Insider BAllroom
ID: Holly and Michael pose back-to-back, holding imaginary dance partners. Image by Michelle Schapiro
Holly (they/them) and Michael (he/they) are interdisciplinary artists--dancers, storytellers, & organizers. Their show INSIDER BALLROOM blends professional ballroom dancing with personal queer perspectives on American Dancesport: an activity as spectacularly heteronormative as it is heteronormatively spectacular. Having navigated franchised ballroom dance studio systems & practices, Holly and Michael are developing a performance & pedagogy practice that seeks an alternative to the established models, centering queerness, care, and the linage of American social dance forms.
In addition to the performance of INSIDER BALLROOM (run time: 35 minutes), Holly and Michael offer gender-expansive partner dance classes, as well as facilitated social dance parties.
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For additional information and rates, please contact: insiderballroom@gmail.com
This work is made possible, in part, thanks to support from the New England Dance Fund of New England Foundation for the Arts, and through fiscal sponsorship by Boston Dance Alliance.
To support this work through a financial contribution, please visit the donation link below:
ID: Holly stands as Michael sits on a wooden dance floor--both looking forward at the camera. Image by Michelle Schapiro
Bios
Holly Stone (they/them) is currently a pro ballroom dancer with Arthur Murray Dance Studios in Burlington, MA. Their original story ballet THE QUEEN OF NORI has been presented at Starlight Stage, Windhover Center for the Performing Arts, Boston Center for the Arts, & Paliku Theatre in Hawaii. Holly has also choreographed nationally for musical theater and opera, and has created dance films for festivals internationally. Holly believes in the power of “what if?” – they have a B.S. in Bioengineering from Syracuse University and an MFA in Dance from Florida State University.
J Michael Winward (he/they) is an interdisciplinary artist: dancer, storyteller, organizer: working at the intersection of movement, memoir, memory, and care. Michael is the director of Steps in Time®: an organization that brings social partner dance programs to assisted living & mind care communities. He is a lead coordinator of Dancing Queerly: a platform for LGBTQ+ dance & performance artist support. Michael has a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Bennington College, and an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard College.
Upcoming Events
ID: Holly and Michael stand side-by-side, arms outstretched, striking a pose. Image by Michelle Schapiro. Text reads: American Foxtrot Workshop with Holly Stone and Michael Winward, Friday, February 23, 2024, 6:00-8:00pm, Jackson Dance Lab, 50 Talbot Ave., Medford, MA 02155, Intro Level, Gender Expansive Approach, After class stay for an Open Social Dance, Sign up with QR Code, Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences, Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies.
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ID: Holly and Michael stand side-by-side, arms outstretched, striking a pose. Image by Michelle Schapiro. Text reads: The Dance Complex, Friday Night Lights Series, Gender Expansive Ballroom Social, Nov. 17, 6:30-8:30 p, 536 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA, dancecomplex.org/events.
ID: Michael and Holly counterbalance one another in an elongated pose. Image by Michelle Schapiro