Works & Process Announces Underground Uptown Dance Festival

The fortieth season of Works & Process at the Guggenheim opens with the Underground Uptown Dance Festival, a festival of commissioned dances taking place from January 9-13, 2025. Gather round the Guggenheim in a series of one-night-only events spanning both the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed theater and rotunda. Experience New York City’s extraordinary club, street, and social dance traditions, all rooted in the circle and the cipher and blended with concert dance.

“Directing attention and resources to dance communities often neglected by institutions of concert dance” – The New York Times

"We're letting you in on the secret, the magic is in the process. At the Works & Process Underground Uptown Dance Festival, see in the theater at the Guggenheim a blend of artist discussions and performance highlights, then follow that up into the iconic museum rotunda with street and club dance events with a reception to continue the conversation. Join us and embody the continuum of concert and social dance, spectating to participating, all featuring artists that have been supported each step from studio-to-stage with fully funded Works & Process residencies." – Duke Dang, Executive Director, Works & Process

Championing creative process from studio to stage, Works & Process has provided the featured projects with iterative presentations and long-term support through fully funded Works & Process LaunchPAD creative residencies, which offer artists industry-leading fees, 24/7 studio space, on-site housing, transportation, and health insurance enrollment access.

The Works & Process Underground Uptown Dance Festival is part of JanArtsNYC, part of one of the city’s largest and most influential arts gatherings and draws more than 45,000 performing arts leaders, artists, and enthusiasts from across the globe.

Tickets on sale now at worksandprocess.org.

Tickets start at $20.

AT A GLANCE

January 9

KR3TS (Keep Rising to the Top) with Violeta Galagarza

Afro Latin Soul with Sekou McMiller and Friends

Rotunda Dance Party: Salsa

January 10

It’s Showtime NYC! Pyramid by Cal Hunt and Johnathan Moore

Courtney “Balenciaga” Washington’s MasterZ at Work Dance Family

Rotunda Dance Party: Ladies of Hip-Hop All Styles Battle

January 11

Music From The Sole’s House Is Open, Going Dark (working title)

Wus Poppin NYC with Kwikstep and Rokafella

Rotunda Dance Party: The Missing Element with The Beatbox House

January 12

The Scattering by Emily Coates

Djapo by Marie Basse-Wiles and Omari Wiles

Rotunda Dance Party: LayeRhythm

January 13

THE DRAMA by Lloyd Knight, Jack Ferver, and Jeremy Jacob

BalletCollective: The Night Falls by Karen Russell, Ellis Ludwig-Leone, and Troy Schumacher

Rotunda Dance Party: Princess Lockerooo's Winter Waack Battle

KR3TS (Keep Rising to the Top) with Violeta Galagarza

Afro Latin Soul with Sekou McMiller and Friends

Rotunda Dance Party: Salsa

Thursday, January 9

7 pm: Theater

8:30 pm: Rotunda Dance Party

See a first look of new works by Latin Grammy and Bessie Award–winner Violeta Galagarza and Afro-Latin dance pioneer Sekou McMiller. The evening concludes with a salsa lesson and dance party in the rotunda for all.

Rooted in Spanish Harlem, KR3TS will debut new works that blend hip-hop with traditional dance styles. Led by Executive Artistic Director Violeta Galagarza, KR3TS’s next generation of choreographers have a legacy spanning four decades and over 5,000 alumni in all areas of dance. Experience the virtuosity of KR3TS and the transformative power of dance in A Journey through the Human Experience, a captivating dance performance that delves into an array of dance styles to portray the complexities of modern life.

The evening also features highlights from Sekou McMiller and Friends’ Afro Latin Soul, an exuberant exploration of the jazz and African roots of salsa dance and music. Inspired by the golden age of mambo at the Palladium nightclub in New York City during the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s, Afro Latin Soul weaves together dancers, musicians, and composers to celebrate rhythmic nature and unite interconnected cultures.

At the forefront of a new movement in Afro Latin dance, Sekou McMiller’s unique fusion style has a strong Afro-Caribbean essence that is laced with many different dance techniques and an explosive energy. Join McMiller in the rotunda for a salsa lesson and dance party for all.

KR3TS’s new work is commissioned by Works & Process and has received Works & Process LaunchPAD residency support at Bethany Arts Community (2024) and Bridge Street Theatre (2025).

Afro Latin Soul has received Works & Process LaunchPAD residency support at The Pocantico Center (2024). Additional residency support was provided by Jacob's Pillow's Pillow Lab.

It’s Showtime NYC! Pyramid by Cal Hunt and Johnathan Moore

Courtney “Balenciaga” Washington’s MasterZ at Work Dance Family

Rotunda Dance Party: Ladies of Hip-Hop All Styles Battle

Friday, January 10

7 pm: Theater

8:30 pm: Rotunda Dance Party

See two Works & Process commissions centered on street dance by It’s Showtime NYC! and MasterZ at Work Dance Family. Then step up and step into the Ladies of Hip-Hop All Styles Battle in the rotunda.

New Yorkers are, by nature, archaeologists. Be it graffiti, hieroglyphics, or freestyle dance on the street, lived stories are shared to those willing to pause and take in the messages. See the world premiere of Pyramid, commissioned by Works & Process, featuring It’s Showtime NYC!, a company of dancers with a history of performing on New York’s streets and subways. Created in collaboration with composer and cellist Johnathan “Akuma” Moore, with dance dramaturgy by BRAT, Pyramid is an original music composition and dance work through which the composer and the company dancers each investigate the notion, “This is how you sound to me.” Moore’s composition animates each dancer’s struggles and triumphs as live building blocks of the pyramid, choreographed by It’s Showtime NYC! Artistic Director Cal Hunt. In his cello composition, Moore incorporates techniques typically employed by funk bassists, such as layered electronic loops, freeing himself to join the performance as a bonebreaker or flexN artist.

The evening also spotlights Black trans femme choreographer Courtney Washington, Mother Balenciaga—the founder of the Kiki House of Juicy Couture, a leader of the House of Balenciaga, and founder of MasterZ at Work Dance Family. Washington’s new Works & Process commission fuses street dance, street jazz, ballroom, vogue, and hip hop and is inspired by chance encounters at New York City diners and stories told over shared meals.

To close the evening, step up and step into the Ladies of Hip-Hop All Styles Battle in the rotunda. Founded by Michele Byrd-McPhee, Ladies of Hip-Hop Dance Collective (LDC) is an all-female intergenerational dance collective that creates dance works illuminating the strength, power, and diversity of women in hip hop. Ever present in the work are the freestyle, cipher, and call-and-response origins of street and club dance culture.

Pyramid is commissioned by Works & Process, Artists Community Alliance, Howard Gilman Foundation, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Bethany Arts Community, Bridge Street Theatre, Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography at Florida State University, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council/The Arts Center at Governors Island, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature with special thanks to NOoSPHERE Arts, SummerStage, Herbert Von King Cultural Arts Center and City of New York Department of Parks and Recreation. Music composition commissioned by Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation. The work has received Works & Process LaunchPAD residency support at Bethany Arts Community (2023). It’s Showtime NYC! is a program of Dancing in the Streets.

Commissioned by Works & Process, MasterZ at Work Dance Family’s new work has been developed in a Works & Process LaunchPAD residency at Modern Accord Depot (2024) and Bethany Arts Community (2025).

Music From The Sole’s House Is Open, Going Dark (working title)

Wus Poppin NYC with Kwikstep and Rokafella

Rotunda Dance Party: The Missing Element with The Beatbox House

Saturday, January 11

7 pm: Theater

8:30 pm: Rotunda Dance Party

See highlights from two Works & Process commissions by Music From The Sole and Kwikstep and Rokafella, then hop into the cipher for a Rotunda Dance Party with the breakers, krumpers, and flexers of The Missing Element, featuring music from The Beatbox House.

Blurring the line between concert, dance, and music performance, Music From The Sole is a tap dance and live music company that celebrates tap’s roots in the African diaspora. Co-founded by the composer and bassist Gregory Richardson and the Brazilian tap dancer and choreographer Leonardo Sandoval, the group draws from Afro-Brazilian, jazz, soul, house, rock, and Afro-Cuban styles. This preview culminates the company’s Works & Process LaunchPAD residency at Guild Hall.

The evening also features Wus Poppin NYC, a one-night-only show and tell from the hip-hop legends Kwikstep and Rokafella. The pair gathered pioneering dancers from New York’s poppin’ community for their Works & Process LaunchPAD creative residencies at the Rockefeller Estate’s Pocantico Center (2023) and Bethany Arts Community (2024). Wus Poppin NYC is the culmination of Kwikstep and Rokafella’s work to document the form’s history and to facilitate intergenerational transference of knowledge.

Fusing together awe-inspiring street dancers from krump, flexN, and breaking communities with the virtuosic music-making of The Beatbox House, The Missing Element explores the universal elements of earth, wind, fire, and water. Commissioned by Works & Process, The Missing Element is an immersive experience where street dancers and beatboxers utilize their abilities to embark on an adventure of sound and dance—working together to find The Missing Element. All music and sound are 100% human-generated.

Leadership support for this Works & Process program is provided by Jeff and Susan Campbell.

Co-Commissioned by Works & Process, Music From The Sole’s new work has been developed in a Works & Process LaunchPAD residency at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park (2024) and Guild Hall William P. Rayner Artist-in-Residence (2023 and 2025). This new work is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Works & Process, the Joyce Theater Foundation, The Yard, Guild Hall, Dance Place, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, and NPN. More information: npnweb.org. Additional support was provided by the Harkness Dance Foundation, a 2023 Alan M. Kriegsman Creative Residency at Dance Place, and a 2024 Jacob’s Pillow's Pillow Lab.

Wus Poppin NYC is commissioned by Works & Process and has received Works & Process LaunchPAD residency support at The Pocantico Center (2023) and Bethany Arts Community (2024) and additional residency support from Abrons Arts Center.

The Missing Element was commissioned by Works & Process in 2019 and was developed in Works & Process Bubble and LaunchPAD residencies at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park (2020 and 2021), Guild Hall William P. Rayner Artist-in-Residence (2022), and Catskill Mountain Foundation (2023), made possible in part through the generous support of the Mellon Foundation and Doris Duke Foundation.

The Scattering by Emily Coates

Djapo by Marie Basse-Wiles and Omari Wiles

Rotunda Dance Party: LayeRhythm

Sunday, January 12

7 pm: Theater

8:30 pm: Rotunda Dance Party

Discover two under-construction Works & Process commissions that explore George Balanchine and the intergenerational connections between West African and Afro-club culture. See excerpts from Emily Coates’s The Scattering and Djapo, by Marie Basse-Wiles and Omari Wiles. Then, take part in participatory play-based improv, led by LayeRhythm, that connects the audience with emcees, live musicians, and street and club dancers in the rotunda.

Dancer and choreographer Emily Coates returns to Works & Process with her new performance project The Scattering. The work sources Balanchine’s brief history in New England to reflect on how the body and spirit of a choreographer scatters, living on in unexpected places. Drawing on her background as a former member of New York City Ballet—and working with Ain Gordon (direction and dramaturgy), Derek Lucci (performer), Charles Burnham (musician-composer), and Melvin Chen (pianist) —Coates collages the misplaced and overlooked archival traces and transmissions of Balanchine and related artists into a new whole.

West African dance cultural icon Marie Basse-Wiles and her son, ballroom icon Omari Wiles, co-create Djapo. The work joins dancers from the Maimouna Keita School of African Dance (MKSAD), founded by Basse-Wiles, and Les Ballet Afrik, founded by Wiles. For thirty-two years MKSAD has brought together dancers from across the African diaspora in an annual conference. Basse-Wiles has trained scores of renowned artists whose impact resonates internationally, including through tours to Senegal, Mali, Gambia, and Guinea. Wiles has followed in his mother’s footsteps while walking to the beat of his own drum. He created AfrikFusion, informed by Afro-club culture, vogue, and West African dance. See excerpts from this new work, which is the continuation of a rich dance history.

Embodying the continuum of concert and social dance in the rotunda, LayeRhythm, led by Mai Lê Hô, interweaves a singular mix of freestyle dance, live music, and audience interaction to celebrate the vibrancy of street and club dance cultures. The evening will feature improvisations by musicians, dancers, and emcees, captivating the young and old, from theater- to clubgoers.

The Scattering is commissioned by Works & Process. This iterative presentation culminates a Works & Process LaunchPAD residency at The Church (2025) in Sag Harbor, home to George Balanchine’s grave. The project will continue to be supported with a Works & Process LaunchPAD residency at the Catskill Mountain Foundation in Hunter, New York where Jacques d’Amboise lived for seven decades. Additional developmental support is provided by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, the Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University, and New England Foundation for the Arts Dance Fund. The Scattering was created in part during a residency at Jacob’s Pillow’s Pillow Lab.

Djapo is commissioned by Works & Process and has received Works & Process LaunchPAD residency support at Bethany Arts Community (2024) and Watermill Center (2025), and a music commission grant from The Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation.

LayeRhythm has received Works & Process LaunchPAD residency support at The Church, Sag Harbor (2023), the Catskill Mountain Foundation (2024), and ArtYard (2025).

THE DRAMA by Lloyd Knight, Jack Ferver, and Jeremy Jacob

BalletCollective: The Night Falls by Karen Russell, Ellis Ludwig-Leone, and Troy Schumacher

Rotunda Dance Party: Princess Lockerooo’s Winter Waack Battle

Monday, January 13

7 pm: Theater

8:30 pm: Rotunda Dance Party

In this two-part evening, discover how THE DRAMA and The Night Falls center storytelling as salves on stage. Then express yourself and enter a space of liberation and empowerment by joining Princess Lockerooo for a lesson and waacking battle in the rotunda.

Created by Martha Graham Dance Company principal dancer Lloyd Knight, choreographer Jack Ferver, and filmmaker Jeremy Jacob, THE DRAMA highlights Knight’s life in an intimate and personal solo dance work inspired by two important women in his life: his mother and the legendary modern dance choreographer Martha Graham. This Works & Process commission lays bare what it takes both physically and psychologically to pursue a life in dance and touches on Knight’s upbringing and what drew him to dance from an early age. THE DRAMA immerses the audience in its shifts between high octane choreography and a candid script, set against a sweeping film and sound score. Marketing and Artistic Director of DANCECleveland Sarah Sumbrum will moderate a discussion with Knight, Ferver, and Jacob.

Choreographed and directed by Troy Schumacher (New York City Ballet)— with scenario and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize–finalist Karen Russell (Swamplandia!) and music and lyrics by Ellis Ludwig-Leone (San Fermin)—The Night Falls is a new myth for the present, fractured era. In this New York Times “2023 Best of Dance” selection, people across the U.S. begin to have the same nightmare. The haunting song eventually lures these lost souls, cleaved into a dancing body and a singing spirit, to a kitschy Floridian roadside attraction that is inhabited by the creatures who make the seductive refrain. The Night Falls explores the visceral power of art to brace us against the abyss. Members of the creative team will participate in a moderated discussion with Spoleto Festival leadership.

Distinguishable by its rotational arm movements, posing, and emphasis on expressiveness, waacking brings together the glitz and glamour of Hollywood films, the vibrant energy of disco, and the colorful underground gay club culture of 1970s Los Angeles. Get ready to be blown away in the rotunda with a waacking battle organized by Princess Lockerooo, who was recently featured on Dancing with the Stars and lauded by the New York Times as the “Queen of Waacking.” Enrich yourself in a waacking 101, go head-to-head in an epic showdown and battle, then dance the night away in the rotunda.

THE DRAMA is commissioned by Works & Process and DANCECleveland and has received Works & Process LaunchPAD residency support at Bridge Street Theatre (2024 and 2025), Modern Accord Depot (2022), and Watermill Center (2023). Additional residency support was provided by a fellowship at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Jerome Robbins Dance Division. Leadership support for THE DRAMA is provided by Christopher Jones and Deb McAlister.

Co-produced by BalletCollective, Inc., and PEAK Performances at Montclair State University, The Night Falls was developed during a Project Springboard: Developing Dance Musicals 2018 residency and further support was provided during a virtual creative residency in 2021. It was made possible, in part, by the Alexander Kasser Theater Endowment Fund, PEAK Patrons, and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Watch the 2023 Works & Process program of BalletCollective: The Night Falls.

Princess Lockerooo has been supported by Works & Process LaunchPAD residencies at Bridge Street Theatre (2022), The Pocantico Center (2023), Watermill Center (2023), and Catskill Mountain Foundation (2025).

Works & Process Lead Donors

Lead funding provided by Adam and Abigail Flatto, Ford Foundation, Bart Friedman and Wendy Stein, Howard Gilman Foundation, Christian Humann Foundation, Leon Levy Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Stephen Kroll Reidy, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Caroline M. Sharp, The Evelyn Sharp Foundation, Eugene and Jean Stark, and Anonymous.

Additional support provided by Jody and John Arnhold, Jeff and Susan Campbell, Cate Caruso, Stuart H. Coleman and Meryl Rosofsky, Duke Dang and Charles E. Rosen, Lucy and Philip Dobrin, Elizabeth Sharp Edens and Wes Edens, The Fanwood Foundation, Agnes Gund, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, Denise and Andrew Saul, Randall Sharp, and the Simian Foundation.

Works & Process is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

About JanArtsNYC

APAP|NYC (Association of Performing Arts Professionals) is a founding partner of JanArtsNYC, celebrating 12 years of partnership in 2025.

Every January in New York City, more than 45,000 performing arts leaders, artists, and enthusiasts from across the globe converge for JanArtsNYC. A partnership among independent multidisciplinary festivals, indispensable industry convenings, and international marketplaces, JanArtsNYC is one of the largest and most influential gatherings of its kind. #JanArtsNYC

Promotional support provided by the New York City Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment.

About Works & Process

Championing performing artists and their creative process for each step from studio to stage, Works & Process features artists both those from the world’s largest organizations and emerging new talent. Works & Process amplifies performing arts traditions that transcend the stage, and encourage audiences to spectate, participate, and continue the conversation beyond the stage. Works & Process programs blend artist discussion and performance highlights, with post-performance receptions at the Guggenheim Museum and beyond. During the summer, Works & Process curates and presents free outdoor dance programs with Manhattan West and City Parks Foundation’s SummerStage.

Works & Process Artists-in-Residence are provided with commissions and made-to-measure LaunchPAD creative residencies that are fully funded and sequenced, offering 24/7 studio availability, on-site housing, health insurance enrollment access, industry-leading residency fees, and transportation to fifteen residency partners across MA, NJ, NY, and VT.

Works and Process, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Tax ID: 13-3592291

Stay connected: @worksandprocess