Schenectady, NY - The Dance Department at Skidmore College and the Department of Theatre and Dance at Union College have joined forces to host a two-day residency by Baye & Asa on October 29 and 30, 2025. The guest artists will spend one day teaching students on each campus and there will be two events open to the public. 

The Skidmore Dance Department is excited to be partnering with Union College in bringing Baye & Asa to the Capital Region,” says Jason Ohlberg, Chair of the Department. “This residency promises to be an immersive experience for students as they delve into the thought provoking and engaging work of these incredible artists.” 

Recently awarded a 2025 fellowship in choreography from the New York State Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), Baye & Asa is a company creating movement art projects directed and choreographed by Amadi ‘Baye’ Washington and Sam ‘Asa’ Pratt.  The two grew up together in New York City. Their shared educational history is the mother of their work with Hip Hop and African dance languages as the foundation of their technique and informing the way they confront contemporary dance, theater and film. Baye & Asa were selected as one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" in 2022 and were recipients of that magazine’s Harkness Promise Award the following year. They have been commissioned to create work for the Martha Graham Dance Company, BODYTRAFFIC and Alvin Ailey II. Their films have won numerous awards and been presented internationally.    

Baye & Asa’s work has been performed at The Joyce Theater, Metropolitan Museum of Art, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Pioneer Works, 92nd Street Y, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Jacob’s Pillow, Guggenheim Works & Process, American Dance Festival, Quick Center for the Arts, New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, Yale University, ODC, b12 Berlin Workshop Festival, Florence Dance Festival, Dance Days Chania, University of Maryland, Blacklight Summit, Southampton Arts Center, Bard College, Vassar College and Battery Dance Festival.  This residency will mark Baye & Asa’s first Capital Region appearance. 

"Union students were introduced to Baye & Asa this past April when they witnessed their work Cortège, performed by the Martha Graham Dance Company at the Joyce Theater,” said Laurie Zabele Cawley, Union’s Gustave L. Davis ’59 and Susan S. Davis Director of Dance. "They were transformed by the choreography-the work spoke powerfully to this generation and resonated deeply with everyone in the room.” 

On Wednesday, October 29, Baye & Asa will be at Union College.  They will teach two classes for theatre and dance students and participate in a film screening with discussion.  At Skidmore on Thursday, October 30, the pair will teach three classes as well as engage in dialogue with the institution’s Miranda Fellows, a program intended to create access for students to education and long-term support that helps to advance careers in theater, dance, music and arts administration. 

Offerings open to the public include an Advanced Beginner/Intermediate dance technique class in the Henle Dance Pavilion at Union College on Wednesday, October 29, 2025 from 5pm to 6:30pm. No registration or fees are required for participating.  

On that same day, the second public offering will take place from 7:30 to 8:30pm in Old Chapel on the Union campus.  In collaboration with Union’s Film Studies Program, Baye & Asa’s film Second Seed will be screened.  In this and an ongoing body of work, Pratt and Washington respond choreographically to D.W. Griffith's 1915 silent film The Birth of a Nation based on Thomas Dixon's novel “The Clansman.”  According to the artists, “Second Seed is our collision with this American artifact.” 

The screening will be followed by a discussion with the guest artists. It will be moderated by James A. de Sève, Artist-in-Residence and Co-Director of the Film Studies Program at Union College.  No registration or fees are required for participating.  

Information on the two public offerings can be obtained by calling Union’s Department of Theatre and Dance at (518) 388-7129 or emailing [email protected].