Dance Out East: Djapo by Marie Basse Wiles and Omari Wiles

The Watermill Center with Works & Process at the Guggenheim

West African dance cultural icon Marie Basse-Wiles and her son, Ballroom Icon Omari Wiles (CATS: The Jellicle Ball) co-create Djapo bringing together dancers from the Maimouna Keita School of African Dance (MKSAD), founded by Basse-Wiles, and Les Ballet Afrik, founded by Wiles. For 32 years MKSAD has brought together the African diaspora in an annual conference and Basse-Wiles has trained generations of renown artists whose impact continues to resonate the world over, including tours to Senegal, Mali, Gambia, and Guinea. Her son Omari Wiles has followed in her footsteps while walking to the beat of his own drum, creating AfrikFusion informed by Afro Club Culture, Vogue, and West African dance. See excerpts from this new work that is the continuation of a rich dance history.

Kick off the New Year with dance and be the first to see new performances commissioned by Works & Process on Long Island’s East End at The Church in Sag Harbor, Guild Hall of East Hampton, and The Watermill Center. The inaugural Dance Out East culminates week-long creative residencies, provides unique insight into the process and preparation of new choreographed works that will sequence into the Works & Process Underground Uptown Dance Festival at the Guggenheim Museum days later.

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