Music from the Sole: Tap Dance and the Underground

Leo & Greg, Artistic Directors of Music from the Sole, discuss tap’s lineage to house dance, Brazilian funk (passinho), samba, and street dance with house/vogue/street dance artists.

Leonardo Sandoval
​(choreographer, dancer, artistic director)
​Brazilian tap dancer Leonardo Sandoval has established a reputation in the tap world and beyond for his musicality, and for adding his own Brazilian flavor to tap. An artist-in-residence at the National Dance Institute and the American Tap Dance Foundation, and a core member of Dorrance Dance, he is in demand as a choreographer, dancer, jazz musician, and educator, touring across the United States and abroad. Leo has had his work, including several collaborations with composer Gregory Richardson, presented at venues including the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The Yard, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the National Folk Festival, Battery Dance Festival, and Chicago Human Rhythm Project. A true dancer-musician, Leo’s artistry is rooted in America’s great jazz and tap dance heritage and in Brazil’s rich rhythmic and musical forms, with additional influences from contemporary and urban dances.

Gregory Richardson
​(musical director, artistic director)
​Born to a family of musicians where everyone was expected to play and sing, Gregory Richardson is a composer and multi-instrumentalist and the co-artistic director of Music From The Sole. He is also the co-musical director of Dorrance Dance, with whom he has premiered original compositions at New York City Center on three occasions, most recently in collaboration with Bill Irwin. He has played with the band Darwin Deez at music festivals around the world including Glastonbury, Splendor In The Grass, Summer Sonic, and Donauinselfest.

*This is a virtual event-online only