This April 11–13, transgender trailblazer Sean Dorsey will celebrate 20 years of being the vanguard of the Bay Area dance scene with his award-winning company Sean Dorsey Dance.
The all-queer/trans/nonbinary ensemble will treat audiences to a special retrospective program: for the first time in Sean Dorsey Dance’s history, the company will revisit and perform excerpts of audience favorites from the last 20 years.
Works to be performed at Sean Dorsey Dance’s 20th Anniversary Home Season include: Lou (2009), based on the lifelong diaries of trans activist Lou Sullivan; and excerpts from The Missing Generation (2015) and The Secret History of Love (2012), both based on extensive oral history interviews Dorsey recorded with LGBTQI+ elders across the U.S. These three works comprised an award-winning trilogy that the company performed and toured to more than 30 cities across America and internationally.
And a new addition: the company will also perform an excerpt from their 2018 work, Boys in Trouble. “I created that piece in response to the horrific attacks that were happening under that administration—and so it’s both intense and cathartic to bring some of this back now,” Dorsey told the San Francisco Bay Times.
The timing of this 20th Anniversary concert is not lost on Dorsey. “It’s powerful to be performing these dances at a time when so many forces are trying to erase our history and our very existence,” said Dorsey, “We’re proud to be keeping our history and stories alive by bringing them to the stage. These dances are declarations of the worth and beauty of trans and LGBTQI+ communities.”
While there are many gay, lesbian, bi, and queer dancers and choreographers in the U.S., there are far, far fewer transgender choreographers—something Dorsey has worked tirelessly for 20+ years to change … but even more rare are choreographic works that center queer and trans lives, history, experience, and aesthetics.
Sean Dorsey Dance is celebrated for its potent combination of full-throttle contemporary dance and theater used to lift up queer and trans bodies, lives, and history.
Dorsey has garnered many honors for his trailblazing work, including an Emmy Award, a Doris Duke Artist Award, USA Fellowship, Dance/USA Fellowship, and 5 Isadora Duncan Dance Awards.
Immeasurable beauty can be a powerful antidote to despair, and storytelling is a powerful antidote to erasure. At this brutal moment for LGBTQI+ communities across the U.S., Sean Dorsey Dance offers audiences both.
Dorsey’s dances are powerful explorations of the human experience, featuring his signature fusion of full-throttle dance, luscious queer partnering, theater, and intimate storytelling. Highly physical, accessible, rooted in story, and danced with precision, guts and deep humanity, Dorsey’s works have boldly created new space for trans and queer voices, bodies, and stories in contemporary dance.
When asked what it feels like to be celebrating two decades of his artistry, Dorsey responded, “It’s an enormous, enormous blessing. I’ve never had the opportunity to revisit and restage my works before, and it’s been an extraordinary experience. We’re hearing that these works are just as relevant and powerful today as they were when they were first premiered and touring.”
This 20th Anniversary retrospective program first premiered last September during a pre-sold-out run, and will be returning now by audience demand.
Dorsey’s life partner is acclaimed transwoman singer-songwriter Shawna Virago: “My relationship with Shawna is my foundation, my solace, and my inspiration. We have been together for 22+ years, and we are more in love every day! We must say, ‘I love you,’ a hundred times each day. We lean on each other a lot through our art-making and through these hard times.”
Dorsey also credits his collaborators: “I am blessed to have such brilliant collaborators: my dancers, who bring generosity, kindness, hard work, and inspiration; my composers, who create exquisite, exquisite compositions for us; my technical and production team, who create all the visual and audio magic flawlessly; and the Sean Dorsey Dance/Fresh Meat Productions staff, who are genius, beloved family.”
Artists are always at the forefront of any movement for social change, and with the brutal attacks on our trans and LGBTQI+ communities, we need our artists more than ever.
Dorsey described his 20th Anniversary Home Season concert as “a balm and a respite from everything that’s going on right now.” He added, “Come be with community and recharge your batteries. Drink in beauty and the power of our community’s truth-telling.”
Advance tickets are recommended, although some walk-up tickets may be available. ASL interpretation will be offered at the Sunday April 13, 4 pm matinee performance. Dance Mission Theater is wheelchair accessible and has all-gender bathrooms.
For full show information, visit: www.SeanDorseyDance.com.
View the trailer at: https://bit.ly/4kRD83p
Sean Dorsey Dance’s 20th Anniversary Home Season April 11–13, 2025
Friday April 11, and Saturday, April 12, at 8 pm; Sunday April 13, at 4 pm, with ASL
Tickets: $5–50 sliding scale with no one turned away for lack of funds\
Information and tickets: www.seandorseydance.com/20thanniversary2025
Arts & Entertainment
Published on March 27, 2025
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