They/Them
World Premiere 2018 / Peter Martin Wege Theatre
Choreography Loughlan Prior
Company Grand Rapids Ballet
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Music Original composition
Gareth Wiecko
Costume Design William Fitzgerald
Set Design Loughlan Prior
Lighting Design Mellissa Slack
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Images Isaac Aoki, Jade Butler
Program Notes: Gender expression and the debate to use gender neutral language, they/them instead of he/she, is an ongoing and multilayered issue. Our social landscape, as it has developed over thousands of years, is fixated on binary ways of thinking and exists under a very genderised ideology.
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Tradition dictates the portrayal of gender and gender identity in ballet dancers as almost always exclusive to male and female partnerships and strict gender-specific roles. This work aims to present gender identity as a fluid construct highlighting the importance of the individual as a neutral entity undefined by gender or physical form.
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Are traditional gender constructs holding us back, and would adopting a gender fluid, gender non-binary ideology help to decrease trans issues and gender inequality? Are we more than the sum of our parts?