Season 1, Episode 4 — Ayodele Casel and Torya Beard

Talking about tap—and so much more—we’re joined in the studio by Ayodele Casel, award-winning tap dancer, actor, and choreographer of the Broadway revival of Funny Girl, and her longtime collaborator and creative partner, Torya Beard, director and arts leader.

Ayodele and Torya first came to the ArtLab in 2019 as artists-in-residence and have since served as advisors to its continued growth and vision. They return to Harvard for the premiere of their latest work, Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic, presented at the American Repertory Theater.

Beyond the stage, both women are shaping the future of the arts through leadership and advocacy. Torya serves as Executive Director of A Broader Way, a youth leadership organization dedicated to amplifying the power of women and femmes through the arts.

Join ArtLab Director Bree Edwards and co-host Kristian Hardy, a Harvard College sophomore, as they uncover how tap dance has shaped Ayodele and Torya’s worlds—and how they use rhythm, artistry, and community to inspire change.

Link to Ayodele’s residency page on ArtLab website: https://artlab.harvard.edu/Ayodele-Casel

New York Times Review of Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/arts/dance/review-ayodele-casel-chasing-magic.html

Link to purchase tickets: https://www.joyce.org/ayodele-casel-chasing-magic

Link to Torya’s biography: https://americanrepertorytheater.org/bio/torya-beard/

Link to A Broaderway Foundation: https://abroaderway.org/

Link to Kristian Hardy’s biography: https://artlab.harvard.edu/people/kristian-hardy

Works in Progress is recorded and produced in the Mead Production Lab, located on the traditional territory of the Massachusetts people, the original inhabitants of what is now known as Boston and Cambridge. The show is hosted by Bree Edwards and Kristian Hardy, engineered by Kat Nakaji, edited by Jemma Byrne, and produced by the ArtLab at Harvard University with help from Thinkubator Media. Theme music by Kicktracks and Gvidon.

For more information about the show, the ArtLab, and the artists featured, visit artlab.harvard.edu. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram by searching ArtLab at Harvard.

Thanks for joining us for Works in Progress. We hope these conversations give you a glimpse into the creativity, collaboration, and experimentation happening at ArtLab. To learn more, visit artlab.harvard.edu.

The podcast is recorded in the Mead Production Lab at the ArtLab in Boston, Massachusetts.

Hosted by Bree Edwards
Audio by Luke Damroch
Production by Kat Nakaji
Research by Sadie Trichler & Ria Cuéllar-Koh

Design by James Blue & Sonia Ralston