Ballroom LEARN'd

Works & Process Underground Uptown Dance Festival @ Guggenheim Museum

by : Editor February 1, 2023

TENz Co-Founder Sailey Williams had the pleasure of being the moderator for Works & Process Underground Uptown Dance Festival @ Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
As a Ballroom & Nightlife archivist, the goal was to educate audiences about the roots of Vogue + Waacking along with the communities and traditions each dance style represents.

The conversation covered foundational timelines, how Princess Lockerooo & Omari Wiles journey to being leaders in their style, and Cultural Appropriation vs Cultural Appreciation/ Expansion.

Works & Process’s Underground Uptown Dance Festival at the Guggenheim Museum4

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PANEL
Princess Lockerooo & Omari Wiles
Sailey Williams, Moderator, Co-Founder of TENz Magazine

Works & Process’s Underground Uptown Dance Festival at the Guggenheim Museum19

Works & Process’s Underground Uptown Dance Festival at the Guggenheim Museum20

LES BALLET AFRIK

HIGHLIGHTS FROM NEW YORK Is BURNING BY OMARI WILES

House of Oricci founding father and ballroom community legend Omari Wiles brings ballroom to the Guggenheim in New York Is Burning, commissioned by Works & Process. The work features Wiles’s AfrikFusion, which combines traditional African dances and Afrobeat with house dance and vogue.

Wiles developed the Works & Process commission, New York Is Burning for his company, Les Ballet Afrik, in a summer 2020 Works & Process bubble residency at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park. a spring 2021 Works & Process bubble residency at Catskill Mountain Foundation (with support from Mellon and Doris Duke Charitable Foundations), and a January 2022 Works & Process LaunchPAD “Process as Destination” residency at The Church, Sag Harbor in partnership with Guild Hall. Throughout this time, in some of New York State’s first permitted performances during the pandemic, Works & Process coproduced Les Ballet Afrik’s outdoor, filmed, and preview performances at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, Lincoln Center, and the Guggenheim rotunda and the world premiere in the museum’s Peter 8. Lewis Theater on November 5, 2022. The company performed previews at Jacob’s Pillow, New Victory Theater, and SummerStage and most recently was presented at The Joyce Theater.

PRINCESS L0CKEROOO & THE FABULOUS WAACK DANCERS

MUSICAL FIRST LOOK, COMMISSIONED BY WORKS & PROCESS

Waacking made a comeback in the 2000s with a global resurgence, ignited by Brian “Footwork” Green and pioneered by the late Tyrone “The Bone” Proctor and his many students worldwide, including Princess Lockerooo. Waacking was inspired by the sirens of the silver screen, silent films, drag queens, and martial arts. Dedicated to Tyrone “The Bone” Proctor.

Princess Lockerooo’s Works & Process commission was developed in Works & Process LaunchPAD residencies at Bridge Street Theatre (2022) and Watermill Center (2023), and will continue to be developed in a Works & Process LaunchPAD residency at The Pocantico Center (2023). Additional developmental support is provided by Musical Theatre Factory.

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Tags : Cultural Appropriation Underground Uptown Dance Festiva voguing waacking Works & Process