New York Live Arts Presents 2nd Annual Live Arts Pride 2019: THE HOUSE PARTY 50 FOR 50

Live Arts Pride 2019: THE HOUSE PARTY - 50 FOR 50 is New York Live Arts' 2nd annual Pride celebration; a building wide and sidewalk multi-genre event in the historic "gayborhood" of Chelsea, just blocks from the Pride March. The epic 6-hour celebration honors the historical importance and unwavering power of collectives in LGBTQAI culture and pays tribute to the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. Both legendary and young families from NYC's queer nightlife and art scene come together under one roof to serve up the city's most colorful and fierce performance, music, queer marketplace, installations and more for a multi-space, nonstop celebration for the ages.

Making their debut engagements at New York Live Arts will be the oldest and most revered house in New York's drag and ballroom scene, the Legendary House of LaBeija; and RAGGA, a network of queer Carribeans founded by Christopher Udemezue (Neon Christina). Returning to Live Arts Pride are the vibrant, provocative, and inclusive artist collectives Bubble_T, Papi Juice, and Switch n' Play. Welcomed by Live Arts Artistic Director Bill T. Jones and Curated by Tyler Ashley, The Dauphine of Bushwick, these houses joined by LaBeija, will express their distinct voices in 90-minute performance sets in Live Arts' mainstage, 184 seat theater.

One of the third floor performance studios will feature a pensive, experiential, and durational installation by RAGGA, designed to inspire all of the 5 senses. The second studio will feature the lead sponsor Tito's Handmade Vodka Pride Lounge providing space for rest, nourishment, and rehydration. Curated by the collective's leaders themselves, performance parties and the installation will include DJ sets, drag queen and king shows, live vocals, dance, spoken word, food, photography, visual and projected video art, and more!

Prior to doors opening, Brooklyn's favorite wise-cracking and colorful drag queen Ragamuffin will host POZLUCK, a potluck social for queer people living with HIV. Created and managed by Ragamuffin monthly, POZLUCK is friendly, private, and casual; it provides a space and opportunity for all kinds of queer people living with HIV to create a network of support through delicious food and conversation. Attendance is by RSVP only by emailing pozluckbk@gmail.com.

The open-air lobby will be free and available to the public and feature a large-scale installation asking "What Is 21st Century Liberation?" in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall uprising and NYC/World Pride for the Live Arts' Ford Foundation Live Gallery, co-presented with Visual AIDS. The installation is produced in conjunction with Visual AIDS' 2019 Pride Broadsheet project, both designed by Avram Finkelstein, co-creator of SILENCE=DEATH, and Rodrigo Moreira. Pop-up shops featuring fashions, makeup, and jewelry for sale by local queer designers Valentine Amartey, Planet Modah, Ten Yards Clothing, and others will activate the lobby and street front to embrace LGBTQAI exchange and commerce.

The event honors the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and NYC/World Pride by donating a portion of ticket sales to the neighborhood's Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in the name of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company Co-founder, Arnie Zane. Live Arts Pride 2019: THE HOUSE PARTY - 50 for 50's lead sponsor is the generous Tito's Handmade Vodka.

Visual AIDS is the only contemporary arts organization fully committed to HIV prevention and AIDS awareness through producing and presenting visual art projects while assisting artists living with HIV and AIDS, as well as preserving the artistic contributions of the AIDS movement. Visual AIDS was founded in 1988 to address the devastation of the ongoing AIDS crisis in teh arts community while creating art activism initiatives such as Day With(out) Art and the Red Ribbon. For over thirty years, we have never stopped using art as a tool to educate and advocate in the fight against AIDS and for social justice.

Located in the heart of Chelsea in New York City, New York Live Arts produces and presents dance, music, and theater performances in its 20,000 square-foot home, which includes a 184-seat theater and two 1,200 square-foot studios. New York Live Arts offers an extensive range of participatory programs for adults and young people and supports the continuing professional development of performing artists. New York Live Arts serves as home base for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company and is the company's sole producer, providing support and the environment to originate innovative and challenging new work for the Company and New York's creative community.

Tickets: $15-$35 Presale; $40 at door
*Tickets include complimentary cocktails by Tito's Handmade Vodka. Come early for complimentary small bites.
May be purchased at 212 924 0077
or online at newyorklivearts.

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