Works & Process Announces Underground Uptown Dance Festival

Works & Process announces the 2026 Underground Uptown Dance Festival, a festival of commissioned dances January 9-13, 2026.

Gather round the Guggenheim theater and rotunda for one-night-only events bringing together street, social, and club traditions with ballet, contemporary, and modern dance. Continue the conversation with complimentary wine in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed rotunda.

Transcend the proscenium. Embody joy. Build community. Connect audiences and artists along the continuum of spectating and participating. Every project in the festival is supported with fully funded Works & Process creative residencies to support the development of new works and commissions spanning intergenerational connections.

Works & Process Uptown Underground Dance Festival is a proud partner of JanArtsNYC, the annual collection of world-class public performances and innovative industry gatherings taking place throughout the month of January at various NYC venues, presented by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and the APAP|NYC Conference.  

“We are so proud to once again feature Works & Process Uptown Underground Dance Festival as a participant of JanArtsNYC, a collection of best-in-class live performance events taking place this January throughout our beloved city,” said Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment Commissioner, Pat Swinney Kaufman. “For 13 years, JanArtsNYC has helped position January as “Performing Arts Month” in NYC, where the world’s best come annually to premiere a vast unfolding of the newest works in theater, dance, opera, music and performance, centered around the annual APAP|NYC Conference.”

The festival opens on January 9, 2026, at 7 pm, with a choreographic portrait of Courtney “Balenciaga” Washington, a Black trans femme choreographer and ballroom legend who founded MasterZ at Work Dance Family. The program includes a new co-commission premiere with Parsons Dance, celebrated for its athleticism and joy, alongside Washington’s The 24/7 Diner, a fusion of street dance, ballroom, vogue, and hip-hop inspired by chance encounters in New York City diners. Tickets include admission to the Rotunda Dance Party: The MasterZ Ball at 8:30 pm.

Continuing the momentum the following night, on January 10, 2026, at 7 pm, Chrybaby Cozie premieres Chrysolation, a work tracing the origins and evolution of Harlem Lite Feet, a dynamic street dance known for its light, rapid steps that create a sense of weightlessness. The program also features a preview of New Jersey Ballet’s Wings of Desire by Roderick George, an emotionally charged ballet inspired by classical works, exploring love, loss, sensuality, and the human gaze.

Building on these explorations of street and classical traditions, January 11, 2026, at 7 pm, brings excerpts from Adesola Osakalumi’s Akinola, drawing on West African and American traditions to examine identity, legacy, and community through street and urban dance. The evening also features Les Ballet Afrik’s New York Is Burning by Omari Wiles, a vibrant fusion of African dances, Afrobeat, house, and vogue that reflects the aspirations and resilience of the ballroom community, paying homage to the documentary Paris Is Burning.

The festival progresses to deeper thematic inquiries on January 12, 2026, at 7 pm, with Baye & Asa previewing At the Altar by Amadi “Baye” Washington and Sam “Asa” Pratt, an exploration of cultural, religious, and political idolatry and the human struggle for survival. Paire with this, Sun Kim Dance Theatre shares excerpts from Alien of Extraordinary, a dance-theater piece inspired by the U.S. artist visa system and the resilience of immigrant artists, performed through popping. Tickets include admission to the Rotunda Dance Party: Sekou McMiller & Friends’ Palladium Nights with live music at 8 pm.

Closing the festival on January 13, 2026, at 7 pm, the program presents excerpts from Johnny Loves Johann, uniting violinist Johnny Gandelsman’s performance of Bach’s Cello Suites with original choreography by John Heginbotham, Caili Quan, Jamar Roberts, and Melissa Toogood. Rounding out the evening, BOCA TUYA by Omar Román de Jesús offers two compelling works: Los Perros del Barrio Colosal, which examines power dynamics through the lens of street dogs, and Like Those Playground Kids at Midnight, a celebration of individuality and defiance.

Visit https://www.worksandprocess.org/ for tickets and more information.

Photo courtsey Michelle Tabnick PR