BAAD! Proudly Presents OUT LIKE THAT 2026 Festival June 4th – JUNE 27th
The Bronx’s Only LGBTQ+ Performing Arts Festival Returns with Bold New Work and Community Celebrations
The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD!) is proud to announce the return of OUT LIKE THAT!, the Bronx’s only LGBTQ+ performing arts festival, running from June 4 through June 27, 2026. At a time when queer and trans communities across the country continue to face escalating attacks on visibility, bodily autonomy, artistic freedom, and basic human rights, OUT LIKE THAT! returns as both a celebration and a declaration: queer artistry, joy, resistance, and community remain vital and unstoppable.
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Charles Rice-Gonzalez shared, “We started Out Like That! over 25 years ago to amplify queer power and creativity in the Bronx. That action remains vital today when there are forces in positions of power in our country working overtime to silence Trans and queer voices and rights. This year’s festival gathers artists, activists, healers, and community members for a month-long series of events that honor queer resilience, cultural memory, chosen family, and collective liberation.”
The festival opens on June 4 with EMO: A Rebel’s Rainbow by Charly Dominguez, a multimedia live museum experience and performance showcase documenting the realities of surviving and creating as an independent queer artist in New York City. Blending live performance, video, fashion, and visual art, the evening serves as both a personal graduation and a call to remain unapologetically authentic in an era of increasing censorship and erasure.
Additional highlights include the KAC Works in Progress Showcase (June 5), featuring acclaimed Kiki scene movement artists Kalik B and Sharron “Slimm” Jones; the return of Courageous Conversations (June 10), a free community forum featuring legal professional Katherine Grainger and acclaimed cinematographer Nadia Hallgren discussing strategies for living, loving, and thriving within today’s political climate; and the OUT LIKE THAT! Dance Compilation (June 11), BAAD!’s signature evening of innovative choreography spanning contemporary, street, experimental, and culturally-rooted movement practices.
The festival also includes a conversation with the Gay Men of The Bronx (June 14); the coming-of- age comedy reading, Nueva Yol (June 18); Juneteenth: Restoration and Rest (June 19), an interactive healing ritual centering QTPOC wellness led by Langston Kahn and Carlos Rosario; the 7th Annual BAAD! Mini Ball (June 20), celebrating ballroom culture and unapologetic self-expression; and cadira-cadera-catedral (June 27), an immersive dance work by choreographer Priscilla Marrero rooted in Afro-Caribbean and diasporic movement traditions.
The events will take place in a combination of in-person and hybrid formats, with online accessibility via live stream. Ticket prices range from free to $20. BAAD! offers discounts to students and seniors, and free admission to residents of 10474 and 10461 zip codes. For ticketing and additional information, visit BAAD!’s website: www.BAADBronx.org.
The Schedule of Events is as follows:
Thursday, June 4 | 7PM | Free
EMO: A Rebel’s Rainbow
Charly Dominguez kicks off Pride Month with a live museum experience and new body of work documenting the struggles, beauty, and resilience of creating as an independent queer artist in modern New York City. Featuring video, live performance, bodypaint fashion, and a magazine release party, this multidisciplinary showcase is a bold celebration of authenticity and artistic survival.
Friday, June 5 | 8PM | Free (Under 24) or $10
KAC Works in Progress Showcase featuring Kalik B and Sharron “Slimm” Jones
An evening of dance featuring two of the Kiki scene’s most prominent movement artists and choreographers, fusing vogue with contemporary performance styles and experimental movement practices.
Wednesday, June 10 | 7PM | Free | Live Stream Option
Courageous Conversations with Katherine Grainger and Nadia Hallgren
Legal professional Katherine Grainger and cinematographer Nadia Hallgren join BAAD!’s Courageous Conversations series for an evening of dialogue, resilience strategies, and community discussion focused on navigating and thriving within today’s political and cultural climate.
Saturday, June 13 | 8PM | $20| Live Stream Option
Out Like That! Dance Compilation
The Out Like That! Dance Compilation celebrates bold and innovative choreography across genres and generations. This signature event brings together 8 powerful artists whose work spans contemporary, street styles, experimental forms, and cultural traditions. Together, they ignite the stage in a collective tribute to queer excellence, movement, and storytelling.
Featured Artists include: Andrea Cortez, Malcolm Hines, David Guallpa, Darren Justice, Jaylon McCraven, Josefina Rojas, Ava Desiderio, and Brooke Brookshire
Sunday, June 14 | 4PM | Free
Unite to Remember: GMoB and Bronx Queer Activism
Through images, artifacts, memory, and ritual, this event offers an opportunity for collective remembrance to honor GMoB-Gay Men of the Bronx (1990-2001) and Bronx queer history. We’ll celebrate those who we have lost and those still living whose efforts brought the Bronx closer to queer freedom, friendship, and community love.
Thursday, June 18 | 8PM | Free
NuevaYol
Written by Marlyn Matias Feliciano and directed by Dominic Colon, Nueva Yol is a coming-of-age comedy set in the Bronx in 1988. After being sent from Puerto Rico to live with relatives in New York, 13-year-old Yoli navigates culture shock, embarrassing misunderstandings, new friendships, her first crush on a boy, and unexpected feelings for a girl.
Friday, June 19 | 7PM | Free
Juneteenth: Restoration and Rest
BAAD! invites our QTPOC community and allies into an interactive ritual of restoration and rest to commemorate Juneteenth. Guided by healers Langston Kahn and Carlos Rosario (The Greenlight Warrior), participants will breathe, reflect, connect, and move through practices designed to nurture the mind, body, and spirit while exploring what freedom feels like together. Followed by a playlist by DJ Sabine Blaizin.
Saturday, June 20 | 7PM | Free
2026 Mini Ball
Kiki with us at BAAD!’s 7th annual Mini Ball! Join iconic hosts and judges Egyptt LaBeija and Félix Rodriguez Milan as fierce competitors battle across select categories for cash prizes, ballroom glory, and community pride.
Tuesday, June 23rd | 6PM | Free
TransVisionaries
Curated by Linda La, TransVisionaries is an evening celebrating transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary artistry. Presented in partnership with a local Bronx restaurant, the event combines visionary performance, storytelling, and communal gathering over shared food and celebration.
Saturday, June 27 | 7PM | Free
cadira-cadera-catedral
Inspired by Afro-Caribbean and African diaspora social dances, motherhood, yoga, nature and the artist’s own archive of embodied ancestral movement, choreographer Priscilla Marrero and her collaborators will take the audience on an ephemeral sensorial journey for liberation with work rooted in La Pelvis.
ABOUT BAAD!
Described by The New York Times as “a funky and welcoming performance space,” BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance is a performance and workshop venue presenting cutting-edge work across disciplines that empower women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ communities. Founded in 1998 by Arthur Aviles and Charles Rice-Gonzalez, BAAD! is home to Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre (AATT) and the AATT Academy, and is a vital cultural hub for the Bronx.
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