Works & Process Brings a Trio of Dance Groups To Welcome the New Year

Experiencing the fruits of an artist’s labor in its final form — be it a painting or performance — is obviously the end-goal of any individual working in a creative discipline. But it could be argued that there is also great value be gleaned from giving the public access to artistic endeavors earlier in the process so that creativity can be witnessed in all its stages — including when a piece is still in formation.

That’s the impetus behind Works & Process, a New York City-based organization founded in 1984 by the late Mary Sharp Cronson with a mission to support performing artists — particularly dancers — throughout the creative process. Cronson served on the boards of many arts organizations during her lifetime, including the Guggenheim Museum, New York City Ballet and New York City Opera, and she created Works & Process in response to her own realization and understanding that audiences can be greatly enriched by being exposed to artistic pieces, not just as an end product, but during the development phase as well. Some 40 years after its founding, Works & Process is going strong and though it partners primarily with the Guggenheim, collaborators include a range of arts organizations across the spectrum.

“I like to say that the Guggenheim is our main squeeze, but we sleep around,” jokes Duke Dang, the executive director of Works & Process. “We go into opera, musical theater and other forms, but I’d say 75 percent of what we support is dance. We have 15 partners in four states with studio access and housing under one roof.

“We’re stitching together this network of organizations supporting creative process,” he continued. “We all understand the concept of farm to table, but not necessarily the concept of studio to stage. The end product is what people see, but we’re letting you in on the secret — the magic is in the process.”

This weekend, that magic comes to the East End in the form of “Dance Out East,” three different dance pieces commissioned by Works & Process at the Guggenheim that are being presented in conjunction with residencies at three different local venues on three consecutive days. The first performance, on Thursday, January 9 at 6 p.m. at The Church, will be “The Scattering” by Emily Coates, followed on Friday, January 10, at 7 p.m. at Guild Hall by Music From The Sole which will present “House Is Open, Going Dark” (working title), and finally “Djapo” a work by Marie Basse Wiles and her son, Omari Wiles which will be performed at The Watermill Center on Saturday, January 11, at 2 p.m.

“It’s always a show and tell format where the artists are sharing the intention. You get to see work as it’s being created. The belief is that’s how you’ll understand it and support it,” Dang said. “Just 24 hours after they share these projects, they will go to a dance event at the Guggenheim to share these projects as part of a major conference of performing arts presenters in New York. It’s held the second week in January, and thousands come to look for works to support, commission and present.”

Though based in New York, the relationships that Works & Process has developed in recent years has expanded the program’s reach to areas beyond the city, and as Dang explained, the collaboration with these three South Fork partners came about largely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We were the first in the pandemic to create bubble residencies where groups could work and create,” he said. “We started in the Hudson Valley and it was working, so we then expanded to Long Island.”

Works & Process brought two of these bubble residency projects to the East End in late 2021 and early 2022 — Isaac Mizrahi’s “Third Bird” and “New York is Burning” by Les Ballet Afrik with Omari Wiles, both of which were developed and presented to the public as part of artist residencies at The Church, a facility that is able to provide both housing and studio space for the dancers.

“During that time, I was introduced to [director] Andrea [Grover] at Guild Hall, which was in the process of developing its residency program, and then that led me to The Watermill Center,” said Dang. “Working with all three organizations with dance we thought, wait, what if we have these residencies simultaneously to cross pollinate with the artists?”

That’s what this weekend and “Dance Out East” is all about. The dancers began arriving on the East End on January 2, and when asked how it was decided which company would be paired with which venue, all three of which have space to house performers, Dang explained that the decision was made with a good deal of thought and insight.

For example, in the case of dancer and choreographer Emily Coates’s new performance “The Scattering,” which will be presented Thursday evening with performer Derek Lucci, The Church was an obvious choice of venues given that her piece uses as its inspiration the life of ballet master George Balanchine. As most Sag Harbor residents are aware, Balanchine is buried in Oakland Cemetery and Eric Fischl’s portrait of the famed choreographer is one of “The Saints of Sag Harbor” that grace the windows at The Church.

“The Scattering” reflects on Balanchine’s life, beginning with his arrival in the U.S. in 1933 and his first stop — Hartford, Connecticut. It draws on archival source material and in addition to being a Works & Process commission, “The Scattering” also had a residency at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford.

“Few people knew this, but Wadsworth sponsored Balanchine’s visa and he spent his first 11 days in America in Hartford,” Dang explained. “But he said, ‘That won’t work. Get me to New York City.’ So this process spans the spot where Balanchine landed in the U.S. to where he’s buried.”

Coming up on Friday evening, Music From The Sole, a tap dance and live music company co-founded by composer/bassist Gregory Richardson and Brazilian tap dancer and choreographer Leonardo Sandoval, will share a preview of its newest work, “House Is Open, Going Dark,” on the Guild Hall stage. The company draws inspiration from tap’s roots in the African diaspora and has had previous residencies at Guild Hall’s William P. Rayner Artist-in-Residence, including in 2023 when the performers developed material for a piece commissioned by The Joyce Theater. In addition, back in August 2022, the company performed outdoors at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton as part of Guild Hall’s remote KidFest programming.

“Works & Process had commissioned Music From the Sole for a piece in 2020 for a residence, so when I was talking to Anthony Madonna at Guild Hall, he talked about Guild Hall presenting work offsite and said ‘I love Music From the Sole,’” Dang recalled. “So we said we’ll work on a new piece at Guild Hall and it will be co-commissioned by Works & Process.”

The final “Dance Out East” performance on Saturday afternoon will be at The Watermill Center and is titled “Djapo,” a dance piece co-created by Marie Basse-Wiles and her son Omari Wiles. While Omari Wiles is founder of Les Ballet Afrik and known as the choreographer behind “CATS: The Jellicle Ball” (a ballroom culture reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber's iconic musical), it turns out that his mother is the founder of the Maimouna Keita School of African Dance (MKSAD) and has trained generations of performers. For “Djapo,” she and Omari are teaming up and bringing together dancers from both their companies to perform at The Watermill Center.

“We’ve presented Bob’s [Wilson’s] work before,” said Dang of The Watermill Center’s founder, “but we had never worked with them in a creative process capacity.”

In brainstorming about who The Watermill Center might like to support with this project, Omari Wiles name came up, soon followed by the realization that his mother was also a dance powerhouse.

“Omari’s a nepo baby. Omari’s mom is West African dance royalty,” Dang said. “We’re like, ‘You come from this?’ He said, ‘I grew up in West African dance. She had a dance school.’ I said, ‘Would you guys like to collaborate on a piece?’ So this is a mother-son collaboration that will weave West African dance with his work.”

While each of the three dance companies is working in residence at a separate venue during their time here, Dang is hoping to find time where they can bond as a group.

“We’ve extended invitations for all the artists to come to each other’s showings and we plan on hosting a pizza party to bring them all together,” Dang said. “It’s a wink to the idea of the New Year. We all have New Year's resolutions, so hey, let’s all get dancing.”

Event tickets for each performance are $25 ($20 members) at danceouteast.org.

“Dance Out East” with Works & Process at the Guggenheim

“The Scattering” by Emily Coates) — Thursday, January 9, 6 p.m. at The Church, 48 Madison Street, Sag Harbor.

Dancer and choreographer Emily Coates’s new performance project sources George Balanchine’s brief history beyond the metropolis to reflect on how the body and spirit of a choreographer scatters, living on in unexpected places, starting with his arrival in America in 1933. Coates draws upon on her background as a former member of New York City Ballet, and working with Ain Gordon (direction and dramaturgy), Derek Lucci (performer), Charles Burnham (musician-composer) and Melvin Chen (pianist), she and her collaborators collage misplaced and overlooked archival traces and transmissions of Balanchine and related artists into a new whole.

“House Is Open, Going Dark” (working title) by Music From The Sole — Friday, January 10, 7 p.m. at Guild Hall, 158 Main Street, East Hampton.

Blurring the line between concert, dance, and music performance, Music From The Sole draws from Afro-Brazilian, jazz, soul, house, rock and Afro-Cuban styles. After multiple residencies through Guild Hall’s William P. Rayner Artists-in-Residence program, the company will share a preview of their newest work, culminating the company’s technical residency at Guild Hall.

“Djapo” by Marie Basse Wiles and Omari Wiles — Saturday, January 11, 2 p.m. at The Watermill Center, 39 Watermill Towd Road, Water Mill.

West African dance cultural icon Marie Basse-Wiles and her son, ballroom icon Omari Wiles bring together dancers from the Maimouna Keita School of African Dance (MKSAD), founded by Basse-Wiles, and Les Ballet Afrik, founded by Wiles. For 32 years MKSAD has brought together the African diaspora in an annual conference and Basse-Wiles has trained generations of renown artists whose impact continues to resonate the world over, including tours to Senegal, Mali, Gambia and Guinea. Her son has followed in her footsteps while walking to the beat of his own drum, creating AfrikFusion informed by Afro Club Culture, Vogue and West African dance.