SEPTEMBER 9-13, 2026
JAMESTOWN DANCE FESTIVAL
The Jamestown Dance Festival (JDF), spearheaded by Sukanya Burman Dance, has quickly emerged as one of the region’s most unique arts experiences, celebrating dance as a global, interdisciplinary, and community-centered art form. Now entering its third year, the festival continues to expand both in scale and ambition, presenting five days of world-class performances, workshops, film screenings, artist talks, and community engagement opportunities across multiple venues throughout Jamestown. This year’s festival features internationally recognized artists and companies working across tap, live music, street dance, aerial arts, contemporary dance, postmodern performance, and interdisciplinary movement practices, highlighted by anchor performances from New York City-based companies Music From The Sole and Sun Kim Dance Theatre at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts on September 11.
The festival continues on September 10 and 13 at Jamestown Community College’s Scharmann Theater with International Lover, the debut solo work by aerial artist and interdisciplinary performer Troy Lingelbach. Through an intimate fusion of aerial arts, dance, burlesque, and physical theater, Lingelbach invites audiences into an autobiographical exploration of identity, vulnerability, and radical queer self-acceptance through breathtaking movement both on and above the stage.
On September 12 at 2:00 PM, Scharmann Theater becomes home to an afternoon of contemporary, postmodern, and interdisciplinary performance featuring TwinHead Dance, Rik Daniels, and Jim Self. Together, these artists bring distinct perspectives spanning contemporary dance, disability-centered performance, postmodern movement practices, and interdisciplinary experimentation. Featuring artists from Buffalo and across New York State, this mixed-bill program highlights both the depth of regional talent and the festival’s commitment to expanding conversations around movement, accessibility, and artistic innovation.
MUSIC FROM THE SOLE
Music From The Sole is a New York City-based tap dance and live music company co-founded by Brazilian choreographer and dancer Leonardo Sandoval and bassist and composer Gregory Richardson. Rooted in tap dance’s Afro-diasporic lineage, the company explores the deep connections between tap, Afro-Brazilian dance and music traditions, and contemporary social forms such as house dance and passinho (Brazilian funk). Through an electrifying fusion of virtuosic movement, live music, improvisation, and communal energy, Music From The Sole creates work that celebrates rhythm, cultural exchange, and human connection. The company has presented work nationally and internationally at venues and festivals including Jacob’s Pillow, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, and Caramoor, while continuing to expand the possibilities of tap dance and live performance.
House is Open, Going Dark - Music from the Sole
Alien of Extraordinary - Sun Kim Dance Theater
International Lover - Trailer - Troy Lingelbach (1080p, h264)
9-7-25 JDF - Les Ballet Afrik - Erie News Now
Presenting House Is Open, Going Dark, Music From The Sole invites audiences into a vibrant exploration of gathering, rhythm, and collective experience. This new work, 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 NPN, transforms the stage into a living, breathing social space. Performed by an ensemble of dancers and musicians, House Is Open, Going Dark blurs the boundaries between performance and party, drawing from club culture, Afro-diasporic traditions, and social dance practices to invite audiences into a celebration of movement, music, and community.
For more information about MFTS: musicfromthesole.com
SUN KIM DANCE THEATER
Sun Kim Dance Theatre is a New York City-based dance company founded by choreographer and Artistic Director Sun Kim, dedicated to expanding the possibilities of Popping and street dance within theatrical and contemporary performance contexts. Rooted in storytelling and physical theater, the company creates work that amplifies diverse voices while exploring themes of identity, migration, belonging, and resilience. Founded by South Korean-born artist Sun Kim, whose career spans concert dance, commercial performance, and international street dance competition, the company has presented work at venues and festivals including Works & Process, New Victory Theater, NYU Skirball, San Francisco International Hip Hop Dance Festival, Symphony Space, and the Bronx Museum, while continuing to create platforms that elevate immigrant artists and street dance communities.
Presenting Alien of Extraordinary, Sun Kim Dance Theatre invites audiences into a dance theater work born from the labyrinth of the U.S. artist visa system, a process that often flattens human stories into paperwork and reduces lives to documentation. Choreographed by Sun Kim and inspired by her own experiences navigating the O-1 “Alien of Extraordinary Ability” visa process, the work uses the movement language of popping and street dance to examine migration, identity, bureaucracy, and belonging. Performed by a cast of eight dancers and featuring original music by klezmer musician and composer Michael Winograd, Alien of Extraordinary is an invitation to witness the immigrant artist’s journey in all its fragility, humor, resilience, and humanity, creating space for empathy, imagination, and shared understanding.
For more information about SKDT: sunkimdancetheatre.com
TROY LINGELBACH
Troy Lingelbach is an aerial artist and interdisciplinary performer whose work blends movement, aerial technique, and theatrical performance to create immersive and visually striking experiences. Working across dance, aerial arts, and physical theater, their practice explores movement in vertical space through technically rigorous, emotionally resonant performance. Alongside performance, Troy’s work emphasizes education and community engagement, expanding access to aerial arts and inviting broader audiences into the creative process. Presenting International Lover, Lingelbach’s debut solo work, audiences are invited into an autobiographical odyssey between an artist and their trapeze. Through a boldly vulnerable fusion of aerial arts, dance, performance art, and burlesque, Troy explores themes of identity, vulnerability, and radical queer self-acceptance in a work that is both intimate and awe-inspiring.
For more information about Troy: troylingelbach.com
Jim Self
Self is a choreographer, performer, and educator whose dance career spans more than five decades across postmodern dance, performance, and experimental movement practice. He began dancing with the Chicago Dance Troupe in 1972 and later joined the Merce Cunningham Dance Company after moving to New York City in 1976. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Self became a distinctive voice in postmodern dance, founding Jim Self and Dancers, performing and choreographing with Robert Wilson / Byrd Hoffman School for Byrds, and earning a 1985 Bessie Award for his collaboration with Frank Moore on BEEHIVE. His work has been commissioned and presented by major institutions including Jacob’s Pillow, American Dance Festival, Boston Ballet, Rome Opera Ballet, Dance Theater Workshop, Sundance Institute/Ballet West, Cornell University, the Whitney Museum, and Tate Museum London.
For more information about Jim: jimboself.com
RIK DANIELS
Rik Daniels is a dancer, movement artist, and disability advocate whose work spans contemporary dance, interdisciplinary performance, and inclusive movement practices. A former seven-time NCAA All-American gymnast, Daniels transitioned into dance and performance as a means of exploring embodiment, accessibility, and representation through movement. His work has included collaborations with choreographers and artists across contemporary dance, wheelchair ballroom, postmodern performance, and community-based projects, including work with Jim Self and New York State DanceForce initiatives. As a company member with disability-inclusive performance organizations and an artist working across dance, theater, and circus disciplines, Daniels has become recognized for expanding conversations around who dance is for and what movement can look like on stage.
For more information about Rik: rikdanielsperformer.com
TWINHEAD DANCE
TwinHead Dance is a Buffalo-based two-person contemporary dance company founded in 2024 by performance artists Michaela “M” Neild and Nancy Hughes, created in response to a lack of infrastructure supporting contemporary dance in Buffalo. The company is dedicated to uplifting and sustaining contemporary dance in the region and has already presented original work across New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. Neild and Hughes bring a shared background in contemporary performance, site-responsive work, and collaborative dance-making, with credits that include performances at venues such as the Burchfield Penney Art Center and broader projects within Buffalo’s contemporary dance ecosystem. Their work appears rooted in movement invention, intimacy, and a commitment to building visibility for contemporary dance in Western New York.
For more information about Twinhead Dance: michaelaneild.com/twinheaddance
Workshops
DATES & TIMES BE ANNOUNCED SOON
Sun Kim Dance Theatre – Popping Workshop (Wed, Sept 9)
Music From The Sole – Tap & Rhythm Workshop (Thurs, Sept 10)
Troy Lingelbach – Acro / Movement Workshop (Sat, Sept 12)
TwinHead Dance – Contact Improvisation Workshop (Sun, Sept 13)
Schedule of Events
Sun Kim Dance Theater & Music From the Sole - September 11 @ 7pm (Reg Lenna)
Troy Lingelbach - September 10 at 7pm and September 13 @ 2pm (Scharmann Theater)
Jim Self, Rik Daniels, and Twinhead Dance - September 12 @ 2pm - (Scharmann Theater)
What others have been saying about the Jamestown Dance Festival...
“WOW! I left feeling empowered, entertained, uplifted... and proud. Proud that an event like this is in Jamestown...” -Suzanne F.
“Mesmerizing, captivating, exciting, interesting, and fun! I felt invigorated afterwards... I’m so glad I went!”
-J.G.
“Very much enjoyed it! never attended anything like it before... extremely impressed with not only the physical talent of the dancers, but also the storytelling and the use of sound, light, and music to complement and enhance the experience.”
-Zach A.
“Loved the variety and the way that they each played on the theme of Indian classical but brought different experiences of the genre. I had no idea what to expect coming in, since my own experience with dance is so limited, but I was blown away by the evocative, immersive creativity on display.”
-Noah G.
“Sukanya is a gifted curator, looking at dance through a filter of classical Indian dance, illuminating connections that are otherwise invisible, in Jamestown New York! Are you kidding?! just keep going!”
-Lois W.
“Enjoyed the narration during the Sukanya Burman dance performances. Sandip Mallick had incredible footwork and left me in awe. Soles of Duende was beautiful, joyful, and powerful.”
-Kristin W.
“I left thinking after Barkha Patel’s Performance was just what my soul needed and was thirsting for. Bringing the spirit and artistic level to stage was perfect.”
-Rebecca Y.
JDF remains committed to pay equity in the arts, accessibility, and affordability, ensuring that artists and audiences alike can engage with dance in a meaningful and inclusive way. With a continued focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, the festival proudly highlights artists of color, a wide range of cultural dance forms, and a growing geographic footprint, solidifying its role as a catalyst for artistic exchange and community enrichment.
Jamestown Dance Festival this year would not be possible without the generous support of our community, regional and state partners
