Works & Process at the Guggenheim Presents New York Is Burning performed by Les Ballet Afrik

New York Is Burning by Omari Wiles, performed by Les Ballet Afrik
May 4 at 6pm and 8pm

Since its release in 1990, the documentary Paris Is Burning has received critical acclaim for its depiction of the New York drag ball scene and of voguing as a powerful expression of personal pride in the face of racism, homophobia, and the stigma of the AIDS crisis. To honor the film’s thirtieth anniversary, Works & Process commissioned Omari Wiles, founding father of the House of Oricci and a legend within the ballroom community, to produce New York Is Burning. With its premiere at the Guggenheim postponed due to the pandemic, the project was supported with a summer 2020 Works & Process bubble residency at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, where Wiles continued to develop the commission for his company, Les Ballet Afrik. That residency culminated in a filmed performance at Lincoln Center, serving as an affirmation of love, acceptance, and joy.

Just as Paris Is Burning did for New York in 1980s, New York Is Burning reflects the aspirations, desires, and yearnings of a diverse group of dancers in a city beset by health, race, and financial crises. Wiles’s new work centers on the dancers for whom the dance company serves as a surrogate family including Kya Azeen, Eva Bust A’ Move, Algin Ford-Sterling, Alora Martinez, Shireen Rahimi, Milerka Rodriguez, Kameron N. Saunders, Karma Stylz, and Yuki Sukezane. In preparation for its official premiere, New York Is Burning will receive a second bubble residency. When it premieres, the piece will bring ballroom to the Guggenheim in a work featuring Wiles’s AfrikFusion, a style that combines traditional African dances and Afrobeat with house dance and vogue. The development of this Works & Process commission will be continued in a bubble residency at Catskill Mountain Foundation.

Works & Process has championed new work and the creative process while seeking to tell stories that often weren’t told, which is why they are so proud to be working with Omari and Les Ballet Afrik and sharing their journey. “The events of this past year make it even more clear that as we emerge from the pandemic we need to start shaping what representation looks like, cause things just cannot go back to the way they were.”

Get Tickets Here  | May 4 at 6pm and 8pm

• New York Is Burning by Omari Wiles, performed by Les Ballet Afrik – May 4
• The Jazz Continuum with LaTasha Barnes – May 19 
• Unveiling by Sonya Hashem Tayeh, with music by Moses Sumney – June 1
• UnderScored by Ephrat Asherie Dance, in collaboration with New York City’s club legends – June 2
• Rose: You Are Who You Eat by John Jarboe of The Bearded Ladies Cabaret – June 20