BearDance and the Purple Foundation team up to ‘Love Loud’ at S4
RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
rich@dallasvoice.com
Fr this year’s Pride in Dallas, music, dance and drag fans get a big beefy treat on Sunday after the parade. Two of the area’s biggest party presenters timed it just right to come together for one big celebration. BearDance and The Purple Foundation will host Love Loud tea dance at Station 4, marking the first team-up by the two organizations.
“We were encouraged to do a party after the parade by Station 4,” BearDance’s Mark Trimble said. “In a quirk of calendar scheduling, both BearDance and Purple Party had this time on our calendars, so we thought Pride in Dallas was a perfect time to collaborate.”
BearDance’s signature event is held during the annual Texas Bear Round-up each spring. The Purple Foundation hosts the annual Purple Party, a circuit party that includes a number of dance events across various venues throughout Dallas. The two coming together is really a landmark moment for the scene.
“We’ve had a great relationship with BearDance for over a decade and we are excited to take that relationship even further by co-producing Love Loud with them,” Purple’s President Blake Baker said.
The post-parade event will be headlined by DJ Kitty Glitter hailing all the way from Down Under.
Since giving up the stage — but not the drag — Glitter began her DJ career in 2007. The queen was deemed both Sydney’s Favorite Drag Queen and Most Popular DJ. And naturally, she’s the queen of Glitterland.
A drag experience was certainly an intention BearDance had for this event, as was the inclusion of the trans community and awareness for today’s environment.
“We’ve been experiencing a nasty political climate recently with arch-conservative leaders going after drag performers, trans healthcare and even our institution of learning with book bans,” Trimble said. “We felt that it was crucial to feature both a drag performer and a trans go-go dancer. As gay men, we can’t ignore the plight of our brothers and sisters.
“Our plan is to donate proceeds to those organizations working on advocacy and legal solutions.”
Ashton Odem will perform as one of Love Loud’s go-go dancers. DJ Trevor Oldroyd opens the night.
While the two organizations have their own signature styles, they also have their own planning process. This collaboration was not just a party but a learning experience.
“It’s been fun working together in the planning stages, and I think we’ve learned a lot from each other so it’s going to be a fantastic party,” Baker said.
Trimble reminds that Pride is a real political movement that not only remains relevant, but in today’s climate, even more important.
Both BearDance and Purple Foundation are ready to celebrate that Pride with each of their audiences and hopefully beyond.
“Our hope is that we’ll get a diverse cross section of BearDance’s and Purple Party’s usual crowds: Bears, twinks and twunks, daddies and circuit boys — but we want the whole community out there,”
Trimble said. “The full community of queer, nonbinary, trans, bisexuals and lesbians there.
“It’s Pride after all and it’s for all of us.”
For more information and tickets, visit BearDance.org.
