New York, NY—December 12, 2022—The 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center’s 2022/23 Mainstage Series continues with Partido, an evening-length work of tap dance, body percussion and live music that explores the convergence of percussive dance with contemporary urban dance and music in the US and Brazil. Developed for Music From The Sole, and initially spurred by Leonardo Sandoval’s experience as an Afro-Brazilian immigrant in the United States, the piece celebrates and highlights the deep connections between Afro-rooted culture in both countries, connecting tap with styles like samba and house dance through shared rhythms and footwork. The performance is in 92NY’s Kaufmann Concert Hall and Thursday, December 22 at 7:30 pm ET and available online for 72 hours starting at noon on Friday, December 23. Tickets are available here.
Music From The Sole’s Artistic Statement
Partido is the synthesis of our artistic relationship: Leonardo lives and breathes Afro-Brazilian rhythm and music, which he has incorporated into his dancing and choreography, to create such a distinctive voice, and Gregory is fluent in a wide range of musical styles, from funk, soul, and rock to house. Working together, and in collaboration with the dancers and musicians, we compose music-driven choreography and movement-driven music, incorporating the percussive dance music to the rest of the instrumentation from the start. The music and movement we make digs into each of our backgrounds and trajectories, and especially into our understanding of tap’s essence as a crossing point for Black dance and music. Partido was our first full piece exploring these themes explicitly. It was first presented as a work in progress at The Yard in 2019, and the current version premiered in November 2021 at Harlem Stage. We hope the work resonates with you the way it has for us as we have developed it!
Credits & Program Information
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 and 2022/23 Harkness Dance Center Artists in Residence Leonardo Sandoval (2022 Vilcek Foundation Prize for Creative Promise) and 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.
Choreography Leonardo Sandoval, with improvisation by the dancers
Music Gregory Richardson, Leonardo Sandoval, José Carlos Cruzata Revé, Noé Kains
Dancers Naomi Funaki, Orlando Hernández, Leonardo Sandoval, Lucas Santana, Gisele Silva, Ana Tomioshi
Band José Carlos Cruzata Revé (saxophone, flute), Josh Davis (drums), Noé Kains (piano, keyboard), Gregory Richardson (bass, guitar)
Lighting Design Kathy Kaufmann
Costume Design Leonardo Sandoval, Noé Kains
Runtime 55-60 minutes (varies due to improvised segments)
Premiere June 22, 2019 at The Yard, Chilmark, MA (work-in-progress)
November 12, 2021 at Harlem Stage, New York, NY
Partido was developed with support from The Yard, where it was presented as a work in progress in 2019, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, CUNY Dance Initiative, City College Center for the Arts, the artist-in-residence program at the American Tap Dance Foundation, and the Artists in Residence Exchange (AiRE) program at the Center for Flamenco Arts. Music commissioned by the Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation.
The Mainstage Series continues
PETER CHU
In Person – Thu, Jan 19, 7:30 pm, from $30 / $10 student
Online – noon Fri, Jan 20 – noon Mon, Jan 23, from $20
Peter Chu, whose storied career as a performing artist, educator and choreographer has received accolades and honors both nationally and internationally, will be creating a brand-new work which will have its world premiere on our Kaufmann Concert Hall stage.
JOHNNIE CRUISE MERCER
Revival 2023: ‘to those who have seed in the ground’
In Person – Thu, Feb 2, 7:30 pm, from $30 / $10 student
Online – noon Fri, Feb 3 – noon Mon, Feb 6, from $20
Choreographer, educator, and producer Johnnie Cruise Mercer brings together two generations of artists with the intention of calling upon (and embodying) collective inner will.
Inspired by William McDowell’s 2016 album, Sounds of Revival, ‘to those who have seed in the ground’ propels itself conceptually from the weight of yesterday, guiding an ensemble of movement artists through a series of meta-physical practices rooted in black spiritual tradition, and movement history.
‘to those who have seed in the ground’ marks Johnnie Cruise Mercer’s third year producing, choreographing, and directing TheREDprojectNYC’s Revival, an annual event curated around communal breath, ephebism, and generational revitalization.
MAURYA KERR / tinypistol
black calls to dark calls to deep underneath
World Premiere
In Person – Thu, Mar 9, 7:30 pm, from $30 / $10 student
Online – noon Fri, Mar 10 – noon Mon, Mar 13, from $20
Maurya Kerr, Bay Area-based choreographer, poet, performer, educator, and the artistic director of tinypistol brings a world premiere to the 92nd Street Y. Much of Maurya’s work—across the disciplines of movement, language, and film—is focused on black and brown people reclaiming their birthright to both wonderment and the quotidian.
FLOCK & ARTISTS
Somewhere Between
New York Premiere
In Person – Thu, Apr 20, 7:30 pm, from $30 / $10 student
Online – noon Fri, Apr 21 – noon Mon, Apr 24, from $20
FLOCK returns to perform again at 92NY after kicking off our inaugural Harkness Mainstage Series in September 2021 for the New York premiere of their brand-new touring show Somewhere Between featuring a cast of world-renowned dance artists.
MALEEK WASHINGTON
In Person – Thu, Jun 8, 7:30 pm, from $30 / $10 student
Online – noon Fri, Jun 9 – noon Mon, Jun 12, from $20
Maleek Washington, a 2021 New York Live Arts Fresh Track grantee, who was also nominated for a Bessie as an “Outstanding Breakout Choreographer” in the same year will be closing out our Mainstage Season by bringing his compelling creative voice to the 92nd Street Y, New York stage for the first time.
92NY Health & Safety Protocols
Proof of COVID-19 vaccination is required for all adults and children ages 5+.
Face masks are highly recommended for everyone age 2+ in performance spaces.
Leonardo Sandoval, Artistic Director & Choreographer
Gregory Richardson, Artistic Director & Composer
Naomi Funaki, Orlando Hernández, Leonardo Sandoval,
Lucas Santana, Gisele Silva, Ana Tomioshi – Dancers
José Carlos Cruzata Revé, Josh Davis, Noé Kains, Gregory Richardson – Band
In Person
Thursday, December 22, 7:30 pm ET
Online
Friday, December 23, 12 pm ET – Monday, December 26, 12 pm ET
