Administration & Education

Staycee Pearl, Co-Artistic Director

Staycee R. Pearl received her initial dance training at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BFA and honors in Studio Arts/Africana Studies. In Pittsburgh, she served for six years as Artistic Director of Xpressions Contemporary Dance Company, premiering numerous choreographic works and performing choreography by celebrated national artists such as Rennie Harris and Robert Battle. For the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, Pearl choreographed Nathan Davis’ jazz-opera, Just Above My Head, Carmen Jones, and Lost in the Stars. The STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos (SPdp&SS) served as the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater’s resident dance company for the 2010-2013 seasons.

Pearl’s visual arts exhibitions include STACKS, inspired by Romare Bearden and Fe Gallerie’s My Mythos. Pearl was honored with an August Wilson Center Artistic Fellowship in 2012, presenting OCTAVIA, a movement/multi-media installation based on the life and writings of famed science fiction writer, Octavia Butler. SPdp’s 2012 evening-length piece,...on being..., an investigation of race, gender, and identity in relation to conversations around Post-Blackness, remained on Creative Capital’s national listing ON OUR RADAR for one year. As a guest teaching artist lecturer in the University of Pittsburgh’s theater arts department, Staycee choreographed the acclaimed musical production, In The Heights. Her choreographic work has been consistently supported by the Heinz Endowments and The Pittsburgh Foundation since 2001. Most recently, Staycee and her collaborators successfully premiered CIRCLES: going in and CIRCLES: reclamation at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture in October of 2021. Both the stage performance and the gallery exhibition respectfully were commissioned and presented by the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater and the August Wilson Center. This represents the company’s first National Dance Project and National Performance Network supported project. Ms Pearl is honored to have won the Carol R. Brown Creative Achievement Award / Established Artist for 2021.

Herman Pearl (Soy Sos), Co-Artistic Director & Sound Designer

Herman Pearl (Soy Sos) is the head engineer and owner of Tuff Sound Recording, as well as the sound designer and co-artistic director of PearlArts Studios. Through PearlArts, Herman creates soundscapes to serve as a component to contemporary dance. As a sound designer, Herman’s repertoire includes a wide variety of projects and collaborators. His work has been featured in various independent films and documentaries, video games, and advertising. He has designed soundscapes for numerous choreographers. He has collaborated with many visual artists to create installations and touring exhibits. He has recorded and produced work for a plethora of recording artists across genres and techniques. Herman has performed, created, and recorded his own music for over 25 years.

Kate Shea Duncan, General Manager

Kate Shea Duncan is a queer, disabled arts administrator, educator and artist working out of Pittsburgh, PA. Originally from Columbus, OH, she received her BFA in Theatre Production and Non-Profit Management from Point Park University in 2021 and has been working to make the arts in Pittsburgh more accessible ever since. Currently, Kate works as a part of the steering committee for Pittsburgh Fatties Social Club, a group that organizes events and coordinates mutual aid for the fat communities of Western PA. Kate currently focuses their artist practices on a mix of media styles, including collage and ceramics

Dance Artists of STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos

Board of Directors

Kathleen McGuire Gaines, Chair
D.S. Kinsel, Vice Chair
Felicia Snead, Treasurer
Natalee Smith, Secretary
Staycee Pearl, Executive Director
Joseph Hall
Patrick Jordan
Jil Stifel

Directors Emeriti

LaToya Sawyer-Ndizeye