SEAN DORSEY DANCE
BOYS IN TROUBLE
OCT 17-20
Velocity 1621 12th Ave.

Trailblazing transgender choreographer Sean Dorsey returns to Velocity for one weekend only! BOYS IN TROUBLE is a timely and urgent commentary on contemporary masculinity places a trans and queer lens onto intersectional questions of embodiment, violence, Black queer love, whiteness, shame and posturing.

“a visually stunning, emotionally rich, and profoundly timely examination of masculinity
and gender by one of the nation’s most visionary choreographers”
– San Francisco Bay Times

Recognized as the nation’s first acclaimed transgender modern dance choreographer, Sean Dorsey’s ability to bring us into conversation with toxic masculinity, the trans revolution, white supremacy and attacks on trans bodies and civil liberties manifest in this powerful work.

“poignant … Dorsey’s signature mix of happiness, heartbreak, confessional dialogue,
salty language, goofy humor and gorgeous partnering”
– San Francisco Chronicle

BOYS IN TROUBLE features full-throttle dance, raw emotion, irreverent humor, exquisite queer partnering and intimate storytelling … all performed with Sean Dorsey Dance’s signature technical precision, guts and deep humanity.

“stunningly gorgeous powerful movement … remarkable choreography”
– Fairfax Connection

“athletic choreography and breakneck dances … highly skilled”
– LA Dance Chronicle

“epic work … powerful, moving, hilarious”
¬– Miami Herald

In turns powerful, explosive, irreverent, devastatingly honest, sensual and humorous, BOYS IN TROUBLE is a groundbreaking examination of American masculinity’s deep roots in Trouble.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

SEAN DORSEY is an award-winning San Francisco-based choreographer, dancer and writer. Recognized as the U.S.’ first acclaimed transgender modern dance choreographer, Dorsey has toured his work to 30 cities.

Dorsey was recently awarded a Dance/USA Artist Fellowship. He has been named “San Francisco’s Best Dance Company” (SF Weekly) and named in Dance Magazine’s 25 To Watch. He has been awarded five Isadora Duncan Dance Awards and the Goldie Award for Performance.

Dorsey’s works are a fusion of full-throttle dance, luscious partnering, intimate storytelling and theater. Highly physical, accessible, rooted in story, and danced with precision and guts and deep humanity, Dorsey’s works have been praised as “exquisite…poignant and important” (BalletTanz), “trailblazing” (San Francisco Chronicle) and “evocative, compelling, elegant” (LA Weekly).

Dorsey has been awarded major support from the National Endowment for the Arts, National Dance Project, National Performance Network, Dance/USA, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Creative Work Fund, California Arts Council, San Francisco Arts Commission, James Irvine Foundation, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, Fleishhacker Foundation, Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Dorsey’s work has been commissioned by: American Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival (Lewiston), Dance Place (Washington DC), Queer Cultural Center (San Francisco), The Theater Offensive (Boston), 7 Stages (Atlanta), Maui Arts and Cultural Center (Maui), Velocity Dance Center (Seattle), Links Hall (Chicago), and Highways Performance Space (Los Angeles).

Dorsey is a leading national advocate for Trans Equity in dance – and has worked for equity for transgender and gender-nonconforming artists in the field for 20 years. Dorsey’s program TRANSform Dance provides trans-supportive education, engagement and advocacy to forward trans equity and justice in Dance.

Sean Dorsey Dance is currently on a 20-city international tour of BOYS IN TROUBLE – a timely and urgent commentary on contemporary masculinity that places a trans and queer lens onto intersectional questions of embodiment, violence, Black queer love, whiteness, shame and posturing in BOYS IN TROUBLE.

Dorsey’s previous evening-length dances are a trilogy of works exploring censored, buried or forgotten parts of LGBTQ history: THE MISSING GENERATION (2015), The Secret History Of Love (2013), and Uncovered: The Diary Project (2010).

THE MISSING GENERATION gives voice to LGBTQ longtime survivors of the early AIDS epidemic. Dorsey created the work over a 2-year period after recording oral history interviews with longtime survivors. These survivors’ voices and remarkable real-life stories are featured in the work’s Izzie Award-winning soundscore.

Dorsey is also the founder and Artistic Director of Fresh Meat Productions, the US’ first nonprofit of its kind. Fresh Meat Productions invests in the creative expression and cultural leadership of transgender and gender-nonconforming communities. Fresh Meat’s year-round programs include the popular annual FRESH MEAT FESTIVAL of transgender and queer performance, Sean Dorsey Dance’s local and touring performances, FRESH WORKS creation commissions to trans and queer artists of color, a national education program, and TRANSform Dance – a national education, engagement and advocacy program promoting Trans Equity in dance.

BOYS IN TROUBLE was commissioned by: Bates Dance Festival, Dance Place (Washington DC), 7 Stages Theater (Atlanta), Queer Cultural Center (San Francisco), San Francisco LGBT Community Center, Maui Arts & Cultural Center (Maui) and Highways Performance Space (Los Angeles) – and was created with generous support from the California Arts Council, Creative Work Fund, Fleishhacker Foundation, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, National Dance Project, National Performance Network, Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation and San Francisco Arts Commission.

PHOTO – Lydia Daniller