At the Altar

Baye & Asa

Part of the Democracy Cycle Festival
Presented by Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) and Civis Foundation

#NYC Premiere, #NYC-Based Artist, #70 Minutes or Less, #In Motion

Photo Description: At the Altar by Baye & Asa at Works & Process’s Underground Uptown Dance Festival on January 12, 2026, at Guggenheim New York,
featuring Amadi “Baye” Washington and Sam “Asa” Pratt. Photo Credit: Works & Process / Elyse Mertz

What do we worship? How do we worship? Who are the righteous, and who are the blasphemers? Through propulsive movement and evocative scenic design, At the Altar reckons with the pitfalls of extreme idolatry and questions the cost of pedestalizing any one person or idea. This powerful new dance work from the acclaimed choreographic team Baye & Asa invites audiences into a world void of absolute truth. It follows the duo in search of deliverance, and interrogates our collective struggle for freedom, survival, and salvation.

A Democracy Cycle world premiere dance commission.

‘At the Altar’ reckons with the pitfalls of extreme idolatry and interrogates our collective struggle for survival and salvation.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Baye & Asa is a company creating movement art projects directed and choreographed by Amadi ‘Baye’ Washington and Sam ‘Asa’ Pratt. They’ve presented their work at The Joyce Theater, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Jacob’s Pillow, Pioneer Works, The Guggenheim Museum, The American Dance Festival and many more arts spaces. They were selected as one of Dance Magazine‘s “25 to Watch” for 2022, are recipients of Dance Magazine’s 2023 Harkness Promise Award and were awarded the 2024 Bessie Award for Outstanding Breakout Choreographer. They have created works for repertory companies including The Martha Graham Dance Company, BODYTRAFFIC and Alvin Ailey II. Their work in international film has won numerous awards. Baye & Asa’s choreography has been featured in collaborations with music and theater artists including Laurie Anderson, Zhailon Levingston, Knud Adams and Dimitry Krymov. Their international film work has won numerous awards.

FUNDING + SUPPORT

Part of The Democracy Cycle Festival 2027. Commissioned and development support provided by The Democracy Cycle, a program of Perelman Performing Arts Center | PAC NYC and Civis Foundation; co-commissioned by ADF/American Dance Festival with support from the Doris Duke/SHS Foundations Award for New Works. Additional development support provided by a residency at The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council as artists-in-residence with the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels; a Works & Process residency at Catskill Mountain Foundation and Works & Process showing at the Guggenheim; Foundation for Contemporary Art; New York State Council on the Arts; The Watermill Center; The Quick Center for the Arts; and Jody and John Arnhold.

VENUE NOTES + ACCESSIBILITY

PAC NYC
6 WTC
251 Fulton Street
Manhattan

R/W to Cortland Street
E to WTC
1 to WTC Cortlandt Street
6 to Fulton Street
PATH train and NJ Ferry are also blocks from the building

Access
Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) strives to make our performances and facilities accessible to all. Our accessibility services are offered free-of-charge. Devices for loan are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis at the Ticketing and Information Desk, located in the lobby entrance. If you have any other questions or concerns, need assistance, or would like to request an accommodation, please contact 212.266.3010 or accessibility@pacnyc.org, or visit https://pacnyc.org/visit/accessibility for more information.