CANCELED: Living Gallery: Katy Pyle/Ballez

After careful consideration of the news regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19), Gibney has decided to cancel this event. 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. Please contact info@gibneydance.org with any questions.

Getting The Wilis

In this Living Gallery, Katy Pyle will discuss the separatist ghosts in the ballet Giselle, known as the Wilis, and how they have inspired both historical research and the revealing of personal narratives embedded in Ballez’s forthcoming “Giselle of Loneliness.” Pyle will discuss representations of suffering, despair and suicidality in the original Giselle ballet, and how we are taught to view and perceive female suffering through that lens. Pyle will also discuss how marginalized queer people are ghosts embedded in the hidden histories of ballet culture, training and technique, and how Ballez seeks to make them visible.

Stay after to catch Work Up: 6.2 at 8:00pm featuring work by by Wendell Gray II, Kalliope+Symara, and Ramona Sekulovic.

ABOUT KATY PYLE

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,” at the Kitchen with Paulina Olowska (January 2017). Pyle has brought Ballez to Yale, Princeton, Sarah Lawrence, NYU, Whitman College, Bowdoin College, Beloit College, and the New School, where they are a faculty member. Ballez has been featured in the NY Times, Dance Magazine, Teen Vogue, among other publications.

Photo by Julie Mack of THEY Bklyn.

Living Gallery, a monthly program curated by Eva Yaa Asantewaa and produced in the Gibney Gallery, presents live performance of storytelling, monologues, spoken word, stand-up, or creative talks.

Each performance—free and open to the public—runs 30-45 minutes, usually scheduled within the hour before a dance concert presented in Gibney’s Theater. We welcome you to attend both events and enjoy a wide range of expressive artists.

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).