On Sunday, June 10th The Dance Complex honored DANCE NOW Boston and The Dancing Queerly Festival with Rainbow Cocktails!, an evening of great company, pop-up performances by Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion, hors d’oeuvres, and gender-neutral social dance lessons lead by Michael Winward, co-curator of Dancing Queerly.
All donations from the event above $10 are to be directed towards future LGBTQIAPK and All in Movement programming at The Dance Complex- helping the organization to create programs that make dance more accessible, to be more effective in communicating to a broader public, and to insure that all dance and all dancers have a place to take their next steps.
Summer 2018 Communications Intern Kiersten Resch sat down with Michael Winward and Maggie Cee of Dancing Queerly in the days leading up to Rainbow Coktails! to learn more about how The Dance Complex has impacted their work.
“The Dance Complex has been instrumental in my growth as an independent dance artist, since moving to Boston in 2015.” Stated one of Dancing Queerly curators, Michael Winward. “As a nexus for emerging and established artists, The Dance Complex seemed a natural fit to produce 2017’s production of “A Queer Time and Place”. What began (in 2017) as a two night performance of 5 local artists has evolved with the support from The Boston Foundation into (2018’s) month-long festival of performances, workshops, parties, and a panel discussion, hosting thirteen teaching and performing artists from Boston, New York, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis. The Rainbow Cocktail! party is a celebration of all the LGBTQ artists making work at The Dance Complex throughout June–and indeed, throughout the year. Maggie Cee and I (co-producers of Dancing Queerly) thank Peter DiMuro for hosting the party, and for his ongoing support of LGBTQ artists in Boston and beyond.”
Just as Michael found a home in The Dance Complex, Maggie Cee, the second curator of Dancing Queerly, stated she came to have “a deep love and affection for the Dance Complex that began when I first moved to Boston and took class here for the first time in 2001”.
A love for the “incredible diversity of people and dancing” found at The Dance Complex inspired both Maggie and Michael to create a space for LGBTQ+ dance because LGBTQ+ dancers are everywhere. “These identities are not always at the forefront of how we think and talk about ourselves as dancers and artists” stated Maggie Cee in regards to LGBTQ dancers. “As someone who is passionate about dance, I feel a need to make and see art that reflects my identity, and Dancing Queerly and The Dance Complex are creating valuable space to do so.”
Dancing Queerly invites members of the LGBTQ community and their friends to explore what it means to dance and create in a queer body. Through workshops, performances, discussions, and mixers, dance lovers and the Dance-Curious will find new ways to engage with dance as participants, creators, and audience members.
The Dancing Queerly Festival is currently underway at The Dance Complex. Visit the Dancing Queerly Website to learn more.
