An artist with pretty cool rhythmic tendencies...

Ayodele Casel, a Doris Duke Artist in the dance category, is an award-winning and critically acclaimed tap dancer and choreographer. Born in The Bronx and raised in Puerto Rico, her practice centers highly narrative works rooted in expressions of selfhood, culture and legacy.

Her projects include her concert and Bessie Award-winning film “Chasing Magic,” her one-woman show “While I Have the Floor,” and her theatrical and film series “Diary of a Tap Dancer.” She serves as a tap choreographer for the Broadway revival of “Funny Girl,” which garnered her a 2022 Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Choreography.

Casel was a 2019-2020 fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, an artist-in-residence at Harvard University, and is the recipient of a United States Artist Fellowship, Herb Alpert Award and Hoofer and Flo-Bert award. In 2021, Casel was depicted on a U.S. Postal Service Forever Stamp celebrating tap dance.

Ayodele Casel on Finding Her Voice and Bringing the Joy

In this episode, tap dancer Ayodele Casel discusses the roots of tap dance, the female tappers who inspire her, and how she became one of today's top tap dancers.

SPEAKING IN DANCE | Ayodele Casel

Speaking in Dance | “I am always concerned with being honest, musical, playful and obeying the moment,” said the tap dancer and choreographer Ayodele Casel. “And whether that be chill or whether it’s energetic, it’s whatever that moment is.” For “Rooted,” which explores the history of #tap, @ayolives and the musician Arturo O’Farrill have teamed up with @nycitycenter and @NYCParks for City Center On the Move, a program to engage new audiences. Here, she performs with @luke_hickey_ and Andre Imanishi at St. Mary’s Recreation Center in the #Bronx. “Rooted,” continuing this weekend in Manhattan and on Staten Island, carries a message. “Tap dancing was born out of African people being oppressed and silenced and having their power, their joy, their rhythm — their drums — taken away,” Ayodele told the #nytimes writer @giadk. “Out of that oppression, they found this glorious way of moving and communicating and making sound, and that will never get old to me. My work is rooted in that — always and forever.” @angelo_vasta made this video for #SpeakingInDance, our weekly Wednesday series exploring the world of #dance.

BeLatina

Meet Ayodele Casel: Dance Warrior, Activist, Nuyorican, and All-Around Badass

PBS NYC-ARTS PROFILE: AYODELE CASEL

A profile of Ayodele Casel, one of today’s most dynamic tap dancers and a passionate advocate for her art form.

Ayodele Casel leads the inaugural New York City Center On The Move!

naugural tour of City Center On the Move will immerse communities in world-class dance through a series of free performances and interactive classes featuring Bronx-born choreographer, teacher, and tap artist Ayodele Casel. A frequent City Center collaborator (¡Adelante, Cuba!, Really Rosie, Fall for Dance)and a 2017 recipient of the “Hoofer Award,” Casel will be joined by two dancers and two musicians for an exciting presentation. In order to share Casel’s singular style with the broadest possible cross-section of New Yorkers, City Center has partnered with the NYC Parks Department to select five tour stops (one in each borough) from among their 36 recreation centers. Join us for one or all five!

Speaking In Dance

@ayolives, a #tapdancer of unquestionable radiance, brought out her portable board and set the sidewalk on fire near her home in the Bronx, performing a phrase that she once improvised in a performance. “I decided to learn it,” she said, “and keep it in the pocket.” Ayodele, who is having her moment, performs as part of the Tap City festival on Friday at @jazzdotorg. She’s also the choreographer for “Really Rosie,” a Maurice Sendak and Carole King musical that @nycitycenter’s Encores! is staging in August. And back in June, she performed to sold-out crowds @spoletofestivalusa in her show “While I Have the Floor.” In it, Ayodele, who grew up obsessed with Ginger Rogers and went on to dance with @the_savionglover, pays homage to female tappers. “They did it under circumstances of, I’m sure, extreme sexism and lack of opportunity and lord knows what else — racism,” she told the @nytimes writer @giadk. “I know what it takes to become somewhat decent at tap dancing — it’s time. It’s hours and hours. They showed up.” And so does Ayodele. @dylancoulter made this video for #SpeakingInDance, our weekly series exploring the world of #dance. In the background here: work by @nickwalker_art.

Broadway World

WAITING FOR GODOT shines at Spoleto, but surprisingly, the best one-woman show comes from tap dancer Ayodele Casel.

The New York Times

Ayodele Casel put on her silver tap shoes and stepped onto a small wooden platform in her home in the South Bronx. Brushing aside waves of long dark hair, she took a deep breath and began moving her arms forward with increasing speed, as if readying for takeoff. Ms. Casel, a 5-foot-1 bundle of defiant energy with the body fat of a piece of lettuce, was soon speaking in what she calls her “other language,” delivering a rousing, rapid-fire series of rat-a-tat taps with her feet that seemed to ricochet off the walls.

Ayodele Casel performance at Broadway for Hillary Fundraiser

"Tap dancer extraordinaire Ayodele Casel gave a powerful performance, complete with a voiceover detailing the challenges she’s had to overcome as a woman working in a man’s world..."

Jordan Roth Set Star-Studded Broadway Fundraiser for Hillary Clinton

The show, “Stronger Together,” features Chelsea Clinton as a special guest and Billy Crystal as host, appearing alongside familiar faces including Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Emily Blunt, Anne Hathaway, Josh Groban, Angela Bassett, Neil Patrick Harris, Helen Mirren, Sienna Miller, Bernadette Peters, Cynthia Erivo, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Sarah Jones, Andrea McArdle and Ayodele Casel. Organizers of the evening promise new duets and collaborations.

"While I Have The Floor" - The New York Times

The program's brightest spot was Ayodele Casel's tribute to women in tap, ... But Ms. Casel's generous spirit filled the theater as she continued...

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