At Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, new Artistic Director Adam McKinney seeks to create a space for everyone in dance
PublicSource
Adam McKinney, the new artistic director for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, leads a rehearsal for “Sleeping Beauty” with PBT artists Tommie Lin O’Hanlon, left, and Colin McCaslin, right, on Monday, April 24, 2023, in the Strip District. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
In a city that has long struggled with race and identity, McKinney’s appointment also brings a lot of “firsts” to Pittsburgh. He is the first Black artistic director at the company as well as the first to identify as both gay and Jewish. As the seventh artistic director for the company, the Milwaukee native says he’s committed as much to the history of ballet as he is to what it will look like in the future.
Patrons to the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre will see a new face in the lobby. In his time in the city so far, the company’s new Artistic Director Adam McKinney has made an effort to be visible at performances and interact with residents — which is not always encouraged in the field of ballet.
“The manner in which I work to welcome people to make sure that people feel appreciated, seen and heard is a contradiction in ballet, right?” McKinney said in an interview with PublicSource. “Because we’re taught not always to speak openly. It has been received, I think, and very much appreciated.”
On stage, dancers are largely silent while telling the story through movement, but McKinney plans to make his mark on the city through his voice as well as dance. Those are values, he says, he learned outside of dance that he works to bring to the art form.