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

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.

Tickets on sale now at worksandprocess.org.

Tickets start at $20.

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