I started dancing because of my mom.

I# remember like one of my best memories or first memories of dance is her putting me# on her feet, while she practiced the step called the shim sham.

I see dance as# the cycle of becoming that, you know, the body that we're born with is not the body# that stays the same throughout our lives.

We're constantly knowing ourselves better, and I think# that's why I make dances is to learn myself.

Pioneer Winter Collective is physically integrated# and intergenerational, which is very uncommon for a lot of dance companies that are believers# that the body has sort of an expiration date.

That technique can only be defined one way,# that virtuosity can only be shared in one way, that only certain body types should be visible# on stage, and I push back against all of that.

I dance with three other dancers, all queer# elders between the ages of 60 and 68, and they have been dancers their entire lives.

This# work is looking at potential and how potential is not tied to youth, but we can have emergence# at many different points in our life.

That story is something that is meant to be passed on and# not just something that you keep to yourself.

That legacy is not about maybe what you've left# behind, but what you've left someone to remember you by and continuing the work that you've# started.

You know, in "Apollo," it starts off kind of contentious.

I'm this incoming Apollo and# then there are these three former manifestations, fragments of Apollo and they all have very# different ideas of what it means to be an Apollo, what it takes.

The sort of trials and things# I have to go through in order to be ready.

I'm talking about transformation, baby,# ascension, about opening yourself up so wide, so wrong that the only thing anyone's gonna see# from now on is you.

My name is Octavio Campos, and I am a choreographer, a mover, a community# organizer, and general kind human being.

And I've been dancing for 40 plus years.

Oh# my god, it's even so hard to believe that.

This project came up a few years ago and I had# already kind of given up on my performance body already in about 2016.

So this production is# kind of like a comeback piece for me after not having performed for a long time, almost seven# years not performing.

And the process has been just glorious, has been really important for me to# recapture what I used to be as a younger dancer, to be able to see that and perform now with my# performance body with Pioneer.

It's just this very profound experience to get to see evolution# and development and legacy.

And I think that that's the most exciting part I# think for me, for the community, especially the Miami community that knows# my work, that will be able to see what they saw 20 years ago and see me with it on# stage and where I am now in my body.

And I think that's probably the most unique part# of the Pioneer Winter Collective is that everybody dances and that the bodies we# usually don't want to see on stage, like maybe mine because I'm older, we are getting to# see them, we're getting to see these bodies, and I think that's a special treat for our audiences# to see dance through a different point of view.

I have been a dancer since 1980.

I# have danced with over 90 companies, well over 150, maybe 175 choreographers'# works.

This is right now the strongest, most impactful piece that I have been# involved in.

We spent a good solid two years just in a good deal of dialogue,# getting personal stories from each other, hearing each other's responses and reflections to# various different challenges in our upbringing and careers.

And then we synthesized all of# that into the dialogue that you'll hear.

[Speaker] You're one of many, A dime a dozen.

There are a lot of isms that are embedded# in this production.

Probably the largest of them is ageism.

I have had experiences at# opposite ends, extreme ends of how ageism works.

And that has impacted me because I# am reliving things that I have had happen to me.

I am also remembering and recollecting# the responses that my castmates have had and then embodying that in the actual performance.# So it's a collaboration and a marriage of all of our lived experiences brought together# in this piece.

And so it carries a weight, a duty, a responsibility, the trauma, as# well as inspiration and love and respect.

[Frank] I started when I was seven years# old and I .. [Speaker] Devin.

I stopped doing classical ballet in# 2005, and for about four to six years, I didn't dance.

I had no connections.

And then# I met Pioneer Winter and our friendship became very embracing and I started working with him in# 2016.

And here I am doing "Apollo."

I am Apollo, and I'm passing on my legacy, my memories,# my stories, hoping that he will accept where I'm giving my gifts, my body, myself.

I love# Pioneer Winter and I love the collective and the community that we build and what we do for# the community.

And I feel blessed and I'm truly grateful to be able to share this experience that# means so much to me because I remember before the premiere of this piece in Miami, Pioneer said to# me, "Frank, you're the oldest dancer here.

You have more experience on stage than any of us.

This# is your chance to show people, to show everyone, show them who you are."

This is about life and# about, you know, our life, you know?

And life as a dancer, you know, and it's the way that I can# share everything that I've done with everyone.