York, NY 10011

Subway: A, C, E, L to 14 St / 8 Av or 1, 2 train to 18 Street.

Accessibility: Our accessible entrance is in front of the building

Jasmine Hearn. Photo by Sonja Stavrova

Out-FRONT! Fest. curated by Pioneers Go East Collective

Radical Queer dance, film, and performance at The LGBT Community Center.

RSVP / Free events. S25 donations suggested & sliding scale. All are welcome!

835 Hours of Hope & Despair by Arien Wilkerson/Tnmot Aztro + Chloe Newton + Kwami Winfield

Saturday, January 14 at 8pm & Sunday, January 15 at 5.30pm

A multidisciplinary work reflecting on gender, labor, queerness, and the geographic boundaries that

have affected creative paths for young queer Black artists. Wilkerson uses critical analysis and

comedic “transposition persona” to shape dance celebrating Black, radical, “poz” trans, and

nonbinary traditions to entertain, share joy, and explore self-awareness. 835 Hours of Hope &

Despair features Arien Wilkerson and Chloe Newton with live sound accompaniment by

Kwami Winfield. Cultural historian/dramaturge: TK Smith. Written by Wilkerson comprising text

by Cedric J. Robinson, Hortense J. Spillers, Eduardo Cadava, Aaron Levy, Saidiya Hartman,

Adrian Piper, and Uta Hagen. Tech and installation design by Wilkerson and Jacob Weinberg.

DIRECTIONS: The LGBT Center // The entrance is located at 208 W 13 St, New York, NY 10011

Subway: A, C, E, L to 14 St / 8 Av or 1, 2 train to 18 Street.

Accessibility: Our accessible entrance is in front of the building

Arien Wilkerson. Photo by Adrian Martinez Chavez

Out-FRONT! Fest. curated by Pioneers Go East Collective

Radical Queer dance, film, and performance at The LGBT Community Center.

RSVP / Free events. S25 donations suggested & sliding scale. All are welcome!

Electric Blue by Pioneers Go East Collective. Featuring: ALEXA Grae, Joey Kipp & Daniel Diaz. Creative director Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte; choreography Symara Johnson; visual artist Mark Tambella; production designer Philip Treviño.

Friday, January 13 & Saturday, January 14 at 6p

Electric Blue is a dance-theater installation inspired by radical queer thought-provoking literary icon

Allen Ginsberg. A meditation on creative agency and censorship, Electric Blue celebrates past and

present LGBTQ resilience in pursuit of artistic freedom. The artists deploy personal reflections to

underscore how the experiences of the individual, the artist, and their community are inevitably

bound together, hinting at the potential for collective action. Taking Ginsberg’s writing defined as

pornographic literature when first published, the collective examines the author’s controversial

poetry reflecting on same-sex love and male bonding. Integrating artistic disciplines, the project is

devised in collaboration with three solo performing artists: singer/dancer ALEXA GRÆ,

dancer/storyteller Joey Kipp, and performance artist/storyteller Daniel Diaz.

DIRECTIONS: The LGBT Center // The entrance is located at 208 W 13 St, New York, NY 10011

Subway: A, C, E, L to 14 St / 8 Av or 1, 2 train to 18 Street.

Accessibility: Our accessible entrance is in front of the building

Photo: Joey Kipp and Daniel Diaz

NEXT! Workshop Series. Low-impact and accessible workshops

Curated by Pioneers Go East Collective in partnership with The LGBT Center

RSVP / Free events (donations suggested & sliding scale). All are welcome!

Friday, January 13 at 6p // NEXT! Workshop with Arien Wilkerson

&

Wednesday, January 18 at 6pm // NEXT! Workshop with Jasmine Hearn

A time to listen, loosen, and locate memory, color, and strength

This workshop is open to anybody that wants to move, sound, remember, and listen. 

My intention is to share an interdisciplinary practice rooted in traditions, practices, and methodologies of improvisation, dance, somatics, performance, preservation, sound composition, garment design, and cooking. We will start with a warm up—a mix of heat generating prompts to move, still, and rest. We will continue with movement, writing, and embodied sound scores shared from performance project, Salt and Spirit. 

To learn more who I am influenced by:  https://www.jasminehearn.com/artist-statement/

NEXT! Engagement Workshop - Storytelling & Movement-based Workshops. A creative engagement program by Pioneers Go East Collective. Designed for multigenerational people - the creative workshop focuses on performance and storytelling techniques, including movement practices, creative writing, and interview-based acting. The goal is to create a nurturing learning environment and build stronger bonds within the participants' community.

All guests will be required to be fully vaccinated (please bring proof of vaccination). All participants must wear a face-covering at all times while at The Center. In addition, all surfaces are sanitized on a regular basis. Please note the performers will perform maskless, but they are fully vaccinated and observing New York State’s Department of Health protocols for in-person events. 

DIRECTIONS: The LGBT Center // The entrance is located at 208 W 13 St, New York, NY 10011

Subway: A, C, E, L to 14 St / 8 Av or 1, 2 train to 18 Street.

Accessibility: Our accessible entrance is in front of the building.

Photo: Jasmine Hearn

Out-FRONT! Fest. curated by Pioneers Go East Collective

Radical Queer dance, film, and performance at The LGBT Community Center.

RSVP / Free events. S25 donations suggested & sliding scale. All are welcome!

The Kitchen Sink Wrangler at the Midnight Rodeo.

Choreography, creative direction & film by Symara Johnson

Thursday, January 12 & Friday, January 13, at 8pm

The Kitchen Sink Wrangler at the Midnight Rodeo is an exploration into the artist’s American and

West Indian heritage. Formally trained in Caribbean dance techniques in Trinidad, Symara

Johnson combines the methodologies of folk and modern dance to explore her family history

within the United States, of which there is a limited archive. Johnson uses family lore and American

cultural fantasy to create and project a persona that embodies and is in conversation with her

lineage in the Wild West and the Deep South. In the piece, the rope becomes both a prop and

partner as Johnson embodies her cowgirl persona. She uses the rope as a boundary, holding it

taut and creating shapes for her body to deftly navigate. She surveils the land around her,

responding to her surroundings with playful curiosity. When she begins to lasso, the rope

transforms into a mesmerizing and dynamic sculptural accompaniment.

DIRECTIONS: The LGBT Center // The entrance at 208 W 13 St, New York, NY 10011 // Subway: A, C, E, L to 14 St / 8 Av or 1, 2 to 18 Street.

Accessibility: Our accessible entrance is in front of the building

Symara Johnson. Photo by Olga Rabetskaya