Dancing in the Face of Adversity

BOFFO is excited to announce the fifth edition of its Performance Festival on Fire Island, organized this year in collaboration with OCDChinatown, a space for queer sound, image, object, movement, and thought located in a Chinatown mall in New York City. From August 2 - 4, over nine artists and artist collectives will present new and reimagined performances, music, and dance to Fire Island’s historically LGBTQ community. Highlights of this year's festival include an immersive Ryan McNamara performance with lighting by Benny Or for Fireplay and Young Boy Dancing Group's United States debut.

This year’s theme, Dancing in the Face of Adversity, takes its name from a disco-track compilation released by Island Records in 1989. Dance has been and continues to be an iconic part of the cultural legacy of the LGBTQ communities that gather on Fire Island. Dance brings people together, creates resistance through joy, and has long offered a refuge in times of need. Against the backdrop of that history, this year’s festival presents dance in a multitude of forms, exploring its ability to foster connections, exchange energies, generate pleasure, allowing us to imagine the possibility of change.

BOFFO and OCDChinatown invite the Fire Island community and guests to join us for the festival’s free public programming.