Doors open at 6:00 p.m.
The Jamestown Dance Festival returns to the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts with an extraordinary evening of contemporary performance featuring two of New York City's most exciting and innovative dance companies: Music From The Sole and Sun Kim Dance Theatre.
Headlining the evening is Music From The Sole, the acclaimed tap dance and live music company co-founded by Brazilian choreographer and dancer Leonardo Sandoval and bassist/composer Gregory Richardson. Rooted in tap dance's Afro-diasporic lineage, the company seamlessly blends virtuosic tap, live music, Afro-Brazilian traditions, house dance, passinho, improvisation, and communal energy to create performances that are both electrifying and deeply human. Their work has been presented at major venues and festivals including Jacob's Pillow, The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, Caramoor, and Works & Process at the Guggenheim.
At the Jamestown Dance Festival, Music From The Sole will present excerpts from House Is Open, Going Dark, a major new work exploring rhythm, gathering, and collective experience through an exhilarating fusion of movement and live music. The project is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Works & Process, The Joyce Theater Foundation, The Yard, Guild Hall, Dance Place, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, and the National Performance Network.
Joining them is Sun Kim Dance Theatre, the New York City-based company founded by South Korean-born choreographer and Artistic Director Sun Kim. Known for expanding the possibilities of Popping and street dance within theatrical and contemporary performance, the company creates powerful works that explore identity, migration, belonging, and resilience. Sun Kim Dance Theatre has presented work at venues and festivals including Works & Process, New Victory Theater, NYU Skirball, Symphony Space, the Bronx Museum, and the San Francisco International Hip Hop Dance Festival.
The company will present Alien of Extraordinary, a dance theater work inspired by Kim's experiences navigating the U.S. artist visa system. Through the movement language of popping, street dance, and physical theater, the work examines bureaucracy, immigration, identity, and belonging with equal measures of humor, vulnerability, and humanity. Featuring original music by acclaimed klezmer musician and composer Michael Winograd, Alien of Extraordinary invites audiences into a deeply personal and timely story of resilience and perseverance.
This performance is part of the Jamestown Dance Festival, a five-day celebration of dance, movement, and cultural exchange taking place throughout Jamestown from September 9–13, 2026. Additional festival events include aerial performance by Troy Lingelbach, contemporary and postmodern works by TwinHead Dance, Rik Daniels, and Jim Self, workshops led by featured artists, film screenings, artist talks, and community engagement events.
Founded by Sukanya Burman Dance, the Jamestown Dance Festival was created from a simple belief: that communities of all sizes deserve access to world-class artistic experiences. The festival brings nationally and internationally recognized artists to Western New York while creating opportunities for meaningful dialogue, cultural exchange, education, and community connection through movement. By presenting diverse dance forms and interdisciplinary performance practices alongside local engagement opportunities, JDF seeks to expand perceptions of what dance can be, who it is for, and how it can foster empathy, understanding, and belonging.
This presentation is made possible through the generous support of the New York State Council on the Arts, NYS DanceForce, Arts Services Inc., the Chautauqua Regional Community Foundation, Chautauqua County's Occupancy Tax Program, Live CHQ, and partnerships with the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts, Jamestown Community College, and the Robert H Jackson Center.
Admission requirements subject to change.
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