Black Queer Dance: Gay Men and the Politics of Passing for Almost Straight

Thu Apr 03 2025 at 06:00 pm to 07:30 pm UTC-04:00

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts -Bruno Walter Auditorium | New York

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Publisher/HostNew York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Black Queer Dance: Gay Men and the Politics of Passing for Almost Straight
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Mark Broomfield discusses his book Black Queer Dance with Duane Cyrus, Carlos Jones and Aubrey Lynch using archival material and performance
About this Event

Mark Broomfield’s new book, Black Queer Dance, examines one of the most visible crucibles for masculinity—the male dancer—and illuminates the contradictory and conditional acceptance of Black gay men’s contributions to American modern dance. The book questions the politics of "coming out" and situates a new framework of "doing out" for understanding marginalized black LGBTQ people in the 20th and 21st century. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in New York City, Black Queer Dance features contributions by acclaimed dancer-choreographers Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden Co-Artistic Directors of Complexions Contemporary Ballet and Ronald K. Brown, Artistic Director of Evidence, who offer an expansive vision of masculinity.

Looking at imagery, video footage, live performance, and readings, this program features Broomfield in conversation with Duane Cyrus, Carlos Jones, and Aubrey Lynch, as they discuss nuanced perspectives of how Black masculinity functions in the lives of professional male dancers that expose the illusions of gender performance.

Photo Credit: Elizabeth Roxas and Desmond Richardson in Donald McKayle’s Rainbow 'round My Shoulder. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Inc., Photography by Jack Mitchell, © Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Inc. and Smithsonian Institution, All rights reserved. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.



SEATING POLICY | Programs are free and open to all, but registration is requested. Check-in line forms 45 minutes before the advertised start time. Registered guests are given priority check-in 15 to 30 minutes before start time. Five minutes before the advertised start time, all seats are released, regardless of registration, to our patrons in the stand-by line. If you arrive after the program starts, you will be seated at the discretion of our front-of-house staff.

STANDBY LINE | If registration is sold out or has ended, do not fret! We welcome you to come to the Library regardless of registration status and wait in our standby line, which forms 45 minutes before the advertised start time. Five minutes before the program starts, all remaining seats are released. While this is not guaranteed, we will do our best to get you into any of our programs.

ASSISTIVE LISTENING AND ASL | ASL interpretation and real-time (CART) captioning available upon request. Please submit your request at least two weeks in advance by emailing [email protected].

BRUNO WALTER POLICY | Please note that any unoccupied seat will be released five minutes before the show begins and holding seats for anyone beyond that is prohibited. There is no food or drink allowed inside the venue.

AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING | Programs may be photographed and recorded by and at the discretion of the Library for the Performing Arts and will post signs indicating as such. If you would prefer your image not be captured, please let us know and we can seat you accordingly. Attending any program indicates your consent to being filmed/photographed and your consent to the use of your recorded image for any and all purposes of the New York Public Library.

PRESS | Please send all press inquiries to Alex Teplitzky at [email protected]. Please note that all recording, including professional video recordings, are prohibited without expressed consent from the Library.

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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts -Bruno Walter Auditorium, Enter via 111 Amsterdam Ave. between West 64th and 65th Street, New York, United States

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