“My task is to change the viewer’s perspective and the way you experience tap dance,” Ayodele Casel, a picky dancer and choreographer, told Observer. “Every show I do is an opportunity to achieve that.” We are discussing the world premiere Mix, This is open tomorrow (May 28) at the Joyce Theatre until June 8. “It’s cold,” she said. “It has the feeling of a living room, a lounge, a club. We have dancers on the stage. We have sofas on the stage. It’s like Nuyorican Poets Cafe Cafe meets Smalls Jazz Club meets Joe’s Pubs’ bar, and meets Joyce.”
Part of Casel’s desire to change is expecting Tap Dance to be entertained or to just move “fast and stylish”. She hopes more people understand that this type has been complicated and expresses depth. “Historically, we’ve seen, in the beauty of soft shoes. We’ve seen, in the performance of the Nicholas Brothers, the coolness, elegant style of Sammy Davis, Jr., and the hip authenticity of Gregory Hines.”
MixFounded with her wife and creative collaborator Torya Beard, Casel is rooted in history, but in a recent period. It highlights Casel’s two decades of repertoire, while paying homage to the music, movement and cultural spirit of the 1990s. The 1990s were important to Kassel for two reasons: This was the era of the Renaissance of the United States, and was largely a popular musical by Savion Glover ( Bring ‘da noise, Bring ‘da funk (1995), and the beginning of her career as a tap dancer.
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Casel was born and raised in the Bronx (spent a few years in Puerto Rico) and did not grow up to take formal dance classes, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to be a Janet Jackson dancer. “I was in my rhythm everywhere,” she smiled. “With my friends, alone in my living room.” She also watched Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’ movies since childhood, enthusiastically “fake” their footwork in front of the bedroom mirror.
Casel took her first class while studying drama at Nyu Tisch School of Art and experienced “the sheer fun of pretending I was ginger for a year.” But that was when she met her classmate Baakari Wilder (” Real Tap Dancer”) Casel sees what Tap can do and become. Bring ‘da noise, Bring ‘da funk In the 1995 public theater, she learned that the history of tap came from her ancestors, rooted in the “black soul and feet”, which she could do.
Casel is committed to this percussion art form that changes rapidly before her eyes. She “showed everything and practiced like a madman.” She begged a construction worker to get an extra 4×4 wood and dragged it to Union Square and to 5 trains so she could practice at home. She danced in the music she was listening to at the time, “as young black people in the Bronx and human women in Puerto Ricans” – mostly hip-hop and R&B.
In 1997, Glover discovered his own tap after performing at Nuyorican Poets Cafe on the Lower East Side and was impressed. He invites her to visit with his new company, not your regular tappers, as well as Jason Samuels Smith and Abron Glover. As she said, this is the best education she has received.
Casel felt nostalgic for the era of her life, when she would dig out tits and the planets that could split feet because it felt good on her body and feet, when she spent most of her time practicing and learning with her friends. Beard said, “Okay, maybe we should have a show on this.” So they did.
Mix It is a 90-minute show choreographed by Casel and directed by Beard Audrey (2005), Where we live (2021), Funny girl (2022), Push/pull (2022) and The Diary of the Tap Dancer (2024), and new work by guest choreographers Naomi Funaki and Caleb Teicher, Quynn L. Johnson and Ryan K. Johnson. The result is a celebration of Kassel’s career, and it’s also brand new.
The ensemble consists of nine top contest tap artists (including Kassel), poet (Tony McPherson), freestyle artist (Sub aka eka elijah bullard) and two musicians (percussion and bass Raul Reyes on Keisel Jiménez). Liberty Styles will DJ with DJ and Dance, while Tap Artist Alexander has created a new music score inspired by 90s music, against Queen Latifah, a tribe called Quest, and the Fugees woven throughout the process.
Casel has worked with all the artists who she describes as “missing links” for many years, so it’s easy to create a show that celebrates community, friendship and collaboration to bring to everyone. “During this time, in 2025, everyone can use the vibration of joy as everything is happening in the world,” Kassel said. “It’s something I want people to feel when they sit down and join our living room.”
She also hopes that the audience will have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the art form of their life. “The faucets are constantly evolving,” she explained. “So when you come to meet us, you have to go beyond the sounds you expect to see and or hear. These are world-class artists. They’re investigating. So stay with us. Travel with us. Keep opening up.” You may change.
Ayodele Casel’s Mix May 28-June 8 at the Joyce Theater in New York City.
