29. Participants at Pride Toronto, 2011

The Proud as a Peacock tutu is an original creation designed by the festival participants of Pride Toronto in 2011. Over 800 guests stopped by The National Ballet of Canada’s booth from July 2 to 3 and wrote messages of hope and celebration on paper feathers that now compose the peacock’s body and tulle-tail.

Pride Toronto is a not-for-profit organization that hosts Pride Week, which celebrates our diverse sexual and gender identities, histories, cultures, creativities, families, friends and lives. Pride Week is one of the premier arts and cultural festivals in Canada and one of the largest Pride celebrations in the world.

For more information, visit the National Ballet’s Virtual Museum, and the Design Exchange exhibits, 60 Years of Designing the Ballet and The Tutu Project on display from July 11 to Sept 2. 

Photos by Setareh Sarmadi.