Uptown Rhythm Dance Festival Kukai Dantza: Yarin and Naomi Funaki: Ikigai

The Uptown Rhythm Dance Festival returns to Works & Process, co-presented with 92NY and Dormeshia’s Ladies in the Shoe Tap Conference. This program features excerpts from tap dance artist Naomi Funaki’s new work commissioned by Works & Process Ikigai, and a presentation by Kukai Dantza, a company creating contemporary dance rooted in Basque culture.

Kukai Dantza will perform Yarin by Jon Maya and Andrés Marin. Meaning root, encounter, and dialogue, in Yarin we find two men who look from their roots, who explore them as a way to relate to their surroundings. They arrive with their own origin and essence, they present an encounter to us; they dialogue… The dialogue is not always easy, it’s built by listening, respect… Sometimes it brings us together, sometimes it distances us, sometimes it makes us tense… and also embraces us. Yarin presents us with an intercultural encounter, where the dantzari (traditional Basque dancer) Jon Maya and flamenco dancer Andrés Marín, accompanied with live music by Julen Achiary, meet each other on the basis of an honest dialogue, showing their differences and their desire to share through them a common path towards tomorrow.

Recognized as one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2024 and 2025 Jadin Wong Fellow, see a moderated discussion and in-process showing of Ikigai, an evening-length work exploring the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima nuclear disaster through tap dance, live music, and storytelling. Drawing inspiration from her personal experience and that of her family and friends, Funaki reflects on themes of resilience, loss, and connection. The performance is a rhythm-driven exploration of the emotional and cultural impact of one of Japan’s most devastating tragedies. This presentation brings together a diverse cast of tap dancers, movement artists, and vocalists, underscoring tap’s power as a medium for storytelling and cross-cultural dialogue around cultural resilience in the face of catastrophic events.

Founded in 2001 in Errenteria in the Basque country, by dancer and choreographer Jon Maya, Kukai Dantza has developed a distinctive form of contemporary dance rooted in Basque culture. Maya joins a moderated discussion, and company members perform excerpts from works.

Ikigai was commissioned and created, in part, with the support of Works & Process Residency Tino & Rajika Puri Creative Residency and The Joyce Theater Foundation’s Creative Residencies Program made possible by lead funding from TD Charitable Foundation. Additional support provided through residencies at 92NY, CUNY Dance Initiative at Hunter College, Guild Hall of East Hampton, and an Asian American Arts Alliance Jadin Wong Fellowship.

Kukai Dantza is presented in collaboration with the Cervantes Institute and Flamenco Festival, and made possible through an introduction by Guggenheim Bilbao.

Kukai Dantza. Photo: Germán Antón; Ayodele Casel at Works & Process, Guggenheim New York, September 21, 2025. In partnership with Kaatsbaan Cultural Park and featuring Naomi Funaki. Photo: Works & Process/Elyse Mertz