American Ballet Theatre’s will present its first-ever PRIDE NIGHT CELEBRATIONS on Wednesday evening, October 27 at 7:30 P.M. and Saturday evening, October 30 at 8:00 P.M., with a series of events honoring the LGBTQIA+ community and LGBT History Month.
The fabulous Lypsinka will appear at each of the Pride Night events. A veteran of Off-Broadway, stage, film and television, Lypsinka has won three Drama-Desk nominations (Lypsinka! A Day in the Life and Lypsinka! The Boxed Set.) She is the alter-ego of John Epperson who has served as a rehearsal and class pianist with ABT over the span of 43 years. In her first appearance with ABT and first return to performing since 2018.
American Ballet Theatre’s Pride Night celebrations will include performances of Alexei Ratmansky’s Bernstein in a Bubble, set to Leonard Bernstein’s Divertimento; Rudd’s Touché, set to music by Woodkid and Ennio Morricone; Clark Tippet’s Some Assembly Required, staged by Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner and set to music by William Bolcom; and Darrell Grand Moultrie’s Indestructible Light, set to recorded music by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Neal Hefti, Billy Strayhorn, and Chuck Harmony.
The post-performance discussions, free for each evening’s audience, will be moderated by trans-actress Tommy Dorfman. They will include a panel discussion of ABT’s LGBT works with the creators of the male duet Touché: choreographer Christopher Rudd, ABT Principal Dancer Calvin Royal III, and ABT corps de ballet member João Menegussi. Sarah Lozoff, intimacy director for Touché, will join the panel on Wednesday, October 27 and ABT Principal Dancer James Whiteside joins on Saturday evening, October 30.
In addition, a free exhibit of the works of photographer Quil Lemons, curated by Sarah Hoover, will be displayed on the lobby and promenade level of the David H. Koch Theater throughout the Fall season.
The company stated LGBTQIA+ Pride exists to fortify a sense of self-respect and solidarity expressed by the LGBTQIA+ community and to celebrate gender consciousness and cultural identity. ABT is holding two Pride nights during its 2021 fall Lincoln Center season for the first time in its history. That is worthy of a hearty round of applause and some screams of “Bravi!!” So many of the dancers, choreographers, musicians, repertoire directors, and behind-the-scenes actors of the ABT family have worked to make ABT a finer arts institution. Many of them are no longer with us, so we are honoring the Company’s LGBTQIA+ artists and audience—current, past, and future.
For tickets and more information,visit www.abt.org/pride.