From the ArtsBoston Blog...
Now in its third year, Dancing Queerly continues to “create opportunities for people to engage with dance as audience members and participants, centering queerness and countering the many ways LGBTQIA+ people are underserved in traditional dance spaces.” From June 15-21, you can join a series of classes, cocktail hours, workshops, and performances that are sure to make this Pride Month meaningful and full of joy. We had the chance to talk to co-producer J. Michael Winward about his experience building this festival, his thoughts on the future of the Boston dance community, and more:
HOW DID DANCING QUEERLY BEGIN, AND HOW HAS IT EVOLVED SINCE YOU STARTED IN 2017?
We started at the Dance Complex – I was working in the office at the time and had dance and teaching practices of my own. I had been wanting to start doing my work, and The Dance Complex has a theatre space that’s available to rent. Folks at DC connected me to other queer artists who might be interested in splitting an evening to make it cheaper. After that, I got an idea to expand it to something that would have different themes and was connected to Maggie Cee (Dancing Queerly’s second co-producer). We had the idea to center it in June for Pride month, and that event ended up offering workshops in different styles, a weekend of performance, and a Q&A with artists.