CANCELED:Joyce Master Class: Ballez

After careful consideration of the news regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19),  the Joyce Theater and Gibney has decided to cancel this workshop. This is a difficult decision to make, but during this time we need to prioritize the health and safety of our community and our staff. We apologize for any inconvenience.

WITH KATY PYLE

Ballez Founder and Director Katy Pyle will teach an Adult Ballez Class, inviting the public into their radical practice to reclaim ballet for the queers and outcasts who have always been a part of ballet, but who have been hidden from its history. Adult Ballez is a ballet class that strives to re-imagine what ballet can be, who it can be for, and how it can be done. This class values connection, emotional engagement, joyful dancing, inclusive play, and multiple definitions of virtuosity and presents all the typical exercises of a ballet class in an evolving practice of mutual growth and expanding circles of connection. Class starts at the barre, then moves to center to turn, jump, and (often) practice non-binary partnering. We will also explore movement material, characteristics, and themes from Ballez’s newest work Giselle of Loneliness. Foot Attire: Socks or ballet shoes (but not required). Beginner to advanced levels are ALL WELCOME.

Katy Pyle re-imagines ballet culture through the lens of their own values. Pyle’s company, Ballez (est. 2011), creates large¬ scale story-ballets, open classes, and public engagement. Major works: “The Firebird, a Ballez,” Danspace Project (2013), “Variations on Virtuosity” American Realness (2015), “Sleeping Beauty & the Beast,” La Mama (2016), and “Slavic Goddesses,” the Kitchen, with Visual Direction by Paulina Olowska (January 2017). Pyle has brought Ballez to Yale, Princeton, Sarah Lawrence, NYU, Whitman College, Bowdoin College, Beloit College, MDT in Stockholm, and the New School, where Pyle is a current faculty member. Pyle also teaches weekly Professional Ballez class at Gibney 890. Ballez has been featured in the New York Times, Dance Magazine, and Teen Vogue, among other publications.

ABOUT BALLEZ

Ballez reinvents the classical ballet canon with storytelling that champions the expression of queer, lesbian, transgender, and gender-nonconforming identities within ballet. Giselle of Loneliness, inspired by the tragic, romantic story-ballet Giselle, dives into its themes of despair and madness. This reimagining of a classic tale reveals the experience of dancers tortured by ballet itself, and asks, “What parts of ourselves do we have to give up, or kill off, in order to belong in ballet, and how do audiences participate in this demand?”

See Ballez at The Joyce Theater June 23-28, 2020.

Photo by M. Sharkey.

ACCESSIBILITY

Gibney 280 Broadway is accessible via elevator from the main entrance at 53A Chambers Street.

We welcome the opportunity to make this event more accessible. Please refrain from wearing scented products, so that people with chemical sensitivities can join us. Please request ASL interpreting, audio description, or open captioning 30 days before the event or submit other requests by completing our Access Requests and Inquiries Form or calling 646.837.6809 (Voice only).