Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Melanie Lynskey and the one and only RuPaul star in this 90s camp cult classic screening on 35mm presented by Ballez Artistic Director Katy Pyle!
WHAT: Katy Pyle presents BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER
WHEN: Monday, July 11, 8PM
WHERE: IFC Center - 323 6th Ave at W. 3rd St.
BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER
1999. US. 85 min. Directed by Jamie Babbit. 35mm print!
Jamie Babbit’s cult comedy classic uses John Waters-style camp to skewer ex-gay conversion camps in hilarious fashion. Nat...
Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Melanie Lynskey and the one and only RuPaul star in this 90s camp cult classic screening on 35mm presented by Ballez Artistic Director Katy Pyle!
WHAT: Katy Pyle presents BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER
WHEN: Monday, July 11, 8PM
WHERE: IFC Center - 323 6th Ave at W. 3rd St.
BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER
1999. US. 85 min. Directed by Jamie Babbit. 35mm print!
Jamie Babbit’s cult comedy classic uses John Waters-style camp to skewer ex-gay conversion camps in hilarious fashion. Natasha Lyonne stars as Megan, a lesbian cheerleader who’s sent to a reform camp filled with wacky characters played by RuPaul, Cathy Moriarty, Melanie Lynskey, and Eddie Cibrian. But it’s Clea DuVall’s Graham who steals Megan’s heart, forcing her to find self-acceptance. The film is a favorite of performance artist and Ballez artistic director Katy Pyle, who writes, “It’s the first film I saw that had actual lesbians playing lesbians. The work I do now is centered on having queer people playing queer roles, so it definitely relates to my practice.” Bring your pom-poms!
As always, our screening will be followed by drinks and discussion at Julius Bar (159 West 10th St. at Waverly), the oldest gay bar in New York City!
KATY PYLE
Ballez Artistic Director, Katy Pyle, is a multimedia performance artist whose works explore fantasy, transformation, queer failure, and the lineage of performance. Pyle began studying ballet as a child, and always jumped with the boys at the end of class. She became a company apprentice with Austin Contemporary Ballet at 14 and furthered her studies at North Carolina School of the Arts. At 16, she diverged from ballet because of its limited possibilities for gender representation, and woefully narrow ideas about bodies. She went on to study modern dance and choreography at NCSA, and then post-modern dance and Multimedia Performance Art at Hollins. Since moving to New York in 2002, her work has been presented at Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Brooklyn Museum, Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, Galapagos, PS122, La Mama, Dance Theater Workshop, Movement Research at the Judson Church (and MR Festivals), and the Bushwick Starr.
Pyle founded the Ballez in 2011, and has been ardently pursuing its mission ever since. She teaches the celebrated “Adult Ballez” class weekly through Brooklyn Arts Exchange (most often with Jules Skloot). Evening length works include “Salute to Ex-Best Friends,”asubtout (Pyle & Eleanor Hullihan), Galapagos, 2005; “The Lady Centaur Show,” asubtout, PS 122, 2007; “THE WAY: You Make Me Feel,” Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, 2010; “COVERS,” The Bushwick Starr, 2012; “The Firebird, a Ballez,” Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, 2013; “Variations on Virtuosity, a Gala with the Stars of the Ballez,” American Realness at Abrons Arts Center, 2015, and most recently, "Sleeping Beauty & the Beast," at La Mama ETC. She has received creative support from Brooklyn Arts Council, Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX), Dragon’s Egg, the Jerome Foundation, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Mertz Gilmore, Mount Tremper Arts, and Rockbridge Artist’s Exchange.
KATY PYLE ON BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER
“I love that film and it definitely relates to my practice. I saw it in college and I think it's the first film I saw that had actual lesbians playing lesbians. The work I do now with the Ballez is centered on having actually queer people playing queer roles and performing characters that they can relate to in a deeper way.
And also RuPaul is in it and that was fantastic.” - Katy Pyle
Queer/Art/Film is presented by HBO
www.hbo.com