Pioneer Winter Collective: Apollo

A powerful intergenerational reckoning with the wisdom and innocence, strength and fragility, physical and spiritual beauty we contain as individuals and as a community.

Apollo new is a dance-theater work by Pioneer Winter Collective exploring intergenerational queer dynamics, memory, HIV/AIDS, and legacy. This biomythography uses dance-theater to delve into the intersection of personal history, cultural memory, and mythology.

Inspiration stems from the ancient Greek myths of Apollo (god of music, prophecy, healing); Balanchine’s 1928 Apollo ballet; the god-like power of a DJ in a nightclub; and queer representations (healthy and otherwise) of strength and beauty. Whereas Balanchine's ballet staged a visit between a youthful Apollo and three ageless Muses, our dance-theater work unites a younger queer dancer with three queer elders: each of them former, different iterations of Apollo. They meet, compete, and confront the tension of generations fighting to understand each other, and be understood themselves.

This project is co-presented with FUNDarte as part of theOut (Loud) in the Tropics.

Host or Publisher Miami Light Project & FUNDarte