About

STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos (SPdp&SS) began as an informal incubator for movement exploration in the Fall of 2009 and then made its debut at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater. SPdp&SS exists to celebrate the full range of Black culture through dynamic dance-centered performances and experiences. Incorporating immersive soundscapes, SPdp&SS surveys innovative conceptual possibilities while participating in meaningful collaboration. Under the leadership of Choreographer Staycee Pearl and Sound Designer Herman 'Soy Sos' Pearl, SPdp&SS produces programming around compelling concepts driven by socio-political world issues.

History

SPdp&SS began as an informal incubator for movement exploration in the Fall of 2009 with ten dance students and then made its debut as a dance company at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater with its first concert PUPA. In 2012. SPdp&SS ended this formative residency with the premiere of ...on being..., an investigation of race, gender, and personal identity in relation to conversations around Post-Blackness. Since these early projects, SPdp&SS has created several evening-length works, including ABBEY: In The Red, sol., and sym. In October of 2021 and co-presented by The August Wilson African American Cultural Center and Kelly Strayhorn Theater, SPdp&SS premiered CIRCLES: going in, an evening-length stage work saluting Black Fem cultural contribution.

CIRCLES: going in is a New England Foundation for the Arts | National Dance Project and National Performance Network supported project.

SPDP&SS is honored to have received continued support from the following organizations: The Pittsburgh Foundation/Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh, The Heinz Endowment, The Opportunity Fund, Allegheny Regional Assets District, and the Art, Equity + Education Fund.