UNDERSCORED acts as a living archive of five generations of New York City club dancers. The feature-length performance component of UNDERSCORED is a multi-generational collaboration with performers ranging in age from 29 to 80.
Celebrating and investigating their connections to the club scene from the 1970s until today, this work features Ephrat Asherie Dance ensemble members and three New York City club legends, Archie Burnett, Brahms “Bravo” LaFortune, and Michele Saunders. Audiences join the company in an exhilarating journey through deeply personal histories, rarely seen archival footage and, of course, decades of dancing through the culturally reflective styles of breaking, hip-hop, house, vogue, waacking, and hustle.
Initially set to premiere in October 2020, no one could have ever imagined that the very thing at the core of this work — the club — would be taken from us. Collaborating and dancing alongside club elders who lived through the crack epidemic, the AIDS crisis, and the globa pandemic is life-affirming beyond belief, their dancing bodies a testament to their resilience and fortitude. The pandemic kept all of us from gathering. Whether on or off the dance floor, UNDERSCORED is a reminder of how essential it is to connect to one another.
Ephrat Asherie Dance is a company rooted in African-American and Latine street and club dances. Dedicated to exploring the inherent complexities of these dances, Ephrat Asherie Dance investigates the expansive narrative qualities of various vernacular forms including breaking, hip-hop, house, and vogue to tell stories, develop innovative imagery, and find new modes of expression.
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“UNDERSCORED” was developed in Works & Process LaunchPAD residencies at Catskill Mountain Foundation (2022), Bridge Street Theatre (2021), Kaatsbaan (2020), and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Additional residency support provided by CUNY Dance Initiative, Lumberyard, and The Yard. Past performances have taken place at Harlem Stage, Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, Lincoln Center, the Guggenheim Museum, The Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts, and The Yard.
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"UNDERSCORED" was made possible by the NEFA’s National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Mellon Foundation. This project is made possible in part by a grant from the APAP - Association of Performing Arts Professionals for a residency at The Jay and Linda Grunin Center, made possible through support from the Mellon Foundation. “UNDERSCORED” is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Works & Process in partnership with ArtPower at UC San Diego, The Momentary and The Yard. The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency).
Photo: Erick Munari