USC Visions and Voices presents The Los Angeles Premiere of Ephrat Asherie Dance’s UNDERSCORED

Join Ephrat Asherie Dance for a joyful, decades-spanning celebration of New York City’s underground dance club scene with pioneers of waacking, voguing, house, and more, followed by a dance party!

Visions and Voices, USC’s arts and humanities program, is thrilled to present the Los Angeles premiere of Ephrat Asherie Dance’s UNDERSCORED, also part of the Fall 2023 Season of Works & Process Commissions on Tour. The show will be held on Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 7 pm at USC’s Bovard Auditorium, 3551 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089. Admission is free. Reservations required here.

UNDERSCORED is a multi-faceted project rooted in the intergenerational club life stories and memories of five generations of NYC underground dancers. With a cast ranging in age from 28– 80, UNDERSCORED is created and performed by members of Ephrat Asherie Dance, featuring special guest artists from New York City’s underground dance community––club legends Archie Burnett, Brahms “Bravo” LaFortune, and Michele Saunders. Commissioned by Works & Process through the LaunchPAD residency program, UNDERSCORED is now going on tour.

“It is an honor to be sharing the dance floor with . . . legendary club heads who have inspired countless dancers, artists, and free thinkers across the globe,” says company founder and artistic director Ephrat Asherie.

UNDERSCORED celebrates and investigates the performers’ personal histories and connections to the NYC club scene from the 1970s––at seminal parties like the Loft and the Paradise Garage––through today, incorporating rarely seen archival video footage; a vast musical score including funk, disco, and house; and decades of dancing through the culturally reflective styles of breaking, hip hop, house, vogue, waacking, and hustle.

This exhilarating, multimedia journey through the ever-changing physical and musical landscape of New York City’s underground dance community furthers the acclaimed company’s ongoing exploration of vernacular forms of dance as a means to tell stories, develop innovative imagery, and find new modes of expression.

Asherie shares, “The underground dance community in NYC represents the beauty and strength that emerges when the collective consciousness celebrates each individual as their own special creation. This community inspired me to live my life as an artist; for this I am forever grateful.”

UNDERSCORED will open with a conversation with local dancers exploring the street and club dance scene of Los Angeles and will be followed by an on-stage dance party with the artists and audience alike.

Ephrat Asherie Dance (EAD) is a New York City–based dance company rooted in African American and Latine street and club dances. Dedicated to exploring the inherent complexities of these dances, EAD investigates the expansive narrative qualities of various vernacular forms including breaking, hip hop, house and vogue, as a means to tell stories, develop innovative imagery, and find new modes of expression. EAD’s first evening-length work, A Single Ride, earned two Bessie nominations in 2013 for Outstanding Emerging Choreographer and Outstanding Sound Design. EAD has been presented nationally and internationally at theaters and festivals including The Joyce Theater (NYC, NY), El Festival Internacional Cervantino (Guanajuato, Mexico), Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (Becket,MA) Works & Process at the Guggenheim (NYC, NY, FiraTarrega (Tarrega, Spain), The Modlin Center (Richmond, VA) and New York City Center, among others.

Visit www.ephratasheriedance.com to learn more.