Music from the Sole: Percussive Dancers in Conversation

Leo, Artistic Director of Music from the Sole, in conversation with flamenco, step, hoop, Irish, kathak, and tap dancers.

Leonardo Sandoval

Artistic Director, Choreographer, Dancer, Composer

Brazilian tap dancer and choreographer Leonardo Sandoval has become renowned in the dance world for blending America’s great tap tradition with Brazil’s rich rhythmic and musical heritage. He helped bring tap to a wider audience in Brazil via numerous TV appearances, and by co-founding the Companhia Carioca de Sapateado in Rio de Janeiro. In 2012, he was a finalist on Jennifer Lopez’ Latin America talent search show, Q’Viva – The Chosen, bringing him worldwide exposure.

Now based in New York, he directs Music From The Sole, a 10-member tap and live music company that he founded with composer Gregory Richardson. His choreography has been presented at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Chicago Human Rhythm Project, The Yard, and Battery Dance Festival, among others. He is also a core member of acclaimed company Dorrance Dance, performing across the United States and abroad at venues like the Joyce Theater (NYC), Spoleto Festival (Charleston, SC), Sadler’s Wells (London), the Bolshoï (Moscow), the Hong Kong Arts Festival, and Cologne Opera House (Germany).

A true dancer-musician, Leonardo has toured extensively as a solo artist, including at the National Folk Festival, a rare honor for a tap dancer. The Chicago Sun-Times has described him as “strong yet fine-boned, capable of authority and nuance”, and his choreography has been praised by the New York Times as “rousing” and by the Financial Times as “rigorous and exciting”. He is currently an artist in residence at the National Dance Institute and the American Tap Dance Foundation.

*This is a virtual event-online only