((a longitudinal movement & sound project to be performed in three parts))
pt 1: unlearn – we ask:
what ((expectations, narratives, beliefs)) need to be unlearned for one to live authentically?
unlearn|premiering 10.16-17 2026|DIGITAL PROGRAM:
dancers//collaborators:
Ariel Xiu
DJ Hlavenka
Kayla (TigerLily) McCormick
Luizzzul (NYC)
Marguerite Smith
sound:
smoko.world (friday)
DJ CatMash (saturday)
creative direction & choreography:
bailz
venue:
Hazelwood Green
additional collaborators:
Reese Key (say it)
Jacqueline Perich (pretty)
bios:
Ariel Xiu is a medium-agnostic, idiosyncratic time-based artist whose practice spans movement-forward performance, theatrical social interventions (exorcisms), painting, tattoo, conceptual art, filmmaking, education, and more. Their work is often moved by the haunting psychosocial and emotional inheritances of being descendants of those who survived violent circumstances, whether as victims or antagonists.
Inspired by ecological systems and more-than-human ways of being, Xiu explores possibilities for inhabiting time beyond dominant cultural conventions. Catch them Corpsewalking at Kelly Strayhorn Theater on October 23, 2026, and in Lys Scott’s Freshworks at Alloy Studios on November 6–7, 2026. They are currently developing a video project depicting human photosynthesis as a speculative means of challenging the cultural hegemony of time and imagining alternative relationships with the temporalities of the living world.
DJ is a newer dancer who found their love for dance at college with hip hop, ballet and tap. Wanting to continue the exploration of dance as an art they took a few classes at art in motion with bailz. They are excited to see where the future will take them!
Kayla ‘TigerLily’ McCormick is passionate performer from lower Alabama who fuses technical and improvisational fluid dance and flow prop skills with an emphasis on intentional musicality and raw expression. Bringing big energy though a tiny frame, TigerLily draws inspiration from their emotions and immediate surroundings to channel and co-create an intimate and immersive performance experience that can only be witnessed through the connection found in the present moment.
Luizzzul is a Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist from Monterrey, Mexico who explores links between nature, the ecstatic queer body, and day-to-day sustainability of mind-body through works ranging from aerial silks, paintings, dance, performances and poetry. His expression is additionally informed by a practice in poetry, capoeira, vogue, club dancing in Pittsburgh and Mexico, aerial silks, breathwork and other methods of nervous system regulation.
A nurse by profession, Marguerite is excited to take the stage in support of a dear friend. Having danced on and off for many years, she is grateful for the opportunity to reconnect with dance while embracing the importance of self-care and finding balance outside of traditional medicine. She is thrilled to be part of this experience and celebrate the joy of dance alongside friends!
smoko.world is a cartoon coyote and schemer with Dog Noise — a Pittsburgh puppy collective known for throwing underground parties that intersect between puppy, furry, and the local dance communities at large. They are also a music director and radio DJ for 88.3 FM WRCT Pittsburgh, and have their own party series JÄG that they throw in collaboration with Ricky Mawzlin. smoko loves to play everything but especially oddball, cartoonish, and borderline tacky leftfield club, freestyle, trance, and house.
Dj CatMash is a local Pittsburgh artist who loves mixing fun dance music. Main genres include house, dark techno, and melodic leaning dubstep. Off the dance floor you can often catch him with his camera shooting wildlife photography. He loves looping tracks to create sounds that build.
bailz is an interdisciplinary artist and creative director. They produce mixed-media and performance work exploring visibility, connection, and nonlinear time. bailz incorporates upcycled and natural materials into art and installation, preferring to work in magick & analog whenever possible. Proudly curious and disruptive by nature, they routinely create across dimensions, ask Big Questions, and exist in multitudes. bailz offers their practice as a ritual of ever-expansive gratitude and celebration of trust in what is possible through collaboration.
bailz is presently a part of the inaugural cohort of a Creative Direction Credential Program (Point Park University + HXOUSE), a 2026-27 resident artist with ProjectArt, and an instructor of lyrical & contemporary dance at Art in Motion Pittsburgh.
open call | get involved
donate to the project:
paypal//venmo @bailzjustbeing
pt 2: untold: workshop dates coming soon
