Profile
Kade Pyle is a genderqueer dancer, choreographer, and teacher.
Pyle began dancing professionally in NYC in 2002, performing in the works of John Jasperse, Jennifer Monson, Faye Driscoll, Ivy Baldwin, Xavier Le Roy, and Young Jean Lee. Pyle then founded Ballez in 2011. By centering the experiences of trans, non-binary and genderqueer dancers in practice and creation, Ballez demands that the form of ballet embrace the vitality of positive, inclusive change.
Over its fourteen years of existence, Ballez has grown to include a broad community of dancers, audiences and change-makers, gathering around classes, performances and conversations. Ballez has produced four original, full-length story-ballets: The Firebird, a Ballez (2013, Danspace Project), Sleeping Beauty & the Beast (2016, La MaMa), Giselle of Loneliness (2021, The Joyce Theater) and Travesty Doll Play Ballez (after Coppélia) (2024, Chelsea Factory). Pyle has been awarded grants from NYSCA, Harkness, Mellon Foundation, Brooklyn Arts Council, United Artists and the Hodder fund, and residencies at Baryshnikov Arts Center, Gibney, MTA, BAX, Abrons and La Mama. They have brought Ballez classes, artist talks, and repertory to University of Iowa, Princeton, Sarah Lawrence, Yale, Bowdoin, Whitman, Tisch/NYU, Slippery Rock University, Rutgers, ScenSverige, Swarthmore, and Berea College, among others. Pyle currently teaches ballet at Eugene Lang and Marymount Manhattan Colleges, and professional dancers at Gibney Dance. ballez.org
Degrees Held
BA Multimedia Performance Art, Hollins University, 2002, summa cum laude
MFA Dance, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, 2024, summa cum laude
Professional Affiliation
2013-2015 Artist in Residence, Brooklyn Arts Exchange
500 hr RYT Urban Zen Integrative Therapist
200 hr RYT Om Yoga Teacher Training
Current Teacher Education Training Iyengar Yoga
Recent Publications
Vice Magazine: The Future of Ballet is Inclusive and Queer- https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/9kk5k5/the-future-of-ballet-is-inclusive-and-queer
NBC: This LGBTQ Dance Company Wants to Change How We Think About Gender in Ballet: www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/this-lgbtq-dance-company-wants-to-change-how-we-think-about-gender-in-ballet-973261379728
Hyperallergic: The Dances of the Slavic Goddesses: https://hyperallergic.com/355322/the-dances-of-the-slavic-goddesses/
Teen Vogue: How This NYC Dance Troupe Uses Ballet for Queer Activism: http://www.teenvogue.com/story/dance-troupe-ballez-queer-activism
Salon.com: “Here, I feel very alive and like my voice is being heard”: Meet Ballez, a dance company for transgender, lesbian and queer stories" : http://www.salon.com/2016/04/07/here_i_feel_very_alive_and_like_my_voice_is_being_heard_meet_ballez_a_dance_company_for_transgender_lesbian_and_queer_stories/
Performances and Appearances
Ballez-
Paulina Olowska's Slavic Goddesses: The Kitchen, January 26-28, 2017
Sleeping Beauty & the Beast: La Mama ETC, April 29-May 8, 2016
Variations on Virtuosity: American Realness at Abrons Arts Center, January 10-11, 2015
The Firebird, a Ballez: Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church, May 16-18, 2013 and (reprise) October 24-26, 2013
Performance/Collaborative Creation-
Untitled Feminist Show, Young Jean Lee Theater Company, Director/Dance Captain on Tour, 2010-2016
RETROSPECTIVE, Xavier Le Roy: MOMA PS1, Fall 2014
Faye Driscoll: 2006-2013
Ivy Baldwin: 2002-2006
Jennifer Monson/BIRDBRAIN: 2004-2006
John Jasperse: 2003-2005
Research Interests
ballet, queer studies, gender studies
Awards And Honors
Grants:
Jerome Foundation: 2016, 2013
Mertz Gilmore Foundation: 2015, 2016
Brooklyn Arts Council: 2015
Residencies:
La Mama, ETC: 2015-2016
LMCC Process Space at Governor's Island: 2015
Brooklyn Arts Exchange Artist in Residence: 2013-2015
Abrons Arts Center: 2013
Mount Tremper Arts: 2012, 2013
Dragon's Egg: 2010
Portfolio
Ballez
Ballez Videos