AYODELE CASEL: CHASING MAGIC Comes to American Repertory Theater This Month

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University announced today the creative team and company of artists for the live premiere of Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic. Tickets are on sale for The New York Times Critic's Pick featuring Casel and an ensemble of dancers and musicians and directed by Torya Beard.

Chasing Magic will play at the Loeb Drama Center in Harvard Square September 25 - October 9, 2021. Ticketing information is below.

"A tap dancer and choreographer of extraordinary depth" (The New York Times), trailblazing tap dancer Ayodele Casel captures the spark of connection and creation in Chasing Magic, performed live on stage for the first time since its virtual premiere in spring 2021. "A triumph" (The New Yorker) exploring the magic of tap dance and everyday life, this joyous production celebrates gratitude, friendship, trust, legacy, culture, ancestors, and collaboration.

"My mission is always the same, and that is for people to feel the love that I have," says Casel. "I want to invite people to feel what I feel, and to appreciate it and to recognize it in themselves. If you see joy in me, it's because you have that in your life or you want that in your life. That's the magic that I'm chasing, that I think we're all chasing. We have it in us, and it's worthy of pursuit. It's worthy of acknowledgement. It's worthy of our attention. That our show will be the first in that space since the pandemic closed A.R.T. is so special to me. I know I'm going to feel really grateful to be in a theater with folks, and I hope the audience feels the same exact way."

Casel will be joined on stage by the dancers who performed in the virtual premiere:

• Amanda Castro (West Side Story at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Atlanta Opera, and The Glimmerglass Festival; 2016 champion of "Run the Night" at New York's Highline Ballroom; In the Heights at Geva Theater)
• Naomi Funaki (Chicago's Rhythm World festival; Dorrance Dance Second Company; Caleb Teicher & Company; Music From The Sole)
• John Manzari (Ovation and Helen Hayes Award nominations; Maurice Hines: Tappin' Thru Life Off-Broadway at New World Stages; The Wiz Is 40: A Celebration In Dance and Music in Central Park; and Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies at Lincoln Theater)
• Anthony Morigerato (So You Think You Can Dance, Emmy Award nominee; executive producer and artistic director for AM Dance Productions; Michael Minery's Tapaholics; Stacey Tookey's Still Motion)
• Kurt Csolak - dancer swing (NBC's World of Dance; Joffrey School Miami Tap Intensive; International Tour of Tap Dogs; Dorrance Dance; Caleb Teicher & Co.)

Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic features live musical performances from:

• Vocalist Crystal Monee Hall (Rent and For the Girls on Broadway; Saturday Night Live; If You Breathe EP called "riveting" by Billboard)
• Percussionist Senfu Stoney (Witness Uganda at A.R.T.; performances with Leslie Odom, Jr.)

And at select performances:

• Pianist Arturo O'Farrill (winner of 2016 Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards; Founder of the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance; leader of Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and Arturo O'Farrill Sextet; Virtual Birdland named top Quarantine Concert by The New York Times)
• Pianist Anibal Cruz (recent Berklee College of Music graduate)

Chasing Magic will be performed on the set of Macbeth In Stride, designed by Dan Soule (Drunk Shakespeare Off-Broadway; Othello at Trinity Rep. Lighting design is by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew (ExtraOrdinary at A.R.T.; Gloria: A Life Off-Broadway), and sound design is by Alex Giorgetti (Sound Supervisor and Recording, Mixing, Mastering Engineer for Jack and the Beanstalk at A.R.T.). Temma Richardson serves as the wardrobe stylist (clients include Ayodele Casel and international DJ Ryan Vandal).

Tickets from $25 are available at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org/ChasingMagic. Discounts are available to students and ticket-buyers under age 25, Blue Star families, EBT card holders, seniors, Harvard faculty and staff, and others. More information at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org/PlanYourVisit.

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