Centering LGBTQ+ and feminist voices, the Out-FRONT! Festival features the work of artists exploring bold new performance modes for a lively exchange of art and culture.

Presented by Pioneers Go East Collective in partnership BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) and Judson Church, January 7-13, 2025. 

Curators/Producers: Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte, Philip Treviño, Daniel Diaz. Producer and Outreach: Remi Harris. Cultural Organizer: Joyce Isabelle.

“The Out-FRONT! Festival is now in its third year and is here to stay! As a grassroots artist-driven collective, we create a high-visibility platform for dance and interdisciplinary artists whose rigorous, playful, and fabulously outrageous creative practices speak to our community in unexpected and beautiful ways.” -- Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte 

Saturday, January 11, at 7pm 

Split Bill:

Kyle Marshall Choreography

Joan (NYC Premiere)

&

Angie Pittman 

Black Life Chord Changes

BAM Fisher Hillman Studio

Kyle Marshall’s Joan is a quartet celebrating power over tyranny, motivated by Julius Eastman’s bold score for 10 cellos, “The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc.” The story of Joan, a young female warrior who is called by God to lead her army to victory against an occupying oppressor, is central to this dance. The French origins of this legend are reinterpreted to remember the history of the Maroons, Seminoles, and other communities of revolutionary people who fought for their freedom against slavery and colonial rule in the Americas. Flanking Joan are three soldiers symbolizing the spirits of her ancestors who guide and fight by her side. There is victory in the air and an eternal flame in their heart as these four figures defend their ground, elude the enemy, and fortify themselves in Eastman’s relentlessly fiery score. Performed by Justin Daniels, Taína Lyons, Kellye Smith, and Sydney Worthy. Eastman’s score is performed by Seth Parker Woods. Original lighting design by Serena Wong. Costume design, hair, and makeup by Edo Tastic. Joan is part of Kyle Marshall’s Julius Eastman trilogy. 

Angie Pittman’s reprised evening-length solo performance (broken into scores for “day” and “night”) uses dance improvisation—skillfully pulling from and synthesizing, folk traditions of liturgical dancing, soul line dancing, Umfundalai, and postmodern improvisation—with layers of sung and spoken text, patient listening, and recorded sound to open an experimental, improvised movement portal. Through these visceral Black womanist traditions, Black Life Chord Changesslips in and out of deep listening, seeing, improvisation, and truth telling. Choreographed and performed by Angie Pittman. Composer: Cody Jensen. Lighting design by Tuçe Yasak. Recording artists: Tiffany Williams, Carla E. Jones, and Aaron (A+) Wilson. Arrangement: Ther’Up.Y. Lyricist: Angie Pittman.

Photos L-R: Angie Pittman, photo by Brian Rogers, Kyle Marshall Choreography, photo by John Evans.