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Lineup Announced For New York Live Arts Pride 2019 House Party

By: Jun. 12, 2019
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Lineup Announced For New York Live Arts Pride 2019 House Party  Image

Live Arts Pride 2019: THE HOUSE PARTY - 50 FOR 50 is New York Live Arts' 2nd annual Pride celebration; a building wide and sidewalk multi-genre event in the historic "gayborhood" of Chelsea, just blocks from the Pride March.

The epic 6-hour celebration honors the historical importance and unwavering power of collectives in LGBTQAI culture and pays tribute to the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. Both legendary and young families from NYC's queer nightlife and art scene come together under one roof to serve up the city's most colorful and fierce performance, music, queer marketplace, installations and more for a multi-space, nonstop celebration for the ages.

Making their debut engagements at New York Live Arts will be the oldest and most revered house in New York's drag and ballroom scene, the Legendary House of LaBeija; and RAGGA, a network of queer Carribeans founded by Christopher Udemezue (Neon Christina). Returning to Live Arts Pride are the vibrant, provocative, and inclusive artist collectives Bubble_T, Papi Juice, and Switch n' Play. Welcomed by Live Arts Artistic Director Bill T. Jones and curated by Tyler Ashley, The Dauphine of Bushwick, these houses joined by LaBeija, will express their distinct voices in 90-minute performance sets in Live Arts' mainstage, 184 seat theater.

One of the third floor performance studios will feature a pensive, experiential, and durational installation by RAGGA, designed to inspire all of the 5 senses. The second studio will feature the lead sponsor Tito's Handmade Vodka Pride Lounge providing space for rest, nourishment, and rehydration. Curated by the collective's leaders themselves, performance parties and the installation will include DJ sets, drag queen and king shows, live vocals, dance, spoken word, food, photography, visual and projected video art, and more!

Prior to doors opening, Brooklyn's favorite wise-cracking and colorful drag queen Ragamuffin will host POZLUCK, a potluck social for queer people living with HIV. Created and managed by Ragamuffin monthly, POZLUCK is friendly, private, and casual; it provides a space and opportunity for all kinds of queer people living with HIV to create a network of support through delicious food and conversation. Attendance is by RSVP only by emailing pozluckbk@gmail.com.

The open-air lobby will be free and available to the public and feature a large-scale installation asking "What Is 21st Century Liberation?" in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall uprising and NYC/World Pride for the Live Arts' Ford Foundation Live Gallery, co-presented with Visual AIDS. The installation is produced in conjunction with Visual AIDS' 2019 Pride Broadsheet project, both designed by Avram Finkelstein, co-creator of SILENCE=DEATH, and Rodrigo Moreira. Pop-up shops featuring fashions, makeup, jewelry and more by local queer designers Valentine Amartey, Planet Modah, Ten Yards Clothing and Domonique Echeverria will activate the lobby and street front to embrace LGBTQAI exchange and commerce.

The event honors the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and NYC/World Pride by donating a portion of ticket sales to the neighborhood's Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in the name of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company Co-founder, Arnie Zane. Live Arts Pride 2019: THE HOUSE PARTY - 50 for 50's is sponsored by Tito's Handmade Vodka and Alexis Bittar.

LIVE ARTS PRIDE 2019: THE HOUSE PARTY - 50 for 50
COMPLETE LINEUP

BUBBLE_T:
DJ Bichon
DJ Tito Vida
Projections by KOJI
Performances by Bibingka Mama and Sina

PAPI JUICE:
DJ Adam R.
DJ Oscar Nñ
Projections by Mohammed Fayaz
Performance by NIC Kay

HOUSE OF LABEIJA:
DJ Emory LaBeija
Emcee Linda LaBeija
Performances by Egyptt LaBeija, Jabari LaBeija, LaFierce LaBeija, Linda LaBeija, Poison LaBeija, and Rich LaBeija

RAGGA:
Group installation organized by Chrisotopher Udemezue
Participating artists: Shanekia McIntosh, Antonia Estela Pérez Rojas, Sasha Phyars-Burgess, Domonique Nicole Echeverria, @HoldPoliceAccountable, CONNEK Jamaica, and Christopher Udemezue

SWITCH N' PLAY:
DJ Ickarus
Performances by Divina GranSparkle, K.James, Miss Malice, Nyx Nocturne, Pearl Harbor and Zoe Ziegfeld

OPEN-AIR LOBBY:
Featuring designers Valentine Amartey, Ten Yards Clothing, Domonique Echeverria, and Planet Modah Cosmetic

Bubble_T is a community of collaborative and creative minds continuing the conversation about visibility, inclusiveness, diversity and love. An Asian/Pacific/Queer collective focused on supporting and lifting the community we share.

House of LaBeija
The Legendary Sunshine House of La'Beija is one of the oldest houses in the ballroom community today. In fact, it is the very first house ever started. It was founded between the years of 1950 and 1967 when a group of fab femme queens and drag queens got together and decided to walk what they called pageants, since the white pageant world was not kind to the queens of color. During these pageants they were scored anywhere from 5's-10's with the person receiving the highest ranked score deemed grand prize for the particular category. These pageants later on became what we know today as balls.

These few fab "queens" sat down under the leadership of the founding mother Crystal La'Beija, famously known for her appearance in the documentary "The Queen", who came up with the name La'Beija, deriving from the spanish word "La Bella". When at a pageant, one of the patrons had seen her and said with great vigor, "La Bella!" Crystal took offense and asked "La Bella? What is that?" When told it meant beautiful, she said "Your damn right! I am beautiful" the present pronunciation of the word came from the ballroom kids not being able to pronounce the true spanish word. And the name then took on a life of its own but it was fitting because the ladies that were in crystal's circle were all beautiful.

As the house began to grow and continue to make a name for itself, Crystal saw fit to name a house mother. She was very interested in a pageant walker named Pepper. Pepper was beautiful, stylish, commanded attention whenever she walked and always went head to head, winning over the La'Beija girls. Crystal thought to join forces and that with Pepper in position as mother, the house would be unstoppable. When Pepper was approached, she agreed to be mother only if she could run it her way. She felt that the girls were all lovely but lacked shock value, and she would fix that.

The late, great legendary immortal icon Pepper La'Beija has become best known for her appearance in the film documentary "Paris Is Burning." She was known and loved by all who knew her. Though she was sweet and kind to those who knew her, she could also be what we call "fierce." She reads for points. She was also a loving person who had one goal set in mind and that was making this house as well known as possible. It was thanks to her later partner, Father Tommie La'Beija, that The House of La'Beija would become known across the world. With chapters now in London, Russia, Mexico and Paris, the family that began here in New York City has grown to include dancers, designers, performers and lyricists. The House continues to grow and flourish, spreading Sunshine, love and refinery in the name of La'Beija.
~ Glampa Father Tommie LaBeija

Papi Juice is an art collective composed of DJ/producers Oscar Nñ and Adam Rhodes, and illustrator Mohammed Fayaz, that aims to celebrate the lives of queer and trans people of color. Structured around curated events, Papi Juice lives at the intersection of art, music, and nightlife. For the past six years, the collective has been changing the face of nightlife in New York City and beyond with intentional platforms for artists of color including panels, artist residencies, performances, and, of course, fabled DJ sets and parties.

RAGGA NYC is a hybrid of ideas that began as late night conversations over familial island roots, current social politics, empanadas vs. beef patties, pum pum shorts, scamming and a longing for a party that provides a for queer Caribbeans and their kin. A platform founded by Christopher Udemezue (Neon Christina), RAGGA NYC connects a growing network of queer Caribbean artists and allies working across a wide range of disciplines-including visual art, fashion, poetry and more-to explore how race, sexuality, gender, heritage, and history inform their work and their lives. RAGGA fosters an extended family that makes space for solidarity, celebration, and expression, with deep commitments to education and grassroots organizing. #BIGUPUNNOSELF -

Switch n' Play (SnP)
Queer in every sense of the word, Switch n' Play spans the gender spectrum in life and onstage. Winner of the Brooklyn Nightlife Award for Best Burlesque Show in 2017, 2018, and 2019, Switch n' Play has been a staple of queer Brooklyn nightlife since 2006. The collective and its members have been featured in the New York Times, Velour: The Drag Magazine, and beyond.

Arnie Zane (1948-1988), co-founder Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, was a native New Yorker born in the Bronx and educated at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton. In 1971, Arnie Zane and Bill T. Jones began their long collaboration in choreography and in 1973 formed the American Dance Asylum in Binghamton with Lois Welk. Mr. Zane's first recognition in the arts came as a photographer when he received a Creative Artists Public Service (CAPS) Fellowship in 1973. Mr. Zane was the recipient of a second CAPS Fellowship in 1981 for choreography, as well as two Choreographic Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (1983 and 1984). In 1980, Mr. Zane was co-recipient, with Bill T. Jones, of the German Critics Award for his work, Blauvelt Mountain. Rotary Action, a duet with Mr. Jones, was filmed for television, co-produced by WGBH-TV Boston and Channel 4 in London.

Avram Finkelstein
Avram Finkelstein is a founding member of the Silence=Death and Gran Fury collectives. He has work in the permanent collections of MoMA, The Whitney, The New Museum and The Brooklyn Museum. He is featured in the artist oral history project at the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art, and his book for UC Press, After Silence: A History of AIDS Through its Images was nominated for an ICP 2018 Infinity Award in Critical Writing And Research.

Rodrigo Moreira
Rodrigo Moreira is a Brazilian visual artist based in NYC working on. His practice includes engagement with queer and immigrant communities in order to collect personal stories. His work has been presented in New York at the Leslie-Lohman Museum, Bureau of General Services Queer Division and Nars Foundation, and has been featured in exhibitions in Brazil, Colombia, Spain and South Korea.

Ragamuffin
Ragamuffin is a drag artist and event producer living in Brooklyn, New York. They are the creator of Failure: A Queer Workshop, a showcase dedicated to celebrating queer artists through interdisciplinary performance and conversation. A graduate of Bard College, their work has been presented at Movement Research, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, New York Live Arts, Bushwig, and through partnership with the Doug Varone Dance Company at 92nd Street Y. In addition to hosting weekly shows in Brooklyn, they have performed both nationally and internationally with drag legend Thorgy Thor, and recently launched POZLUCK, a monthly potluck social for queer people living with HIV. Ragamuffin is a conduit for joyful debauchery and queer thought, political poet, social raccoon, and anything else you might want but don't need. @ragamuffin_nyc

Tyler Ashley is Director of Communications at New York Live Arts and Curator of Live Arts Pride 2018 and 2019: THE HOUSE PARTY - 50 for 50. Outside of the office, Ashley is a choreographer and performer based in Brooklyn, NY and has performed in the work of Elizabeth Streb, Walter Dundervill, Larissa Velez-Jackson, Yackez, Katy Pyle, Biba Bell, and Charles Atlas among others. Ashley's own performances have been presented by Performa, Friends of the High Line, Times Square Alliance, NADA Art Fair, BOFFO, and seen at Art Basel, The Knockdown Center, The Chocolate Factory, Movement Research, Danspace Project and more.

Ashley is also known as The Dauphine of Bushwick - a nightlife personality, performer, and promoter. The Dauphine started the party called BABY TEA three years ago, which has raised over $30k for LGBTQAI youth advocacy and queer art programs over the course of seven fundraisers. The Dauphine has performed and/or promoted at The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Academy Of Music, NADA Art Fair, BUSHWIG '14 - '17, Club Cumming, The Austin International Drag Festival, BOFFO, The Kitchen, New York Live Arts, Jacob's Pillow, MANA Contemporary and more.

Visual AIDS
Visual AIDS is the only contemporary arts organization fully committed to HIV prevention and AIDS awareness through producing and presenting visual art projects while assisting artists living with HIV and AIDS, as well as preserving the artistic contributions of the AIDS movement. Visual AIDS was founded in 1988 to address the devastation of the ongoing AIDS crisis in teh arts community while creating art activism initiatives such as Day With(out) Art and the Red Ribbon. For over thirty years, we have never stopped using art as a tool to educate and advocate in the fight against AIDS and for social justice.

Callen-Lorde Community Health Center is the global leader in LGBTQ healthcare. Since the days of Stonewall, we have been transforming lives in LGBTQ communities through excellent comprehensive care, provided free of judgment and regardless of ability to pay. In addition, we are continuously pioneering research, advocacy and education to drive positive change around the world, because we believe healthcare is a human right.



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