CUNY Dance Initiative to Present Orlando Hernández & THE KNEE-HEART CONNECTION in May 2026
Orlando Hernández & The Knee-Heart Connection present a work-in-progress showing of Part III of Too soon to discover planets, too late to discover islands.
The CUNY Dance Initiative will present a work-in-process showing of Too soon to discover planets, too late to discover islands (Part III) by Orlando Hernández & The Knee-Heart Connection.
The performance is set for May 9, 2026 at 7:30pm at the Hostos Center of the Arts and Culture, 450 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10451. Tickets are free with an RSVP; reserve your seat at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/orlando-hernandez-the-knee-heart-connection-free-event-tickets-1985827163503?aff=oddtdtcreator.
Orlando Hernández & The Knee-Heart Connection present a work-in-progress showing of Part III of Too soon to discover planets, too late to discover islands, an epic dance-theater work. Bringing together tap, live music, masks, and physical theater, Too soon to discover planets... traces the story of an island, the people who arrive there, and the ruptures and reveries that follow. In this newest part, the world explodes into an Afro-Taíno-futurist vision, in which the island becomes a vessel for moving toward other horizons. The showing will be followed by an audience talkback.
Sounds & movements are provided by Keren Abreu, Jackson Clayton, Daniel Fisher-Lochhead, Orlando Hernández, Gregory Richardson, Leonardo Sandoval, Lucas Santana, Isabella Serricella, and Liberty Styles.
Choreography by Orlando Hernández and music direction by Danny Fisher-Lochhead, with music by Fisher-Lochhead, Charles Lloyd, and Behike Marie Nanamaguey Maweiaru.
This work is supported by a CUNY Dance Initiative residency at Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture, and was recently supported by a Works & Process residency at Bridge Street Theatre (NY). Previous iterations have been supported by New York Live Arts, Center for Performance Research, CUNY Dance Initiative at Queens College, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, the JKW Collective Fund, the Changing Times Tap Initiative, The Foundation for Contemporary Art, and the Jacob's Pillow Summer Festival.
The Knee-Heart Connection is a tap dance-theater project led by Orlando Hernández that brings together mask-work, physical theater, original music, research, and improvisation to create unique experiences of rhythm + reflection.
Hernández has presented his work at venues including New York Live Arts, On the Boards, Joe's Pub, the Judson Church, and Jacob's Pillow, and has received grants and residencies from Works & Process, the New England Foundation for the Arts, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Yaddo, CUNY Dance Initiative, Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, and Snug Harbor. He was a Fresh Tracks Artist at New York Live Arts, an Artist-in-Residence at the Center for Performance Research, and is a 2025-2028 Jerome Fellow in Dance.
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