The 2025 documentary About Face: Disrupting Ballet will play in Pittsburgh on November 19, part of the Three Rivers Film Festival.
Georgina Pazcoguin, an acclaimed dancer, and Phil Chan, author and choreographer, challenge the dance world to rid ballet of offensive “yellowface” caricatures from ballets like The Nutcracker and La Bayadère. In real time, we witness the Scottish Ballet update its version of the Chinese Dance to both high praise and stinging backlash. About Face vividly shows the tension and risks the two artists endure as they push an art form—created for the entertainment of kings and queens hundreds of years ago—to be more relevant to diverse audiences today.
It also plays online from November 13. The November 19 show is at the Point Park University Pittsburgh Playhouse downtown (map) and tickets are available online.
