Watch a Tap Dance That Transcends Time
Gia Kourlas
Dance Critic
Being in the moment is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot in the dance world. But in this improvised solo by the tap dancer Ayodele Casel, having such focus is key.
Set to a duet recorded by the great jazz drummer Max Roach and the pianist Cecil Taylor, Casel created the solo as part of a recent program to celebrate Roach’s centenary.
“The way in is to honor what you’re hearing,” she said.
The full work lasts 26 minutes. In dance speak, that’s long. Here, she shares a minute, shot on the intimate stage of Royal Family in Times Square.
Early on, Casel — tap royalty who is featured on a United States postage stamp — tried choreographing the solo, but that turned out to be impossible.
“It would betray the spirit of the piece and the spirit of who they were,” she said. The result is like the present and the past converging in real time.
Casel doesn’t know the music by heart, but sometimes her dancing syncs up with it in otherworldly ways.
“It’s almost like they’re answering me,” Casel said, “Or I’m answering them.”
She gets tired. She loses her breath. She’s learned to go with it.
“I just lift my leg and wherever it goes, I follow.”
“I don’t judge in any way. That’s a whole other level of freedom.”
Video by Fletcher Wolfe. Produced by Jolie Ruben and Josephine Sedgwick.