Artist Talk: EVIDENCE & MasterZ at Work

A generous and candid conversation between festival choreographers Courtney “Balenciaga” Washington (MasterZ at Work), and Ronald K. Brown and Arcell Cabuag (EVIDENCE), facilitated by choreographer Souleymane Badolo (Assistant Professor of Dance, Bard College) around their artistic lineages, dance influences, and daily inspirations. Free and open for everyone to enjoy.

Stay after the event for a reception including light refreshments in the Lobby Gallery. In partnership with Dancers Responding to AIDS and O+ Festival.

About the Artists:

• Ronald K. Brown: Raised in Brooklyn, Ronald K. Brown is the recipient of the Martha Hill Mid-Career Achievement Award (2024), American Dance Guild Lifetime Achievement Award (2024), and a Dance Teacher Award of Distinction (2024). Other awards include the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award (2020), Dance Magazine Award (2018), and Samuel H. Scripps/ADF Award (2018). Brown received an AUDELCO Award for choreography in Regina Taylor’s play Crowns, two Black Theater Alliance Awards, and the Fred & Adele Astaire Award for Outstanding Choreography for the Tony Award-winning Porgy and Bess (adapted by Suzan Lori Parks). He is Co-Artistic Director of The Billie Holiday Theatre’s Youth Arts Academy and a member of Stage Directors & Choreographers Society. Brown has set works on Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Jennifer Muller/The Works, among others, and has collaborated with many composers and choreographers.

• Arcell Cabuag: A first-generation Filipino-American from San Jose, California. In New York City, he attended the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, met Ronald K. Brown, joined EVIDENCE as their first apprentice and later became a company member, and has served as its Associate Artistic Director since 2004. Cabuag has danced with Camille A. Brown, Mekeda Thomas, appeared in Rock the House (Paramount Pictures), The Shoji Tabuchi Show (Branson, MO), The King and I (Richard Rodgers Centennial Production), and has been seen on Law & Order: SVU and in a Codorniu Cava commercial for Spanish television. He has assisted Brown in creating repertory for Philadanco Dance Company, MUNTU Drum and Dance Company, TU Dance, Ballet Hispánico, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and Cuba’s Malpaso Dance Company, and served as associate choreographer for Porgy and Bess. Cabuag is a 2004 New York Dance and Performance Bessie Award winner for EVIDENCE and received the Dance Teacher Award of Distinction alongside Brown in 2024.

• Souleymane “Solo” Badolo: A Bessie Award-winning choreographer, performer, and Assistant Professor of Dance at Bard College, celebrated for fusing traditional African and contemporary dance vocabularies. Born in Burkina Faso, he founded Kongo Ba Téria in 1993. Badolo has worked with Burkina Faso’s Salia ni Seydou, French choreographers Elsa Wolliaston and Mathilde Monnier, and the National Ballet of Burkina Faso. His collaborators include Nora Chipaumire, Ralph Lemon, Reggie Wilson, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (Urban Bush Women). His work is featured in the documentary Movement (R)evolution Africa and Film Nora. He has been commissioned by Danspace Project, NYLA, Harlem Stage, BAM, Jacob’s Pillow, Adzido Dance Company, Philadanco, and Ballet National of Burkina Faso. His research into African dance traditions is supported by NYLA’s Suitcase Fund, and with Creative Capital he is developing “the science of ancestors,” a technique rooted in the symbolic sign language of geomancy African divination.

• Courtney “Balenciaga” Washington: A Black trans femme choreographer, performer, and creative director of MasterZ at Work Dance Family. Washington is a legend in the ballroom community, founder of the Kiki House of Juicy Couture, and leader of the House of Balenciaga. She is recognized for fusing street dance, street jazz, ballroom, and hip-hop into vibrant, high-energy performances. As a queer teen in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, she found refuge in dance and formed the Pretty Kitties crew, which evolved into MasterZ at Work. The company engages communities through rehearsals in public parks and outreach events, promoting inclusivity and accessibility in underserved neighborhoods. With support from Works & Process, the company has performed at the Guggenheim, SummerStage, Jacob’s Pillow, and Lincoln Center. Washington’s work uplifts the legacy of ballroom and street dance.