Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Presents ‘Light in the Dark’; AWAACC Black Bottom Film Festival (Fri., 10/27/23)

LIGHT IN THE DARK (dance and ballet) featuring a world premier by Jennifer Archibald. Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. Oct. 27 – 29.

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre soloist Jessica McCann will be performing in ‘Light in the Dark.’ (Photo: Rieder Photography)

Pittsburgh Ballet Theater opens its 2023-2024 season with two evenings (and a matinee) of four distinctly powerful works. The first is a world premiere, Sounds of the Sun, celebrating the life of Florence Waren who worked with the French Resistance during WWII while entertaining Parisians with her unique contributions to dance. In conjunction with the nonprofit Violins of Hope project, PBT Orchestra’s 1st violinist, Rachel Stegeman performs. Next up is Monger, created by award-winning Israeli American choreographer Barak Marshall. Monger is an emotional story of people trapped in the house of an abusive mistress. Two ballets—Loss by Sasha Janes and Lacrimosa, by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa—conclude the evening’s offerings, in all a stunning program of beauty and intensity. Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. 7:30 p.m. Byham Theater, 101 Sixth Street, Cultural District. (C.P.O.)

BLACK BOTTOM FILM FESTIVAL, produced by the August Wilson African American Cultural Center. October 27 – 29.

2) Returning for its sixth year, the Black Bottom Film Festival will honor Jacqueline Stewart, professor of cinema studies at the University of Chicago and host of Turner Classic Movies’ Silent Sundays, with the BBFF Luminary Award. The weekend devoted to Black cinema will feature three films, as well as a slate of cinema produced by Howard University graduate students and alumnae, a selection of screenings curated by the Micheaux Film Festival, and a series of workshops as well as panel discussions moderated by Emmai Alaquiva (Pittsburgh’s two-time Emmy Award-winning photographer and director) and a Sunday night keynote address by Maya Cade, creator and curator of the Black Film Archive at the Library of Congress. A free panel discussion on Friday evening will outline our burgeoning film industry in Pittsburgh. The featured films presented Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, respectively, are Warm December (1973), directed and starring Sydney Poitier, Within Our Gates (1920), directed by Oscar Micheaux, and The Wiz (1978), directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, and Lena Horne. The AWAACC offers weekend and discounted student passes, and a complete schedule of events online. 980 Liberty Avenue, Cultural District. (C.P.O.)

Share on Social Media