OUR STORY
OUR STORY
From Founder, Jmy James Kidd:
“I birthed Pieter through the portal of 420 West Ave 33, Lincoln Heights Jan 1, 2010. I wanted the name to not be mine and be anatomically referential. Performance Art Space Dance is the PASD of pieterpasd.com.
Pieter was a space for me to work joyfully, dancing, hosting, building, offering to community right there. A healing space for dancing beautifully, with ease, together. The physical space of Pieter in that era was a drum, the 100 year old wood of the second floor there worn from all that had happened, was happening, would happen. I learned that the world is alive at 420, the big room we danced in shifted to give each moment what it needed, the kitchenette was dense with laughter and tears.
The community that grew with Pieter, grew Pieter, gave so much to the mind body spirit of the time. Dancing at Pieter was the primary focus, the way that dancing can bring beings together, through multi dimensions, channel + transform energy. Blessings to the inimitable Dorothy Dubrule for holding Pieter bravely for 5 years! Blessings to this new stage of Pieter! ”
From Dorothy Dubrule, Executive Director 2017-2022 :
“I fell in love with Pieter because it was the antithesis of everything I had associated with dance spaces before. It was so warm and welcoming; people shared so much of their lives with one another there. When I took over the work of running the organization from Jmy in 2017, it was a summer gig that never ended, and eventually became the next 5 years of my life. I got to know the many sides of Pieter, the many faces that filled it, the morning and evening light on first the worn, and later, the shiny new floor. I felt many growing pains of a space always resisting stasis.
For the first 2 years of the pandemic, Pieter was the lens through which I experienced enormous shifts (an entirely digital version of Pieter, who could have imagined), deep grief at leaving the way things were (or seemed to be), and an enlivening inspiration to set big changes in motion out of the fissure. ”
From Lupita Limón Corrales, Director of Programs 2020-2024:
“I took my first class with Pieter at the old location on Lacy Street. It was Open House on a Tuesday night and I struggled to make eye contact with my partner in a cozy room of strangers where magic went unspoken. Over the years, as a student then an intern then a staff member; on Lacy Street then Zoom rooms then parks and parking lots; finally in the Broadway ballroom that hosted dances and quinceañeras and Power 106 parties for the last one hundred years – I love to feel my body as a dancer. I learn to be touched in public and like it or dislike it, I learn about cords and the dampness of a wooden floor, the negotiations of performance amidst violence and disease, and the patience of carrying something heavy and precious to the other side. Four years of experiments, dead ends, new friends and new poems. Treading water uncertainly; but you make it a prompt and the movement feels good. Pieter forever includes me, but someone else handles the logistics <3”
PREVIOUS STAFF MEMBERS:
Dorothy Dubrule, Executive Director, 2017-2022
Kai Hazelwood, Executive Director, 2022-2023
Lupita Limón Corrales, Director of Programs, 2020-2024
Miles Brenninkmeijer, Director of Communications, 2020-2022
Genevieve Belleveau, Director of Communications, 2022-2025
A SPECIAL THANKS FOR THEIR FOUNDING CONTRIBUTIONS:
Abby Crain
Abigail Samson
Adam Linder
Ahrum Hong
Alexa Weir
Alexandra Shilling
Alex Matthews
Alexandria Marcus
Alice Toohey
Alison D’Amato
Allison Wyper
Allison Linamen
Alexsa Dummas
Amanda Bjorn
Amanda Furches
Anna Martine Whitehead
Anuschka Von Open
Archie Carey
Arden Plank
Ajani BrannumBen Evans
Benjamin johnson
Betty Nguyễn
Beth pickens
Brennan Gerard
Brian Getnick
Brianna Skellie
Busy Gagnes
Carmela Hermann
Dietrich
Carol McDowell
Carolyn Riggs
Carrie MclLwain
Carson Efird
Cheryl Banks-Smith
Christine Suarez
Dahlia Nayar
Dana Penenberg
Devika Wickremesinghe
Dino Dinco
Doran George
Dorothy Dubrule
Edgar Miramontes
Elisabeth Nails
Emiko Sugiyama
Emily Beattie
Emily Lacy
Elisabeth Wahrender
Eric Geiger
Flora Wiegmann
Edward GarrettHallman
George Lugg
Gustine Fudickar
Harriet Bailey
Harry Weston
Heather Woodbury
Heyward Bracey
James Kidd
Janine Lim
Jennie MaryTai Liu
Jessie Mockrin
Jesse HumphreyJibz Cameron
Jillian Stein
Jordan Peimer
Jos McKain
Justin Streicheln
Kathleen Keogh
Kato Wittich
Kelly Cline
Laura Vitale
Lauren Tentindo
Leslie Selters
Ligia Manuela Lewis
Loren Fenton
Lorene Bouboushian
Mackenzie Franklin
Madison Page
Margaret Kemp
Margit Galanter
Marina MagalhÃes
Maya Gingery
Maya Guarantz
Meg Wolfe
Melanie Rios Glaser
Melinda Ring
Milka Djordjevich
Nancy Keystone
Nickels Sunshine
Odeya Nini
Olive Blackburn
Peter HernÀndez
Perin Hailey McNelis
Phillip T Nails
Prumsodun Ok
Rae Shao-Lan Blum
Rashaun Mitchell
Rebeca Hernandez
Rikki Rothenberg
Ryan Kelly
Sammy Loren
Samantha Blake Goodman
Sarah Leddy
Sara Wookey
Shaina Mote
Shayna Keller
Silas riener
Simone Forti
Stacy Dawson Stearns
Stephanie Zaletel
Taisha paggett
Takahiro Yamamoto
Tara Jane oNeil
Terrence Luke Johnson
Tyler Matthew Oyer
Victoria Rose Wolf