BAAD! [Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance] celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and is marking its birthday by presenting “Get Tough, Get BAAD!” an annual series of films and events throughout February, celebrating queer power, diversity, defiance, strength, and visibility.

Representatives from BAAD! said, “The series was initiated in 2010 to take a stand against violence and to counter negative and victimized images of queer people in the media from a wave of homophobic attacks in the Bronx and New York City that year.” They said the “Get Tough, Get BAAD! series presents narrative films that are empowering to the LGBTQ community, that feature queer people of color as the protagonists, and that also offer events that celebrate queer strength and value.

This year’s installment kicks off with “Courageous Conversations: Strategies for Living and Loving in America” with authors John Keene and Robert Jones, Jr., and continues with five narrative films and an evening of dance, while “Get Tough, Get BAAD!” runs from Feb. 6 to Feb. 17, at BAAD!, 2474 Westchester Avenue in The Bronx’s Westchester Square neighborhood. Most events are free and the dance concert is $20. For reservations, directions, and further information call (718) 918-2110 or visit www.BAADBronx.org.

Further details provided by BAAD! on the upcoming events are provided further below.

Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. | Free (also streaming virtually)

COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS: Strategies for Living and Loving in America with JOHN KEENE and ROBERT JONES, JR.

BAAD!’s Courageous Conversations forum brings together leading thinkers and doers from the arts, media, and politics to offer empowering strategies for queer communities and their allies on how to navigate and thrive in today’s political climate. John R. Keene Jr. is a writer, translator, professor, and artist who was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2018. His 2022 poetry collection, “Punks: New and Selected Poems,” received the National Book Award for Poetry. Keene will be in conversation with Robert Jones, Jr., the author of The New York Times bestselling novel, “The Prophets,” about the forbidden union between two enslaved, young men on a Deep South plantation. The book was a finalist for the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction, won many awards, and was named one of the best books of 2021 by Time, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, The Boston Globe, and The Washington Post, among others.

Friday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. | Free

“THE INCREDIBLY TRUE ADVENTURES OF TWO GIRLS IN LOVE” with filmmaker Maria Maggenti 

This is a touching and poignant film about the acclaimed adventurous, love story between two young women of different social and economic backgrounds who find themselves going through all the typical struggles of a new romance. The film is a classic, and when it was released in 1995, it was hailed by the New York Times as “a universal story about first love, adolescent rebellion, and sexual awakening.” As it prepares to celebrate 30 years, filmmaker Maria Maggenti will be present for a post-show talk.

Saturday, Feb. 10 at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. | Free

5 p.m. RED, WHITE AND ROYAL BLUE

Fun and sexy, this romantic comedy depicts a developing love affair between the son of the president of the United States (Taylor Zakhar Perez) and a British prince (Nicholas Galitzine). Traversing the worlds of British royalty and Washington, D.C. politics, both want to keep the relationship secret to protect their families from controversy. The comedy is directed by Matthew Lopez.

8 p.m.

BOTTOMS

In this refreshingly outspoken and raunchy comedy, two unpopular girls, Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri, in their senior year of high school, start a fight club to try to impress and hook up with cheerleaders. It is directed by Emma Seligman.

Thursday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. | Free

GUADALAJARA

In this drama inspired by true events, a transgender teen navigates her identity while befriending the neighborhood queen bees in East L.A. She struggles with peer pressure, drugs, and crime while trying to find her way in the world and while developing a relationship with her sex-working mother. It is directed by William Napier.

Friday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. | Free

BADHAAI DO

A gay cop and a lesbian teacher enter a lavender marriage of convenience to pacify their families but find that relationships, both real and fake, aren’t all easy to navigate. This queer, Indian film achieves a balancing act of comedy and drama, and shows the damage caused by homophobia and the courage it takes to live authentically. The film is in Hindi with English subtitles, and is directed by Harshavardhan Kulkarni.

Saturday, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m. | $20, Virtual: Free to $20

QUEER MOVIE MOVERS

Local choreographers take over BAAD!’s stage with a series of dances set to music from their favorite queer films and features performances by Faxtra, Peter Elizalde, Darius Gregory, Rush Johnston, Nikolai McKenzie Ben Rema, Richard McLaurin, Leila Saffold and uwazi.

Crowned “a funky and welcoming performance space” by The New York Times, BAAD! is a performance and workshop space that presents cutting-edge works in dance and all creative disciplines empowering to women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community. BAAD! is home to Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre (AATT), and the AATT Academy. Celebrating its 25th year, BAAD! was founded by Arthur Aviles and Charles Rice-Gonzalez in 1998 in Hunts Point. BAAD! moved to Westchester Square in October 2013 to a gothic, revivalist building on the grounds of St. Peter’s Church.

Check out our latest Out & About listing for more upcoming arts & culture events.

BAAD!/AATT receives support from The Ford Foundation, The Howard Gilman Foundation, The Mellon Foundation, The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Scherman Foundation, The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, The SHS Foundation, The Mertz Gilmore Foundation, The New York State Council on the Arts, The Jerome Foundation, The Robbins Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, The John and Jody Arnhold Foundation and private donations. Courageous Conversations is supported by the Coalition of Theaters of Color, a New York City Council Initiative administered by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.