Sunset Wednesdays

PROGRAM
Selections to be announced from the stage

ARTISTS
Osyris Antham, MC
Rodney, Drums
Pete, Bass
Sims, Keys
Wizdom, Dancer
Nyx, Dancer
Stephy Styles, Dancer

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
LayeRhythm Productions, Inc. (LPI) highlights freestyle dance and music voices that are under-recognized in the mainstream performing arts landscape while providing entertainment, building community through play, educating audiences in cultural history, preserving the legacy of street and club dance forms, transforming individuals’ relationship to music and dance, and supporting emotional & social well-being. LayeRhythm is dedicated to risk-taking improvisation and interactive audience engagement through performances and educational events.

"[LayeRhythm is a] brew of partying and performing that unfolds as a series of interactive sessions in which suggestions from the crowd beget songs and steps. Imagine an improv comedy show where dancing, not laughs, is the currency. Then imagine a musicians’ jam session where the band is compelled to keep the dancers’ pace instead of the other way around. [W]hat’s distinct about LayeRhythm is the way it bridges the two groups with crowd participation." (The New York Times)

Since 2015, LayeRhythm, led by Founder/Artistic Director Mai Lê Hô, has offered NYC monthly interactive, improvisational street/club dance and music events at Meridian 23, Nublu, 275ParkBK, as well as performances at venues and festivals such as Jacob’s Pillow (MA), USC Kaufman School of Dance (CA), Bridge Street Theater, 92NY Harkness Dance Center, Harris Theater (IL), Movement Research at Judson Church, Abrons Arts Center, The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, Spiegeltent at Bard College, NYU Skirball, and was presented by Works & Process at the Guggenheim Museum, Lincoln Center, SummerStage, NY Public Library for the Performing Arts, Gibney, The Church (Sag Harbor), and Manhattan West Plaza. LayeRhythm was selected by CUNY Dance Initiative for residencies at Brooklyn College for the Performing Arts (2021-2022) & Baruch College (2023-2024) and was nominated National Dance Institute’s Helen Stambler Neuberger Artist-in-Residence (2022-2023). LayeRhythm has partnered w/ 92NY, Works & Process, Ladies of Hip-Hop, 36 Chambaz of Stylz, Chicago Dancemakers Forum, USC Visions & Voices, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, Hook Arts Media, Queens County Farm Museum, PotaY, Teatro Yerbabruja, Hi-ARTS, Rolling Stone. Its educational and professional development programs have been hosted at/supported by Hunter College, Fordham High School for the Performing Arts, NDI, Ladies of Hip-Hop x Snipes studio and the Brooklyn Arts Council. 

LayeRhythm Productions incorporated as a nonprofit in 2020, and has since received the support of the New York State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, New Music USA, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Dance/NYC, Hinge and Club Culture Foundation. 

Featuring a rotating cast of top-tier local and international street/club dancers, emcees, singers and musicians, the LayeRhythm experimental platform layers extemporaneous collaborations of artists working from a diverse cultural palette: hip hop, funk, soul, house music, and popping, Campbellocking, breaking, waacking/whacking, Detroit jit, Chicago footwork, krump, flexN, voguing, litefeet, house dance styles. 

LayeRhythm has offered a platform to 500+ local and international street/club dancers and musicians (ages 21-60). Artists include African American, Latinx, Asian, LGBTQ+, and immigrant communities. In 125+ presentations, LayeRhythm has served a diverse audience of: patrons of clubs, theaters, parks, festivals (40,000+), and online community (3M+). 

Wave Hill

Ray Oladapo-Johnson, Executive DirectorGabriel de Guzman, Director of Arts & Chief Curator