Lafotographeuse interviewing Little Shao & William K on stage during New Dance Media Panel @ Notorious IBE Festival (2012)
Class critique after Sketching with Street Dancers Volume 2 @ High 2 Art School Program/Queens Council on the Arts (2021)
Big Tara @ the Museum of Graffiti (Bond St & Broadway) tour stop during the inaugural 2nd Birthplace walking tour (2023)
Wildkard and Mr. Ocean being interviewed by Mickela Mallozzi in the South Bronx (2021)
Audience during the Love Underground program at NYP Library for the Performing Arts (2023)
Kinetic Resistance: Street Dance as Protest virtual panelists' pre-meeting (2020)
Installation view of The Other 8 Hours photo exhibit @ Harriet's Alter Ego (2008)
Group photo after Club Etiquette workshop (2023)
Show& Prove panel @ Black Portraiture{s} II: Imaging the Black Body and Re-staging Histories at Villa La Pietra, NYU Florence campus (2015) (L-R) Dr. Imani Johnson, Chicava Tate, Dr. Naomi Bragin, Fritz Zamy & Lafotographeuse
Louis Kee moderating Love Underground: The Culture of House Music at NYP Library for the Performing Arts cafe (2023)
Vic Wu presenting his photo series during the 1st Show & Prove Hip Hop Studies Conference @ NYU (2010)
Club Culture Foundation emergency grant recipient, LayeRhythm's 1st event after the pandemic shutdown (2021)
Kut The Rug Institute (KTRi) is a consulting practice that archives, presents, and celebrates Street Dances indigenous to NYC.
We work with artists, creative collectives, collectors, donors, start ups, cultural institutions, non-profits and small business owners.
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Kut The Rug Institute works with performing + visual artists, culture bearers, philanthropists and nonprofits focused on Street Dance to set goals; forecast industry trends & shifts; identify and rectify business, management and administrative challenges that manifest as obstacles to growth.
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Kut The Rug Institute accepts commissions from artists, non profits, galleries, universities, museums, municipalities, school districts and scholarly journals to conceive, curate, project manage and/or administer interdisciplinary projects.
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Kut The Rug Institute collaborates and contracts with universities, k-12 educators, historical societies and news organizations to organize & present accurate and nuanced history and contemporary trends around Street Dance forms, practitioners, communities and cultures that are indigenous to New York City.
HOW DID WE START THIS WORK?
KUT THE RUG INSTITUTE was inspired by a 15 year conversation around the history, culture, politics and practice of Street & Club Dances on the world stage. KTRi has been operating informally since 2008. In 2019, our collective was formalized when Marc “Silky”Robinson described our work as Kut The Rug Institute.
WHAT DO WE DO?
We create, produce, curate & present visual/performing art, conversations, workshops, interactive programs to expand the how the public considers and encounters Club & Street Dances.
WHY DO WE DO THIS WORK?
Street and Club Dances are highly visible as they are featured throughout media, advertising and on concert dance stages but are severely under-researched and under-discussed outside of niche scholarly publications or practitioner circles. KTRi aims to bridge this gap by bringing Street and Club Dance conversations to the forefront of public attention via educational programing and public arts initiatives.
