DORRANCE DANCE: The Nutcracker Suite

Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn, arrangement

Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky, composer

Tap shoes kick pointe shoes aside in this American version of the holiday classic, The Nutcracker Suite. Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn reimagined Tchaikovsky’s score in 1960, providing today’s preeminent tap company a platform to jazz up the holidays. The colorful fantasy was featured as the nation’s Nutcracker in 2023 with appearances at the Kennedy Center. 

Dorrance Dance

The Nutcracker Suite

Tap and jazz take on Tchaikovsky in Dorrance Dance’s vibrant version of this beloved holiday classic. The renowned tap company boogies, slides, struts and dives through the magical story of a young girl and her fantastical Christmas adventure. Taking their cue from Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s extraordinary reinterpretation of The Nutcracker Suite, Michelle Dorrance and co-choreographers Hannah Heller and Josette Wiggan transform the Sugar Plum Fairy into a slinky Sugar Rum Cherry, while the “March of the Toy Soldiers” becomes a swinging “Peanut Brittle Brigade.” Featuring live music.

Tap, percussive dance, samba, house, and original live music come together in I Didn’t Come to Stay, an evening-length work from New York City-based Music From The Sole. Brazilian tap dancer and choreographer Leonardo Sandoval and bassist/composer Gregory Richardson lead eight dancers and a five-piece band in a performance that explores tap’s lineage and connections to other Afro-Diasporic forms. Conceived as a Carnival fever dream, I Didn’t Come to Stay embraces shared roots across the diaspora to reflect on what shapes their cultural and artistic identity, and celebrates the joy, depth, and virtuosity of Black dance and music.

I Didn’t Come to Stay is a commission from Works & Process at the Guggenheim and was created with the support of a summer 2020 Works & Process bubble residency at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, as well as residency support in March 2021 from The Yard, an April 2021 Pillow Lab residency at Jacob’s Pillow, a February 2022 Creative residency at Chelsea Factory, and a March 2022 Works & Process LaunchPAD “Process as Destination” residency at Catskill Mountain Foundation. Additional rehearsal support was provided by the American Tap Dance Foundation.

This program is supported in part by the Irene Hunter Fund for Dance at MASS MoCA in association with Jacob’s Pillow.

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. Led by Brazilian tap dancer and choreographer Leonardo Sandoval and composer and bassist Gregory Richardson, Music From The Sole draws from Afro-Brazilian, jazz, soul, house, rock, and Afro-Cuban styles. See a preview of a new Works & Process commission that culminates a weeklong Works & Process LaunchPAD residency at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park.

Commissioned by Works & Process, this work has been developed in a Works & Process LaunchPAD residency at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park (2024) and an upcoming residency in January 2025 at Guild Hall William P. Rayner Artist-in-Residence.

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 as 2023 William P. Rayner Artist-in-Residence at Guild Hall.

Music From The Sole is a tap dance and live music company that celebrates tap’s Afro-diasporic roots, particularly its connections to Afro-Brazilian dance and music, and its lineage to forms like house dance and passinho (Brazilian funk). Led by Brazilian dancer/ choreographer Leonardo Sandoval and by bassist/ composer Gregory Richardson, their work embraces tap’s unique nature as a blend of sound and movement, incorporating wide-ranging influences like samba, passinho, Afro-Cuban, jazz, and house.

Daniella Barbarito / Latin American Indie Folk.

Latin American Indie Folk, blending traditional & modern sounds with unique cuatro tunings, choral vocals, & psychedelic arrangements, reflecting Caribbean heritage. Part of “The Queer Conservatory of Queens: Celebrating LGBTQ+ Voices” series, it highlights diverse musical creativity and innovation.

Michelle Dorrance & Friends

Featuring Jillian Meyers, Josette Wiggan, + more!
With special guests Chloe Arnold’s Syncopated Ladies

Fri / Sept 6, 2024 - 8:00PM

MacArthur Award recipient Michelle Dorrance leads a night of expansive tap dance.

Daniela Barbarito is multi-disciplinary artist who was born and raised in Caracas and currently lives in Madrid. 
Her music reimagines Venezuelan tradition with a modern approach and deals with memory and identity with a humor, pathos and nostalgia that borrows from the bolero cannon.  She accompanies herself on the Venezuelan cuatro, adding a touch of folklore to her post-modern approach. 

Music from the Sole

Music From The Sole is a tap dance and live music company that celebrates tap’s Afro-diasporic roots, particularly its connections to Afro-Brazilian dance and music, and its lineage to forms like house dance and passinho (Brazilian funk). Led by Brazilian dancer/ choreographer Leonardo Sandoval (2022 Vilcek Foundation Prize for Creative Promise) and by bassist/ composer Gregory Richardson, their work embraces tap’s unique nature as a blend of sound and movement, incorporating wide-ranging influences like samba, passinho, Afro-Cuban, jazz, and house.

Since their first performances in 2015 at Baltimore’s Creative Alliance, Music From The Sole has grown to a group of 15 dancers and musicians, touring and engaging with communities across the US and abroad. They have received support from the New England Foundation for the Arts (2021 National Dance Project grantees), New York State Council on the Arts, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Jerome Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation, and Dance/ NYC, and were recently commissioned new works by Works & Process at the Guggenheim.

As part of its mission to bring tap dance, America’s original vernacular dance form, to new audiences, they appear as both a dance company and a percussive-led band at dance and music venues. Recent credits include appearances at Lincoln Center, Jacob’s Pillow, The Yard, Kaatsbaan, Portland Ovations, Caramoor Jazz Festival, Bryant Park, the 92Y, and Tap in Rio; they are 2022 resident artists at Chelsea Factory.

Highlighting a commitment to community-centered artistic practice, the company partners frequently with organizations like the National Dance Institute and Lincoln Center Education, engaging through dance and music with communities across NYC and beyond.

http://www.musicfromthesole.com/

DATE: SAT, APR 27, 2024, 8 PM
VENUE: LeFrak Concert Hall
TICKETS: $30 for All (No Fees!)

Join us for an evening of percussive dance as we celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the CUNY Dance Initiative with two alums of this ground-breaking residency program: Music From The Sole and Sonia Olla & Ismael Fernández.

Music From The Sole is a tap dance and live music company that celebrates tap’s Afro-diasporic roots, particularly its connections to Afro-Brazilian dance and music, and its lineage to forms like house dance and passinho (Brazilian funk). Led by Brazilian choreographer Leonardo Sandoval and by composer Gregory Richardson, their work embraces tap’s unique nature as a blend of sound and movement, incorporating wide-ranging influences like samba, passinho, Afro-Cuban, jazz, and house. As part of its mission to bring tap dance, America’s original vernacular dance form, to new audiences, the company appears as both a dance company and percussive-led band at both music and dance venues, including recently Lincoln Center, Jacob’s Pillow, Vail Dance Festival, The Yard, Caramoor Jazz Festival, Harlem Stage, Bryant Park, and the Guggenheim.

Music From the Sole

Kingsbury Hall | Mar 14 @ 7:30 pm

Feel the rhythm in your soul! Music From The Sole’s tap dance and live music transports you to a world of Afro- diasporic beats and electrifying movements. Led by the talented Brazilian choreographer Leonardo Sandoval and composer Gregory Richardson, the performance celebrates the roots of tap dance and its connections to Afro-Brazilian dance and music. Music From The Sole takes you on a joyful, high-energy journey that blends cultural influences and traditions of sound and movement that will leave you wanting more.

Artistic Directors: Gregory Richardson & Leonardo Sandoval

I Didn't Come to Stay

Making their West Coast debut, Music From The Sole is a tap and live music company that celebrates tap's Afro-diasporic roots, especially its connections to Afro-Brazilian dance and music.  Receiving great acclaim for their appearances at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and Tap in Rio, this brilliant company will perform their newest work, I Didn't Come to Stay, commissioned by Works & Process at the Guggenheim (NYC), that embraces a unique combination of tap, percussive dance, house, and Brazilian street dance.

A tap dance and live music company that blurs the line between concert dance and music performance, Music From The Sole celebrates tap's roots in the African diaspora, particularly its connections to Afro-Brazilian dance and music and its lineage to forms like house dance and passinho (Brazilian funk). The New Yorker notes that the group’s “dancers, whose bodies also provide percussion, are in a constant give-and-take with musicians on piano, sax and bass. The feeling is that of being at a family reunion, in which every family member has something to say.”

Tap, percussive dance, samba, house and live music come together in I Didn’t Come to Stay. The work explores tap’s lineage and connections to other Afro-diasporic forms. Together, the ensemble embraces shared roots across the diaspora to reflect on what shapes their cultural and artistic identity and to celebrate the joy, depth and virtuosity of Black dance and music.

Led by Brazilian choreographer Leonardo Sandoval and composer Gregory Richardson, Music from the Sole’s work embraces tap’s unique nature as a blend of sound and movement, incorporating wide-ranging influences like samba, passinho, Afro-Cuban, jazz and house.

I Didn’t Come to Stay is a commission from Works & Process at the Guggenheim and was created with the support of a summer 2020 Works & Process bubble residency at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, as well as residency support in March 2021 from The Yard, an April 2021 Pillow Lab residency at Jacob’s Pillow, a February 2022 Creative residency at Chelsea Factory, and a March 2022 Works & Process LaunchPAD “Process as Destination” residency at Catskill Mountain Foundation. Additional rehearsal support was provided by the American Tap Dance Foundation.

NDI's Fall Benefit 2023: It's All in the Shoes

Join us for an intimate evening of music & dance exploring the role of shoes in choreography.

Featuring performances by:

Bill Irwin
Chrybaby Cozie
Peter Walker (NYC Ballet)
Brittany Pollack (NYC Ballet)
Gregory Richardson (Music from the Sole)
Orlando Hernandez (Music from the Sole)
Corinne O'Mara
The Talented Children of NDI
And More!

6PM Reception in the Pe

MUSIC FROM THE SOLE

I DIDN'T COME TO STAY 

Saturday, November 4, 2023

7:30 PM

Pfleeger Concert Hall

Tap, percussive dance, samba, house, and live music come together in I Didn't Come to Stay, in which Brazilian tap dancer/choreographer Leonardo Sandoval and bassist/composer Gregory Richardson lead eight dancers and a five-piece band in a performance that explores tap's lineage and connections to other Afrodiasporic forms. Together the pair embrace embraced shared roots across the diaspora and reflect on racial and cultural identity, while also celebrating the joy, strength, depth, and virtuosity of Black dance and music.

The presentation of I Didn't Come to Stay was made possible by New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation.

Work In Process Residency Showing

Guild Hall has selected the tap dance and live music company, Music From The Sole, as a 2023 Guild Hall William P. Rayner Artist-in-Residence. Music From The Sole celebrates tap’s Afro-diasporic roots, particularly its connections to Afro-Brazilian dance and music, and its lineage to forms like house dance and passinho (Brazilian funk). Led by Brazilian dancer/ choreographer Leonardo Sandoval and by bassist/ composer Gregory Richardson, their work embraces tap’s unique nature as a blend of sound and movement, incorporating wide-ranging influences like samba, passinho, Afro-Cuban, jazz, and house.

As William P. Rayner Artists-in-Residence, the company will develop material for a new evening-length work of tap, Afro-Brazilian and house dance, and original live music. This new piece, commissioned by The Joyce Theater, will dig deeper in the company’s focus on creating and presenting tap dance as both movement and music, with their inseparable choreographic and compositional processes. Band members will be incorporated in aspects of the movement/ choreography, and dancers will play instruments as part of the band in various parts of the work, embracing and highlighting their role as active creators of the music they move to. The company will also develop narrative elements to continue celebrating tap’s Afro-diasporic roots, while exploring themes central to the Black, immigrant, queer/ LGBTQ2IA+ identities that make up the company.

Music From The Sole: I Didn't Come To Stay, Co-Presented with DANCECleveland

Music From The Sole is a tap dance and live music company that celebrates tap's Afro-diasporic roots, particularly its connections to Afro-Brazilian dance and music, and its lineage to forms like house dance and passinho (Brazilian funk). Led by Brazilian dancer/ choreographer Leonardo Sandoval and by bassist/ composer Gregory Richardson, their work embraces tap’s unique nature as a blend of sound and movement, incorporating wide-ranging influences like samba, passinho, Afro-Cuban, jazz, and house.

Since their first performances in 2015 at Baltimore’s Creative Alliance, Music From The Sole has grown to a group of 15 dancers and musicians, touring across the US and abroad. They have received support from the New England Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation, New Music USA, and Dance/ NYC, and recently premiered new works commissioned by Works & Process at the Guggenheim.

As part of its mission to bring tap dance, America's original vernacular dance form, to new audiences, they appear as both a dance company and a band at dance and music venues. Recent credits include appearances at Lincoln Center, Jacob’s Pillow, the Guggenheim Museum, The Yard, Kaatsbaan, Portland Ovations, Caramoor Jazz Festival, Bryant Park, the 92NY, and Tap in Rio. They are 2022-23 resident artists at the 92NY, and partner frequently with organizations like the National Dance Institute and Lincoln Center Education, engaging through dance and music with communities across NYC and beyond.

New York’s own award-winning Dorrance Dance celebrates its SummerStage Central Park debut. Pushing the dynamic range that tap dance has to offer and sharing the complex history and powerful legacy of this Black American art form, the program will feature 45th & 8th. Led by artistic director and MacArthur fellow Michelle Dorrance with original music of “breathtaking vocalist” Aaron Marcellus, join this company of singular artists culminating in a musical and emotional journey that only Marcellus’s soul-stirring live performance could provide!

“With each performance of Dorrance Dance, tap expands.” – The New York Times

SummerStage dance programs curated by and presented in partnership with Works & Process. The creation of 45th & 8th was created, in part, during a residency at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park.