CONTACT: David R. White 508-338-2019 Alison Manning 646-696-1768 Julie Rooney 419-889-8422

FOR IMMEDIATE LISTING and RELEASE June 19, 2019

50 YEARS AFTER STONEWALL: THE YARD’S PRIDE, NOT PREJUDICE 6 CELEBRATES LGBTQIA FROM RIOTS THROUGH AIDS TO A PIONEERING CONSTITUENCY REWRITING THE RULES OF AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP: AIN GORDON AND JOSH QUILLEN REMEMBER THOSE LOST, WHILE BETTY BOOTLEG’S “HEELS CLASS” AND PRIDE BOWLING AND OUR ​ ​ DANCEHALL WITH FRIDA CALOR AND TRUDEE ​ ​ ​ ​ BREAK OUT THE FESTIVITIES!

Pride, Not Prejudice 6 The Yard’s (and the Vineyard’s) Annual Pride Event

“Histories of the Invisible” June 25th The MV Hebrew Center ​ An Artist Talk with 7:00pm FREE Ain Gordon

“Contemporary Heels” June 26th The Yard Rehearsal Studio ​ Creators Series Class with 9:00 - 11:00am $15 Betty Bootleg

Pride Bowling - Family June 26th The Barn and Bowl Bistro ​ Friendly! 5:00 - 8:00pm $50.00 for a team of 6 for 90 minutes

“Radicals in Miniature” June 27th The Yard’s Nanon Theater ​ YARD ARTS 2019 June 29th $25 General ​ Performance by Ain Gordon 7:00pm $15 Seniors/Students/Active and Josh Quillen Military/Veterans $5 Children Under 12 $45 Neighbor and Need

Pride DanceHall with June 28th Nomans “formerly Lola’s” ​ DJ Frida Calor and TruDee 7:00pm Island Inn Road, Oak Bluffs $10

Pride, Not Prejudice 6 is The Yard’s annual Pride celebration, which celebrates the ​ equality and diversity of identity, gender, and marriage.

The Yard is in its sixth year of celebrating this global event with dance, conversation, and rainbows. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, which ​ ​ launched the gay rights movement that started the LGBTQIA+ movements we know today, we will share laughter and love while simultaneouslty opening up space for a serious moment to acknowledge the people who have passed on in the struggle for equality.

This year, Pride, Not Prejudice will be found in the strut of local drag queen Betty ​ ​ Bootleg, who will be teaching a community “contemporary heels” class. It will be heard over the sound of drinks clinking and shoes stomping at a Yard Dancehall down island ​ at Nomans, formerly Lola’s, in Oak bluffs. And it will be captured, dissected, and ​ ​ celebrated within two performances and a talk by award-winning artist Ain Gordon in ​ partnership with Josh Quillen. ​ ​

Events will take place:

“Histories of the Invisible” June 25th The MV Hebrew Center ​ An Artist Talk with 7:00pm FREE Ain Gordon

“Histories of the Invisible” Talk dates: Tuesday June 25, 7pm Location: The Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center ​ Tickets: FREE ​

“Contemporary Heels” June 26th The Yard Rehearsal Studio ​ Creators Series Class with 9:00 - 11:00am $15 Betty Bootleg

“Contemporary Heels” Community Class date: Wednesday, June 26, 9am-11am Location: The Yard’s Rehearsal Studio at 1 The Yard, Middle Road, Chilmark, MA ​ ​ ​ Class fee: $15 ​

ABOUT THE CLASS: The Yard’s Creator Series are classes offered by renowned national and international dancers during their residencies at The Yard. Join us for the special Pride Creators Series class, “Contemporary Heels”, taught by local island drag queen BETTY ​ ​ ​ BOOTLEG.

Pride Bowling - Family June 26th The Barn and Bowl Bistro ​ Friendly! 5-8pm $50.00 for a team of 6 for 90 minutes

Pride Bowling - Family Event date: Wednesday, June 26th, 5-8pm’ Location: The Barn and Bowl Bistro ​ ​ Pricing: $50.00 for a team of 6 for 90 minutes ​

ABOUT THE EVENT: The Barn and Bowl is a family-friendly venue in Oak Bluffs that holds 90+ people, a 10-lane boutique bowling alley, a large dining room, and a full kitchen and bar. Call the Barn and Bowl to reserve your lane and desired time slot. Availability is between 5-6:30 or 6:30-8pm.

Performances:

“Radicals in Miniature” June 27th The Yard’s Nanon Theater ​ YARD ARTS 2019 June 29th $25 General ​ Performance by Ain Gordon 7:00pm $15 Seniors/Students/Active and Josh Quillen Military/Veterans $5 Children Under 12 $45 Neighbor and Need

“Radicals in Miniature” Show dates: ​ ​ Thursday June 27, 7pm Saturday June 29, 7pm Location: The Yard’s Patricia N. Nanon Theater at 1 The Yard, Middle Road, Chilmark, ​ MA Tickets: $25 adults / $15 seniors, students, and military / $5 children under 12 ​

New this year! Please consider upgrading to a $45 “Neighbor and Need” ticket to ​ support The Yard’s efforts to continue offering free and discounted programming to those in our community for whom our ticket prices pose an impediment.

Member and Behind the Counter discounts apply

ABOUT THE WORK: On the occasion of World Pride Week and the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, AIN GORDON and JOSH QUILLEN poignantly remember the not so famous (but ​ ​ ​ beloved) members of the 80’s arts community who died of AIDS. RADICALS IN ​ ​ MINIATURE is a series of “performed-odes” to personal icons in a generation of political ​ radicals from the late 20th century America, an era capped by disease and creative margins. Onstage, Ain Gordon and Josh Quillen (a gay man and straight man of different generations) speak, sing, play, and partner to offer alternative elegies to these under-sung figures.

“His style is intense, sardonic, philosophical, with a tendency to skitter away from the spotlight even as he places himself center stage.” -

Ain Gordon destabilizes the illusion created within storytelling to question the notion of truth, fiction, visibility and permanence within historic narratives.

“I look for lives/events/places that have left enough trace to tantalize and been enough lost to offer me wide permission” - Ain Gordon

ABOUT THE ARTISTS: AIN GORDON is a three-time -winning writer/director/actor, a two-time ​ NYFA recipient and a Guggenheim Fellow in Playwriting. His theater work is primarily ​ ​ inspired by overlooked history and truth (or the lack of) in storytelling. His performance internalizes these issues and projects them in real-time. Gordon’s work has been ​ featured at BAM Next Wave, New York Theatre Workshop, Soho Rep., Public Theatre, 651 ARTS, Dance Theater Workshop, PS 122, , and HERE (all NY); and has been commissioned to perform at venues across the United States such as George Street Playhouse (NJ), Vermont Performance Lab, and Jacob’s Pillow (MA).

JOSH QUILLEN has forged a unique identity in the contemporary music world as an ​ ​ ​ all-around percussionist, expert steel drummer (lauded as “softly sophisticated” by the New York Times), and composer. A member of the acclaimed ensemble Sō Percussion since 2006, Josh has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Academy of Music, The Festival, and many others. Previous to “Radicals In Miniature” Josh collaborated twice with Ain Gordon at the BAM Next Wave Festival.

Funded in part by the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.

Pride DanceHall with June 28th Nomans “formerly Lola’s” ​ DJ Frida Calor and TruDee 7:00pm Island Inn Road, Oak Bluffs ​ $10

Pride DanceHall (with DJ Frida Calor and TruDee) date: Friday, June 28, 8pm Location: Nomans, formerly “Lola’s”, Island Inn Road, Oak Bluffs ​ Tickets: $10 ​

ABOUT THE ARTISTS: DYLAN TURMEQUE (AKA Frida Calor) is an educator, multimedia artist, and former ​ Yard intern living in NYC. Turmeque graduated from Wesleyan University with a ​ Masters with High Honors in Psychology, where he first started experimenting with video, music, dance, and drag. He uses different elements from each medium to create an experience that allows for exploration and possibilities of liberation.

Born and raised in California, DEBORAH LOHSE (AKA TruDee) is a ​ ​ choreographer/performer living and working in . Her work has been presented in theaters, public spaces, and festivals including DANCE NOW Joe’s Pub, American Dance Festival, Chicago Contemporary Circus Festival, United Solo Theater Festival, La Mama Moves, and the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place. Lohse currently performs as her alter ego indefatigable cabaret persona TruDee. ​ ​

SEED. GROW. REAP. REPEAT: THE NATURE OF THE YARD.

Mission: The Yard supports diverse, contemporary dance-makers and related artists in their creative processes through paid, creative residency, public performance, long-term education, and artist-driven civic engagement. We serve all ages and cultural populations on Martha´s Vineyard, and work collaboratively with artists, producers, and other cultural organizers within regional, national, and international contexts.

### David R. White Artistic Director & Executive Producer

Alison Manning Executive Director & Co-Producer

Jesse Keller Jason Director of Island Programs and Education & Co-Producer

Chloe Jones and Holly Jones Associate Producers

What Makes The Yard Possible: Our many individual members and donors, and: Arnhold Foundation Barr Foundation The Boston Foundation Cape Air Cape Cod Foundation, GALE Fund Cronig’s Market Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Ford Theater Foundation Island Source Jerome A. And Estelle R. Newman Assistance Fund The Jerome Robbins Foundation Mansion House Hotel Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank Charitable Fund Cultural Council Massachusetts Cultural Council - Cultural Facilities Fund Martha’s Vineyard Local Cultural Council National Endowment for the Arts National Performance Network New England Foundation for the Arts Permanent Endowment Fund for Martha's Vineyard Poss Family Foundation Scottish Bakehouse SHS Foundation Tower Family Fund William M & Miriam F Meehan Foundation