Becoming Daddy AF
Celebrated American dance-theater icon David Roussève has created his first full-length solo performance in more than 20 years. Becoming Daddy AF will have its world premiere at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh PA from September 26-27, followed by the Los Angeles premiere at UCLA's Center for Art of Performance from October 17-18, 2025.
Becoming Daddy AF is an intimate theatrical meditation on life's purpose, and the very meaning of love. Written, created, and performed by Roussève, the piece draws upon Roussève's seminal dance theater works created for his company REALITY, embedding their emotional and formal innovations into a new narrative that bridges past and present. Through the lens of his acclaimed legacy, Roussève revisits recurring themes of identity, race, queerness, and resilience—reimagined and reframed, in the face of the urgency of today's sociopolitical climate.
Returning to Roussève's early grounding in theater, Becoming Daddy AF is centered around a full-length, time-jumping text, while pushing him forward in kinetic exploration with an all-new movement vocabulary—created and performed by a queer African American acutely aware of the finite time he has left on the planet. Like strands of DNA, it connects elements encoded in his body, including 600 years of genealogy (with strands from France, Portugal Germany, Mali, Senegal, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba), a roller coaster journey with HIV, and the shattering loss of a husband of 26 years—while revisiting movement from 35 years of dance-making to explore the meaning of virtuosity for a 64-year-old body.
This powerful production gathers a visionary team of interdisciplinary artists to support the singular voice of Roussève—whose deeply personal and politically resonant works of dance-theater have redefined contemporary performance for over three decades. The production is enriched by Charlotte Brathwaite's incisive dramaturgy and early-stage input from Julie Tolentino. Meena Murugesan's vividly collaged video design, d. Sabela grimes' textured soundscape, Christopher Kuhl's sculptural lighting, and Leah Piehl's costuming extend the emotional terrain of the piece. The result is a layered, multi-sensory experience that both honors and reimagines Roussève's groundbreaking body of work.
Becoming Daddy AF is the portrait of a man defying death, but somehow unable to unabashedly embrace life.
BIOGRAPHY
DAVID ROUSSÈVE, is a choreographer/writer/director/performer, magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University and a Guggenheim Fellow. He is known for his dynamic, socially conscious dance/theater that uniquely blends contemporary dance, theater, and multimedia elements to create immersive and thought-provoking performances. His work draws inspiration from the stories of marginalized communities, as it explores complex themes related to identity, social justice, and human connection. Roussève founded the dance/theater company David Roussève/REALITY in 1988 in New York, and REALITY has since toured throughout the US, Europe, Great Britain and South America, including three commissions and four performance residencies at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival and two commissions and three performance residencies at Jacob's Pillow. Roussève's most recent short film screened at 56 festivals in eleven countries and received ten awards, including four for "Best Film". Other awards include a "Bessie", Creative Capital Fellowship, three Horton Awards, Herb Alpert Award in the Arts and seven consecutive NEA Fellowships. Roussève is Distinguished Professor of Choreography in the department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at UCLA where he has also served as Associate Dean, Acting Dean, and Interim Dean of the School of the Arts and Architecture.
CREDITS:
Written, Created and Performed by David Roussève
Dramaturgy by Charlotte Brathwaite
Video design by Meena Murugesan
Sound design by d. Sabela grimes
Lighting design Christopher Kuhl
Costume design by Leah Piehl
Technical assistance by Padra Crisafull
Early stage dramaturgy by Julie Tolentino
Additional production support from Harper Justus and Leanne Iacovetta Poirier
Company management by Leanne Iacovetta Poirier
Additional production support from Harper Justus and Padra Crisafulli
Management and producorial support by George Lugg
PHOTOS:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Ej3Ts2UBD7eeT1xowWPXMa8zb3pFPT0c&usp=drive_fs
AUDIO INTERVIEW:
Inside the Dancer's Studio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQXU-g6KtSo
TEASER VIDEO:
https://vimeo.com/1044659245
Full documentation available upon request to georgelugg@gmail.com
PRESS:
"One day some breakthrough string theory of the heart is sure to explain why beauty and damnation can be perceived at the same moment, why grief and joy can hit you at once. Until then, David Rousseve's dance-theater... offers a succinct and lyrical look at how the highs and lows of life collide." —The Washington Post
"The struggles of Black Americans-oppression and abuse, poverty and neglect, AIDS and alienation register in the body of this dancer-choreographer, whose death-haunted imagination is drawn to the polarity and paradox of bondage and antic freedom... Dante's collective notion of 'our life' is particularly apt as Roussève moves from the personal to the historical and on to the universal." — Charles McNulty, The Los Angeles Times
[MORE PRESS HERE https://www.davidrousseve.com/press]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Becoming Daddy AF is a National Performance Network Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, National Center for Choreography Akron, and MASS MoCA with Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, more information at www.npnweb.org.
Becoming Daddy AF was created with support from Danspace Project, UCLA's Chancellor's Research Fund and The Chancellor's Arts Initiative. Daddy AF is made possible with generous support from the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, and a MAP Fund creation grant.
Becoming Daddy AF is made possible with generous support from the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, and a MAP Fund creation grant.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
David Roussève/REALITY
https://www.instagram.com/davidroussevereality
https://vimeo.com/user3545214
STYLE NOTES:
-Roussève requires the grave accent on the first "è"
-No space on either side of the slash before REALITY
-REALITY should be set in all caps
