Music from the Sole

Ao Vivo is Music From The Sole’s new concert-format work. The title, Portuguese for “live” or “in concert”, speaks to what is thrilling about seeing a live band: the immediacy, the energy, and the connection between audience and performers in the room. In Ao Vivo, tap dance is not treated as an accompaniment or a visual layer, but as a central instrument within the band. Dancers and musicians share the stage as one ensemble, moving fluidly between jazz, Afro-Brazilian grooves, house, funk, and other Afro-diasporic musical traditions. The result is a performance that feels part dance show, part music gig, and part communal gathering: a vibrant expression of tap as a living, breathing musical language, and a rare opportunity to experience virtuosic dance with no expectation of the fourth wall.