Ryan: Summer after summer, decade after decade, we play the same hymns on this island. When
Loleatta Holloway preaches to you about those good vibrations, they are the same vibrations that
our kind have felt out here for years. When you dance to Evelyn “Champagne” King and her love
coming down, it’s the same love that rained on the shoulders of our queer ancestors as they
pranced on the very same dancefloor. When you catch yourself instinctually swaying your hips
as you hear the beat of Candi Staton’s young heart running free, it’s just the gay spirits grinding
up on you. They are all around us. Every day, we call on these divas to hold our séance.
Ryan McNamara lives and works in Brooklyn. His work has been featured at MoMA PS1, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Guggenheim New York, Kunstmuseum Bonn, The Kitchen, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, White Columns, Museum of Modern Art, ICA Boston, Perez Art Museum Miami, ICI London, The Garage Moscow, The Power Plant Toronto, the Athens Biennial and The High Line New York. His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Brandon Washington (with Ryan McNamara) lives in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn. He is left handed, and has been co-chair of the Beyhive since 1999.
Oisín Monaghan is a dance artist and visual performer/creator currently residing in NYC. He began studying movement at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in NYC. He has worked with Maria Hassabi, Tere O’Connor, Xavier Le Roy, Dora Garcia, Christopher Williams, Brendan Fernandes and John-Mark Owen.
Victor Lozano is currently performing with Pam Tanowitz Dance, Dance Heginbotham, Madboots Dance, and Brian Brooks Dance. His past credits include Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, and the Merce Cunningham Trust. Lozano holds a BFA in Dance from the Juilliard School and is a recipient of the Juilliard Career Advancement Fellowship (2016-18). He is a 2019 fellow of the Anne & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship at Jacob’s Pillow. He is originally from Houston, Texas.
Aaron Burr Johnson has danced for John Jasperse Projects, Helen Simoneau Danse, Kimberly Bartosik/daela, and Shen Wei Dance Arts. He has also worked for Marina Abramović/Givenchy, Walter Dundervill, Ryan McNamara, Yozmit, Brittany Bailey/Mark Fell, Boris Charmatz, Isabel Lewis, Nick Mauss, Peter Sellars, Christopher Williams, Bill Young, and Jack Ferver. His choreographic work has been presented through Movement Research, Dixon Place, Abrons Art Center, Josée Bienvenu Gallery, Danspace Project, New York Live Arts, Elizabeth Dee Gallery, The American Dance Festival, GIBNEY, and Works and Process at the Guggenheim. Outside of performance, he gardens with NYC-based company CF Gardens.
