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 queer storytelling about 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: 40 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
Raised in rural Vermont, Holly Stone (they/them) creates dance and theater in Greater Boston. Currently teaching at Tufts and Boston Universities, recent theater credits include CHICAGO for Ashland High School, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN for A Common Thread Theater, and ONCE UPON A MATTRESS with Greater Boston Stage Company. They have a B.S. in Bioengineering from Syracuse University and an MFA in Dance from Florida State University. As a performer, Holly has recently danced for Kathy Hassinger, Jo-Me Dance Theater, Lowell House Opera, and many, many others from their time in the American Ballroom Dance Industry.
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. Michael is currently a first year PhD student in the Theatre, Dance & Performance Studies program at Tufts University.
Events
ID: Advertisement for split bill performance with Sarah Rose and dancers, on September 21, 2024 at MAGMA, Gloucester, MA. The image on the left features Holly and Michael dancing a Tango. The image on the right features Sarah Rose and dancers in performance.
ID: Advertisement for Insider Ballroom performance on June 22 and 23, 2024, for the DIY Performance Series at The Dance Complex in Cambridge, MA. In the image, Holly stands as Michael sits on a wooden dance floor--both looking forward at the camera. Image by Michelle Schapiro
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