We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leonardo Sandoval a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Leonardo, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I moved to NYC with $500 in my pocket saved from busking in Brazil, and having never been to the city. I just knew it was where I had to be to pursue tap dance as a career. In the end I’m glad I didn’t know much about NYC before getting here, that allowed me to be open to whatever I could find here..

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a Brazilian tap dancer and choreographer. I moved to NYC in 2013 to pursue a career with tap dance- in Brazil there are very few opportunities to make a living from tap, so I knew I had to be here.

Even in NYC, it can be hard to live from tap. After about a year here I joined a dance company, Dorrance Dance, and the company grew a lot. I still dance with them, and through the company I also met the bass player and composer Gregory Richardson, with whom I founded Music From The Sole, a tap dance & live music company. Together, we really lean into the fact that tap dance is both dance and music, and those things are inseparable. That’s reflected in the fact that we share the artistic direction of the company, something that is unique in the structure of tap or even dance companies.

Embracing that kind of collaboration also allows us to draw from both dance and music influences- we’re especially digging into Afro-Brazilian forms like samba, passinho, as well as African-American dance and music, especially house, jazz, funk, soul, and hip hop. I think that has allowed us to reach new audiences for tap, and is the key to the upward trajectory of the company in the last 4-5 years.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’m an immigrant, and I truly don’t think there are much more resilient groups of people than immigrants. Even getting to the US, applying for visas and maintaining visa status, all that demands resilience, as well as a lot of time, money, patience, and mental toughness. These are all resources that I am not using for creative work, it’s just to get me to the point where I am able to start making work.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

For me, making dance and music is about creating connections, either between artists, or with an audience. It’s something to be shared. That seems like the opposite of what NFTs try to do- monetize ownership instead of sharing. For me it’s not what I would want to focus create a sustainable, healthy long-term artistic practice, but to each their own!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.leonardosandoval.com
• Instagram: @leonardoans @musicfromthesole
• Facebook: @leosandovaltap
• Other: www.musicfromthesole.com

Image Credits
Main photo: Noé Kains Additional photos: Titus Ogilvie Laing (1-3) Noé Kains (4-5) Marc Millman (6)