In this event, decades of tradition, creation, preservation, innovation, and transference of knowledge are on view with West African dance cultural icon Marie Basse-Wiles and her son Ballroom Legend Omari Wiles. A principal with the National Ballet of Senegal from 1973 to 1980, Wiles, after immigrating to America in 1982 founded the Maimouna Keita School of African Dance (MKSAD) in Brooklyn.

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 Omari Wiles has followed in her footsteps while walking to the beat of his own drum, founding his own company Les Ballet Afrik (LBA) and creating AfrikFusion informed by Ball Culture, Vogue, and West African dance. Commissioned by Works & Process to collaborate on a new intergenerational work, Djapo, that brings together MKSAD and LBA and mother and son, we present the start of this new work that is the continuation of a rich dance history.

BRUNO WALTER AUDITORIUM SEATING POLICY | Programs are free and open to all, but registration is requested. Check-in line forms 45 minutes before the advertised start time. Registered guests are given priority check-in 15 to 30 minutes before start time. Five minutes before the advertised start time, all seats are released, regardless of registration, to our patrons in the stand-by line. If you arrive after the program starts, you will be seated at the discretion of our front-of-house staff.

STANDBY LINE | If registration is sold out or has ended, do not fret! We welcome you to come to the Library regardless of registration status and wait in our standby line, which forms 45 minutes before the advertised start time. Five minutes before the program starts, all remaining seats are released. While this is not guaranteed, we will do our best to get you into any of our programs.

Marie Basse-Wiles. Photo: John Dodge