Birds of Paradise

Check out the Study Guide above! Crafted by PWC Dramaturg Jeremy Stoller, featuring artist interviews, project timeline, behind-the-scenes details, and movement/writing prompts for anyone interested in digging deeper into our process.

Choreographer’s Note

Birds of Paradise is a series of works that explore rebirth – both in the ideas threaded through its choreography and stagecraft; and in its process, as each iteration (of which this is the third…or fourth) involves welcoming new ideas, collaborators, design elements, and performance configurations into an existing choreographic vocabulary and artistic team. Birds was our return to performing in 2021 after a pandemic shutdown, and that piece was built around solos both for health reasons, and because when you are just trying to survive, it is hard to look outside yourself. As many of us continue on our journeys toward wellness, wholeness, we are better able to see not just ourselves, but others – to see ourselves in them, and them in us; to appreciate them and take care of them. So, the rebirth we are exploring has evolved from that of the individual, to that of both individual and collective.

This incarnation of Birds of Paradise is meant to be seen in-the-round and includes projection on four screens encircling the performance space. Perhaps the biggest addition to the work’s environment is through introducing poetry and spoken word into the soundscape. Our inaugural Poet In Residence, Arsimmer McCoy, attends rehearsals and writes about our process and the story behind our work. Arsimmer also engages us in facilitated conversations around the themes present in the work, drawing out language, lived experience, and heart. Spoken word is way for us, as a visual medium, to deepen our reach and connection to all audience members. Poetry can provide a visual description of dance and enhance the collective's accessibility. It offers a way to see dance beyond the movement.

There are always an infinite number of decisions to be made in any artwork, and for each Birds production, one of the most vital has been: where do we end up? Who is onstage and what is happening as the lights go down? What offering do we make to the audience as they head out of the theater and back into their realities? The shows’ endings have felt uniquely weighted with a responsibility to honestly represent where we’re at, be it tired and breathless; joyful; or proud and defiant. We build our movement from our own bodies and experiences, and together, that tells an evolving story of how we got to this moment. I appreciate that you have come to experience this work, and hope it may play some part in your own story of rebirth.

Pi

current performer Bios

Clarence Brooks (he/they) performs with Pioneer Winter Collective, Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, The Dance Exchange, and David Parker and The Bang Group. They can be seen in the video documentary The World of Alwin Nikolais, their essay Dancing with the Issues was published in One Teacher in 10, and the Library of Congress recorded their performance of Talley Beatty's Mourner's Bench. The recipient of several fellowships and awards, Clarence holds an MFA, four somatic certifications, and sits on the boards of danceTactics, Natural Movers Foundation, Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, Miami Dance Futures, Florida Dance Education Organization, and Humphrey Foundation for Dance.

Junior Domingos  (he/him) is a Brazilian artist, choreographer, and dancer who began his studies with circus technique. He is trained in a variety of physical movements including Pilates, Yoga, Ballet, Modern Dance, Jazz, Contemporary, Ballroom and Capoeira. Junior has danced for Cia, Claudia de Souza and Grupo Raça while traveling throughout Brazil. While he lived in São Paulo, he participated in the choreography of Béjart Ballet Lausanne's Boléro. He also worked with Ismael Ivo in Vienna, Austria for the show No Sacre at ImpulsTanz and São Paulo. He currently resides here in Florida where he continues his dance studies.

Jessica Gilmore (she/her) was born and raised in Miami and received her BFA from University of South Florida. Jessica has worked with Donald Byrd at Spectrum Dance Theater in Seattle, San Diego Dance Theater under the direction of Jean Isaacs, and has performed works by Jean Isaacs, Stephen Koplowitz and Khamla Somphahn. While with SDDT, she performed in Trolley Dances, WOW Festival, San Diego Fringe Festival, and Live Arts Festival. Jessica is also a competitive pole dancer and teacher. She is excited to be back in Miami and working with PWC.

Juraj Kojš (he/him) is an artist from Slovakia and USA, exploring the fields of music, sound art, theater, poetry, mixed media, multimedia, bioacoustics and technologies as a maker and performer. Collaborating with artists and scientists, producing other people’s works, doing scholarly research and teaching also gives Juraj joy, as does living in Miami, FL. Miami New Times described Juraj’s muscle-powered multimedia Neraissance as "striking and unforgettable," MiamiArtzine called Signals “enthralling and immersive," and Miami Herald praised Bang for the Train as "the most profound...unexpected and enjoyable.”

Hector Machado (they/she) a multidisciplinary artist who's need to educate and inspire through entertainment became paramount after their attempted suicide led to them becoming a double amputee in 2015. With that constant visual reminder and motto that as long as we still have air in our lungs and passion in our hearts anything is possible. With that same passion along with hard work, determination, and drive there is nothing limiting any of us from leaving an imprint in the world of the arts. They have been dancing and working with PWC since 2018.

Niurca Marquez (she/ella) is a movement artist/researcher and author.  As a trained somatic educator, she uses her body-centered work to service communities undergoing processes of healing and self-realization. A queer Latina artist and activist on the margins advocating for silenced voices, she is particularly interested in notions of identity, cultural memory, ritual and the body within a contemporary framework, as well as the multiple layers of communication and understanding in movement practices that lead to liaisons with political and social discourse. Niurca directs Cultural Arts Exchange, an organization dedicated to artist services and programs centered on social accountability.

Arsimmer McCoy (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist who merges language, archive, performance, and audio/visual sculpture, into a conduit for advocacy. McCoy uses these “devices” in her writings, archive installs, and educational practices as a teaching artist. Her influences come from her upbringing in historic Richmond Heights; an all Black neighborhood, built in 52’, for black WWII vets. It is there, Arsimmer says, where she was privileged to observe her community, built on history, family, and spirituality; constantly thriving, fighting, celebrating, and fellowshipping, together. Arsimmer activates The voices of her family and community by crafting from her self-developed creed, Everywhere I am, you are. McCoy believes there is power in remembering, and those memories can change the way a community sees themselves, accepts and absorbs their past, and molds their future. 

Pioneer Winter (he/they) is a Miami-based choreographer and artistic director of Pioneer Winter Collective, an intergenerational and physically integrated dance-theater company, rooted in social practice and community, queer excellence, and beauty beyond the mainstream. Recognized in Dance Magazine's 25 to Watch in 2019, Pioneer Winter's work democratizes performance in public spaces, museums and galleries, stage, and film. Pioneer has been commissioned by Miami Theater Center, Karen Peterson and Dancers, Tigertail Productions, Jacksonville Dance Theatre, FundArte, and the Adrienne Arsht Center, where Pioneer was the first Artist-in-Resident in a decade. Pioneer has been a guest artist at universities, including Miami Dade College, Nova Southeastern University, Broward College, Florida State College, and teaches full time at Florida International University. An extension of his creative practice, Pioneer has curated and directed ScreenDance Miami Festival since 2017, presented by Miami Light Project; Pioneer’s own films screen internationally at festivals like Cucalorus Film Festival, LA Dance Film Festival, Chicago Feminist Film Festival, Miami Film Festival, Toronto Queer Film Festival, ADF's Movies by Movers, Leeds International Film Festival, San Francisco Transgender Film Festival, and Berlin Independent Film Festival, among others.

Most recently, their renowned duet Gimp Gait created in collaboration with Marjorie Layne Burnett is featured in the 2022 book Screendance from Film to Festival: Celebration and Curatorial Practice by Cara Hagan. Continuing to learn and grow, Pioneer was honored to be part of Maven Leadership Collective’s 5th Anniversary cohort, Maven’s signature professional development program; he is also in the Creative Administration Research program through the National Center for Choreography at the University of Akron.

SUPPORT

About Birds of Paradise

Birds of Paradise honors and celebrates the enduring nature of queer and marginalized people to shape themselves into something that is desirable, vulnerable, fierce and reborn. Through this world premiere, Miami-based choreographer Pioneer Winter continues their exploration of beauty and virtuosity outside the mainstream by creating a series of dance-based, queer solo portraits on the themes of agency, survival and transformation.

Birds of Paradise is iridescent and effortful. It is a provocative, immersive piece perched between fight and flight. Featuring film, installation and live dance performance, this new work is developed in collaboration with the performers, filmmakers, sound, costume, and production designers.

Birds of Paradise confronts our notions of dance by exploring movement with people of varied physical ability, body type, gender identity, race, ethnicity, and experiences. This radical assemblage of birds living in our paradise will challenge us to explore our own humanity.

selected Photos from Birds of Paradise at museum of contemporary art - jazz at the moca (november 2023)
photo credit: passion ward

selected Photos from Birds of Paradise at frost museum of art - Florida International University (november 2023)
photo credit: Daniel Zayas

selected Photos from Birds of Paradise at the Wilson Center (May 2023)
photo credit: will page

selected photos from Birds of Paradise at the Sandrell Rivers Theater (March 2023)
photo credit: karli evans

selected Photos from Birds of Paradise at the miami dade county auditorium (May 2022)
photo credit: passion ward

selected Photos from Birds of Paradise at the adrienne arsht center (September 2021)
photo credit: World Red Eye

Current and past Collaborators

Director + Choreographer
Pioneer Winter

Performers + Movement/Sound/Vocal Collaborators
Junior Domingos
Carlos Fabian Medina
Jessica Gilmore
Hector Machado
Barbara Meulener
Frank Campisano
Niurca Márquez
Josue Garcia
Katrina Petrarca
Gabriela Cruz
Lize-Lotte Pitlo
Shamar Watt
Clarence Brooks
June Raven Romero
Kayla Castellon
Aeon De La Cruz
Gregory King

Original Music + Sound Design
Juraj Kojš

Film Co-Director + Editor
Ronald Baez (White Elephant Group)
McKenzie Mortensen

Cinematographer + Colorist + Editor
Kevin Berriz (White Elephant Group)
McKenzie Mortensen

Production Design + Construction
David Hans Lau

Dramaturgy
Jeremy Stoller

Costume Design
Karelle Levy
Chaplin Tyler
Mai Lan Lau
Holly Day

Company/Production Manager
Gladys Ramirez

Hair + Makeup
Angel Torres

Press

Feature: South Florida Arts Groups Are Finding New Ways to Address Equity and Inclusion - Miami Herald 9/26/21

Feature: Pioneer Winter Collective Creates in Spite of Covid - Miami Herald 9/24/21

Review: Pioneer Winter y el vuelo conmovedor de las aves del paraíso - Artburst Español 9/22/21

Review: Birds of Paradise is ambitious, spectacular…and unsettlingly personal - ArtBurst Miami 9/17/21

Preview: pioneer Winter’s Birds of Paradise Ready to Fly - MiamiArtZine 9/10/21

Preview: pioneer Winter Unveils Birds of Paradise at Arsht Center - Miami New Times 9/7/21

Preview: pioneer Winter Collective’s Birds of Paradise Finally Getting Off the Ground - Artburst Miami 9/7/21

Preview: pioneer Winter Collective en Birds of Paradise - Artburst Español 8/31/21

The Arsht Center Presents the World Premiere of Birds of Paradise - Broadway World 8/3/21

The Map Fund Announces 42 Visionary Projects to Receive Funding in 2019 - The MAP Fund 6/19

Announcing National Dance Project 2019 Production Grant Finalists - New England Foundation for the Arts 5/19

support and Touring Birds of Paradise

Birds of Paradise was commissioned by the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the MAP Fund. Additional support is provided by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as part of its Knight Arts Challenge and Our Fund Foundation, an LGBTQ community foundation.

Contact Pioneer Winter for information on this project’s tour dates, and to discuss joining the National Dance Project tour and receiving a Presentation Grant or subsidy for presenting Birds of Paradise. As of 3/18/24 there remains $15,000 in the NDP tour subsidy for this work.

For inquiries contact:
Pioneer Winter, Choreographer/Director - pi@pioneerwinter.com
Gladys Ramirez, Company Manager - gladys@pioneerwinter.com