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By Miranda Stuck
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Published on February 3, 2026
Rotunda Dance Party/The MasterZ Ball. Photo: Titus Ogilvie-Laing
Works & Process at the Guggenheim Museum
Works & Process Presents
Choreographic Portrait of Courtney “Balenciaga” Washington
with MasterZ at Work Dance Family and Parsons Dance
Moderator, Executive Director, Works & Process: Duke Dang
Choreographer: Courtney “Balenciaga” Washington
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Friday, January 9, 2026
At the age of ten, choreographer Courtney “Balenciaga” Washington was performing at local block parties—experiences that ignited and fueled her drive to create. Years later, she continues to create dance, cultivate community, and inspire artists and audiences through her choreography. For the fourth year of the Works & Process Underground Uptown Dance Festival at the Guggenheim, Washington joins Works & Process Executive Director Duke Dang for an evening of dance and discussion followed by a celebratory Rotunda Dance Party.
The evening begins in the Peter B. Lewis Theater with a showcase of Washington’s works Fearless, performed by Parsons Dance, and The 24/7 Diner, danced by her company, MasterZ at Work Dance Family. The dialogue between the works allows the audience to better understand Washington’s personal story as a Black trans femme choreographer and her experience as founder of the Kiki House of Juicy Couture and a leader of the House of Balenciaga.
Fearless, which was co-commissioned by Works & Process and Parsons Dance as a part of its Generation NOW Choreographic Fellowship, embodies fearlessness in movement, music, and nature. “Whatever came at me at [any] moment, I always had to keep pushing,” says Washington in response to Dang’s question on her choice for the work’s title. “Living my life as a Black trans woman, I can’t be in fear, because the moment I look fearful, someone’s going to take advantage.” This sentiment holds true as the artists of Parsons Dance whip into view from either side of the stage with daring chaîné turns, glistening in metallic, holographic bodysuits designed by Christine Darch. Blue lights bleed onto the dancers; a strong bass rhythm hits and echoes with punchy lyrics accompanying repetitive drums and snare.
Washington fuses movements derived from Vogue, West African, and modern dance to create a bold and confrontational stylistic flow. During unison moments, her choreography mixes flicking, breaking limbs with fluidity in the dancers’ shoulders and spines. Sharp, sudden lunges and parallel lines are executed with precision and piercing, invitational eye contact with the audience. The dancers’ wrists, hands, hips, and hair whip and turn, complementing the dynamic flow of the high-energy music. The reverb of bass creates an underground, immersive atmosphere, as if the audience has stepped into a vibrant nightclub.
The program closes with Washington’s fifth commission for Works & Process, The 24/7 Diner, which comes from her early imagination as a young child. “I was always creating things, and now from kid to adult, and medium adult, I just use my imagination,” says Washington. “And this is one of the things I made up as a kid.” 24/7 Diner invites the audience into a retro world that feels like a real, running diner—complete with chairs, trays, napkins, and kitchen and taxicab noises—that brings to life an authentic New York experience from Washington’s memory.
The choreographic narrative of 24/7 Diner mirrors the lyrics of “Tom’s Diner,” nonchalantly sung by Suzanne Vega. Yellow lights peek onto the stage as each dancer, consumed by their own tasks, pantomimes wiping tables, talking to customers, and walking around the space. As they continue to create the inner world of the diner, Vega’s simple, unaccompanied voice occasionally repeats or freezes, mixed by DJ Byrell The Great.
At a certain moment, bass enters the building and the sound of glass crashes on stage. The people in the scene swiftly transform from waiters and waitresses into dancers, changing the function and purpose of their movements for the remainder of the work. The loose undulation in their limbs contrasts with intensely structured wrists and arms as they move in and out of positions you might see at an underground Vogue ball. Cycling through melting, freezing, posing, and releasing, it is clear the dancers aren’t just performing the party—they are the party.
The audience witnesses distinct episodes in The 24/7 Diner: the opening of the restaurant, hailing a taxicab in New York City, an electric dance party, interactions between strangers, and dancers switching shifts as they pass off their napkins to each other in animated movement. The time and care poured into the fine tuning of the work is evident in its attention to detail, musical mixing, and sequencing from beginning to end. “This [work] is my baby,” says Washington to Dang.
The evening transitions from the theater’s proscenium space to the museum’s open rotunda for The MasterZ Ball; a high-energy, interactive vogue dance ball with four categories: Face, Runway, Performance, and Dance Off. The audience’s energy buzzes during this transition, as Washington invites everyone—first-timers, dancers, and Works & Process supporters—to an authentic Vogue ball. “I want everyone to participate,” she says. Everyone circles around the panelists and performers as they shout, cheer, and clap in support of Washington. It is more than a dance party; The MasterZ Ball is a celebration of what Washington stands for: celebrating and uplifting queer and trans artists. Not an ounce of fear is in the room—only the liberatory joy and collective power of representation and self-expression.
