Gerard X Reyes

GERARD X REYES (they/he) is a choreographer, dancer, film director, certified somatic sex educator, intimacy coordinator and pioneer of Montreal's Kiki Ballroom scene. They have lived and worked in Montreal, Toronto, New York, Los Angeles and Berlin. As a dancer, Reyes spent seven years as a member of the Compagnie Marie Chouinard. In addition, they have worked many renowned choreographers, including Jérôme Bel, Bill T. Jones, Benoît Lachambre, Leiomy Maldonado and Luther Brown. Their first dance solo, "The Principle of Pleasure", explores themes of desire, seduction and control by mixing voguing, stripping, eccentricity and glamour. Set to the original remixes of songs by pop icon Janet Jackson, the solo premiered in 2015 and has since toured across Canada and Europe, including Festival TransAmériques (Montreal), SummerWorks (Toronto), Gorki Theatre (Berlin) and Sziget (Budapest). In 2017, Reyes pioneered Montreal's Ballroom scene by leading weekly sessions for LGBTQ+ and POC youth, as well as organizing and hosting Kiki balls (competitions), including for Canada Pride (2017) and Fierté Montreal (2018). Reyes obtained certification in Sexological Bodywork through the Institute of Somatic Sexology in Australia. This certificate allows them to teach somatic sex education in private and to participate in stage / film projects as an intimacy coordinator. Through this practice, Reyes guides clients and artists towards deeper embodiment and connection with their "sensual self". Reyes’ second live work and video installation, “Public/Private Parts ou L’Origine du monde”, looks beyond the limiting binaries of art/pornography created with a team of artists, sex educators and sex workers in Berlin and Montreal. It is a co-production with the Festival TransAmériques (Montreal) and premiered at the festival in June 2021. “Public/Private Parts” series includes a podcast series, two short films and video interview excerpts. Visit gerardxreyes.com