The performance lifestyle company collaborated with The LGBT Community Center on “LGBTQAlphabet: Six Letters Will Never Be Enough.”

Writer: Carly Terwilliger

Equinox began its celebration of Pride Month with “LGBTQAlphabet: Six Letters Will Never Be Enough,” a short film that expands the definition of “LGBTQA” into a full alphabet.

The film is the product of a collaboration between the performance lifestyle company and The LGBT Community Center, director Jordan Bahat, choreographer Andrew Winghart and Wieden + Kennedy New York. It continues Equinox’s “Commit to Something” narrative and reflects the company’s commitment to the LGBTQA community. Equinox also explored the theme of identity in its 2017 advertising campaign.

“It’s critically important to our culture that we boldly acknowledge and celebrate the ways in which each of us is unique. One of the ways we can do that is through representation in creative projects like this film,” stated Bahat.

The piece weaves together difference voices – including friends of The Center “Ally” and “Ze | Zir” – that share the words that most meaningfully define who they are as individuals and citizens of the world.

“We’ve spent the past few years pushing deeper into the notion that ‘what you commit to is who you are,’ and this film is a through-line for us, empowering viewers to find their own ways of expressing all the color, variation and realness inherent in one’s identity,” said Elizabeth Nolan, executive creative director at Equinox. “Equinox has always empowered the community to be proud and unapologetic about who they are, but this year, we wanted to make an even more meaningful contribution to a cultural dialogue that is being written before our eyes.  With the help of The Center, we were able to bring this vision to life in a way that feels simultaneously brave, authentic and celebratory.”

The film, intended to evolve the definition of the term “LGBTQA” and inspire conversation, features a series of interpretive dance vignettes, each corresponding to a word associated with LGBTQA identity. A donation was made to The Center in thanks for their partnership in the making of the film.

“The Center is proud to partner with Equinox once again this year for Pride in celebration of the wonderfully intersectional and diverse community we serve,” said Glennda Testone, executive director of The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. “Our community’s deepest expressions of identity are perfectly positioned to shine through in this campaign, and we applaud Equinox for being inclusive of the many unique voices that make our community—and our country—so vibrant.”

Equinox will also hold #POWEREDBYPRIDE party events in cities across its portfolio, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Toronto and Chicago. In addition, Equinox members can participate in a special Pride edition of the fitness club’s Hip-Hop Yoga class.

Photo and video courtesy Equinox