Compiled by Steve Sucato from press materials and artist websites

OPEN AIR SERIES ARTISTS 2021 SHOWCASE
Curated by Richard Parsakian
Thursday, May 20, 2021 – 2:00 – 3:30pm
PBT Stage at Flagstaff Hill, Schenley Park, Pittsburgh PA

SHOWCASE ARTISTS:
– Antonio Brown, choreographer/dancer, Antonio Brown Dance, NYC
(his company, 5-6 dancers)
– Nick Daniels, choreographer/dancer, Dana Movement Company, Pgh
(dancers TBA)
– Julia Erickson, dancer/choreographer, Pgh
(setting work on 2 dancers)
– Vanessa German, spoken word artist, Pgh
(solo)
– James Gilmer, dancer, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, NYC
(solo, work set by Antonio Brown)
– Kaylin Horgan, dancer/choreographer, CAPA modern dance teacher, Pgh
(dancers TBA)
– Jennifer Keller, dancer/choreographer, Pgh
Slippery Rock University, Dance Dept Chair & Professor, Pgh
(setting work on 4 dancers)
– James Manning, dancer/choreographer, CAPA, dance department head. Pgh
(setting work on dancers TBA)
– Jil Stifel, dancer/choreographer, Pgh
(Jil + dancer TBA)
– Rocker Verastique & Danny Herman, dancers/choreographers,
PPU dance faculty, Pgh
(setting work on 15 dancers TBD)

FREE – RESERVATIONS REQUIRED – VISIT: https://www.pbt.org/performances-tickets/parsakian/

Shana Simmons Dance
SPRING FOR SOLOS
Thursday, May 20, 2021 – 6:00pm
Runtime: approximately 40 minutes
PBT Stage at Flagstaff Hill, Schenley Park, Pittsburgh PA

Join us for a wonderful evening of Shana Simmons Dance repertory! Digging into the archives, 4 solos accompany 1 new group work for this short evening program. Solos being performed are:
Bits…Pieces… (2011), performance by Brady Sanders
Passenger (2014), performance by Jamie Erin Murphy
STOP (2016), performance by Emily Jaikaran
Untitled (2019), performance by Shana Simmons
Also featured in the group work including the above are Joanna Dehler and Allegra Golembiewski.

Suggested donation $10 via SSD’s website or Venmo @shana-simmons-dance

newMoves for Open Air
STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos
and Sidra Bell Dance New York
Friday, May 21, 6:00pm
PBT Stage at Flagstaff Hill, Schenley Park, Pittsburgh PA

As we emerge from COVID-19 isolation, KST is delighted to present our first in person event since March 2020. As a part of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Open Air: A Series in Celebration of the Performing Arts at Flagstaff Hill in Schenley Park, KST Presents newMoves for Open Air, a COVID-safe and scaled back version of our annual dance festival! newMoves was established in 2008 and in fact the first edition of the festival featured companies STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos and Sidra Bell Dance New York!

This special consolidated edition of newMoves offers a shared program featuring new works in development from Pittsburgh’s celebrated STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos and New York trailblazers Sidra Bell Dance New York! In-between and in transition; after a year of in-door virtual exploration, SPdp&SS explores body-freedom through movement study focused on balance, pace, rhythm and space in INTERIM: untitled. Sidra Bell Dance New York will share a new untitled work created in collaboration with eclectic contemporary impressionist composer from New York City Dan Cooper and upcoming South Korean fashion designer Na Yeong Baek, who will debut a new collection entitled “Blank Slate” on the company.

Join us by purchasing Pay What Makes You Happy! tickets for the seated section in front of the stage (masks required). We are delighted to be able share new imaginative dance works with you in the early evening sun! Tickets at: https://kelly-strayhorn.secure.force.com/ticket/#/instances/a0F4M00000UXKU9UAP

Click here to see PPT’s FAQ surrounding COVID-19 Protocols that KST will be following.

Attack Theatre
Translations (from studio to Open Air)
Friday, May 28 at 3:00-4:00pm
PBT Stage at Flagstaff Hill, Schenley Park, Pittsburgh PA

After a year of virtual residencies, rehearsals, and performances, Translations emerges as an Attack Theatre performance experience. Our public performance of Translations is part of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Open Air: A Series in Celebration of the Performing Arts. There we join a community of artists sharing work to an outdoor audience; many of us for the first time in over a year. In a live performance, audiences regain an agency not often found in a highly curated, filmed production. Follow one line of movement, hold onto one moment of emotion, take in the park scenery, or enjoy the bigger picture of four dancers moving in concert with one another and with you.

Socially distanced seating in chairs is available on a first-come-first-served basis. Additional seating is available on the hillside, personal blankets and chairs are welcome. We ask that you honor guidelines established by the C.D.C. and our partner organizations for participating in this event. For more information about this event, please review this Frequently Asked Questions page that PBT has created.

American Sign Language interpretation will be available for the Open Air performance. Wheelchair accessible seating will also be available.

More information at: https://www.attacktheatre.com/translations

The Pillow Project
UNDERSTARS
Sunday, May 30, 9:00pm
PBT Stage at Flagstaff Hill, Schenley Park, Pittsburgh PA

UNDERSTARS is The Pillow Project’s newest full-length work emerging from a time of profound isolation, loss, loneliness, and disconnection where our bodies are longing for touch. UNDERSTARS speaks to our enduring connection to one another despite what has felt like galactic-distances of space between us. Here, in this moment, we slowly remember the romantic language of human contact. 

This special after-dark performance will be illuminated by The Pillow Project’s original projected-light concepts and will be presented live on the outdoor stage at Flagstaff Hill in Schenley Park (Pittsburgh) as a part of the two-week OPEN AIR dance festival. 

​DIRECTION & LIGHTING BY – Pearlann Porter
PERFORMED BY – Theo Bliss, Grace Lopez, Ava Shannon, Kyle Sangil, Courtney Hart, Libbie Louis, Kylee Killian and Matthew Saggiomozz
TICKETS – Free & Open to the public: Socially-distanced lawn seating available
$10 Suggested Donation via Venmo @TheSpaceUpstairs (code: 9269)