Ticket purchase to this Underground Uptown Dance Festival performance includes admission to the Rotunda Dance Party at 8:30 pm with The Missing Element.

See highlights from two Works & Process commissions by Music From The Sole and Kwikstep and Rokafella, with a discussion moderated by Melanie George Associate Curator of Jacob’s Pillow. 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.

Left: Music From The Sole’s Commission Preview at Works & Process at the Guggenheim on September 30, 2024. Commissioned by Works & Process. Featuring Jennifer Vincent, Lucas Santana, Leonardo Sandoval, Orlando Hernández, Matt Parker, and Brittany DeStefano. Photo: Elyse Mertz; right: Wus Poppin NYC with Kwikstep and Rokafella, in partnership with The Pocantico Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, November 12, 2023. Photo: Diego Quintanar