Join us in welcoming the first artists in residence at ArtYard of 2025!
LayeRhythm is a fusion of street dance, live music, and club culture that transcends mainstream boundaries and challenges the status quo. Rooted in the raw energy and creative brilliance of freestyle movements like house dance, lite feet, flexn, breaking, locking, and more, their art defies conventional structures and norms.
LayeRythm is in residence to develop the music aspects of the company so that the musicians can hone how they respond in the moment to the movement of the dancers, recentering the paradigm of dancers listening for the music. With LayeRhythm, the musicians not only follow the dancers, they compose music inspired by the movement of the dancers as they are dancing.
On Saturday, Jan. 11, LayeRhythm will perform a play-based jam session of freestyle live music, dance, and audience interaction that will get you off your feet. They head straight from ArtYard to the Works & Process Underground Uptown Dance Festival to headline the Guggenheim Rotunda.
LayeRhythm, led by Mai Lê Hô, weaves singular improvisations by musicians, dancers, and emcees, with the audience, captivating the young and old, from theater to clubgoers by embodying the continuum of concert and social dance.
“[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).
LayeRhythm’s residency is a partnership between ArtYard and Works & Process’ LaunchPAD program.
