Rhythmic Arts Center NYC

Oooo do we have a treat for you. Next Monday, June 22 at 7p, the fabulous Veronica Simpson Veronica Simpson is stepping into the RAC Community Spotlight with an intermediate/advanced tap class. IMHO, she’s one of the most killing dancers in the city, and an exceptionally clear, effective communicator and teacher, so if you don’t know her GET INTO IT THIS IS YOUR CHANCE

Veronica Simpson is a Canadian tap dancer and theatre performer based in NYC. Some of her performance credits include projects with Dorrance Dance, Lisa La Touche, New York Theatre Company’s Machinal, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Veronica is also a co-founder of Boys’ Club Tap Dance Collective; a women-run collective dedicated to celebrating women in tap dance and jazz music. Boys’ Club has been featured at Dormeshia’s Ladies in the Shoe Conference (NYC), as guest artists and faculty at tanzhaus nrw’s Tap Ahead Festival (Germany), and at PASIC’s New Music and Research Day (Indianapolis).

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Sounds pretty snazzy right? Book online through our website to get a discounted same-day rehearsal rate.

We wanted to make a special highlight post for our Wednesday weekly programming. It’s so exciting to have and joining us each Wednesday to teach Sabar drum and dance classes, a traditional Senegalese percussive form. The impact of this rhythmically rooted music and dance can even be felt informing many modern/younger musical forms (like tap dance!). Come to expand your practice at the RAC with these legendary tradition-bearers.

We’re excited to announce our schedule of regular weekly classes, effective this coming Monday, June 8. Classes range in experience level from Absolute Beginner to Advanced – there’s something here for everyone!

We offer single class drop-ins, 4-class and 10-class packages (expires after one month), and a monthly subscription for unlimited classes. Visit our website at the link in our bio to book and learn more.

We’ve also got a fire lineup of pop-up workshops, Community Spotlight classes, special events, ceremonies, jams, Time Share of course, and more so keep your eye out as we’ll be sharing those everywhere.

Let’s train 💪 see you on the wood

So excited to have at the house 🏡 next week Wednesday June 10 7:30-9:30PM for Acting and rhythm: Through a sonic performance, a workshop that explores the connection between the body, the rhythm, the art of listening, and stage creation. Sign up now link in bio ✨🔗 limited space available

Acting and rhythm: Through a sonic performance
Wednesday June 10
7:30-9:30PM
$20

This workshop explores the connection between the body, the rhythm, the art of listening, and stage creation. While practicing acting exercises, improvisation games, rhythmic dynamics, body percussion, and sound explorations, participants will develop a conscious physical presence and an expressive capacity grounded in listening and the musical capacities the body can achieve.

Designed for: Actors, performers, musicians, tap dancers, performing arts students, creatives, theater enthusiasts, and basically any person interested in sound, acting and body explorations.

María Kemp is a Mexican actress, tap dancer, and body percussionist. A graduate of the Centro Universitario de Teatro at UNAM, her artistic practice explores the bond between acting, rhythm, movement, and sound.
She has worked with renowned theatre directors both in Mexico and worldwide, and has performed in Turkey, Spain,Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Morocco, Egypt, and the United States. Her work has been recognized with awards including Best Actress at the Cairo International Monodrama Festival, Best Physical Theatre Award at the United Solo Festival Off-Broadway in New York for The World Is a Carnivorous Plant and the ACPT Award for Sound Design with Django in Pain.

Tomorrow Saturday May 26 ✨Time Share✨7pm at the house 🏡 with 🥁 This is a showcase, a jam, and a gathering rooted in rhythm and community. Join us for an evening of performance, experimentation, and exchange featuring NYC tap dancers, educators, and choreographers alongside electronic musicians, underground bands, and contemporary movement artists.

The night honors tap dance’s deep lineage while making space for new voices—improvisation, composition, and cross-disciplinary exploration are all welcome here. Come as you are. Bring what you’re working on, what you’re curious about, or what you’ve been holding close.

This month’s Time Share will be led by multi-faceted artist and musician, Daniel Persaud! Based in NYC, Daniel has studied Jazz performance both at CCNY and Queens College, and currently holds a master’s degree that he puts to work teaching music all around the city. As a multi-instrumentalist, Daniel plays the drum set for jazz and R&B, piano in a Jamaican Pentecostal church, congas with the Cuban Rumberos and Salseros of NYC, and dances and drums West African rhythms of Senegal, Mali and Guinea. Using his colorful Guyanese heritage as the spring board to present the story of the diaspora through rhythm, he is eager to share his vibrant story with the world!

As the evening unfolds, the space opens into a shared floor and jam. Bring your shoes, instrument, poetry, movement, sound, comedy, or improvised offerings. We’ll meet on a sprung wood floor, surrounded by dancers, percussive instruments, synths, and a room built for listening, risk-taking, and collective groove.

This is a space for artists to gather, experiment, and be witnessed—without pressure, without hierarchy, and in rhythm with one another.

‘s Foundations of Rhythm: Drumming 101 class has been growing last month! Join him every Monday ( as sub) 6:00-7:00PM, sign up link in bio 🔗✨

Learn to drum from the inside out with Julliard graduate and seasoned NYC freelance percussionist, Jeremy Smith. This is not just about learning an instrument - it is about connecting with rhythm as a universal principle that underlies all music and movement. You will learn essential drumming patterns, get into collective grooves, and discover how rhythm functions as a medium for musical communication and meaningful human connection. All levels and drumming styles are welcome. You can choose from our variety of instruments provided by RAC or bring your own.

Excited to announce that and will be performing at ✨’s choreography to Oscar Peterson’s take on “It Happened In Monterey” tonight May 1st at our performance fundraiser Rhythm & Renewal 7-9pm. No rsvp required 🔗 just donate to our link in bio ✨

We will also be showing works and performances by and drum class

As a community-centered arts space, RAC is built through collective support. If this work resonates with you, we invite you to consider making a contribution or joining our recurring donation circle.

Thanks to and team, tax-deductible contributions made through our fiscal sponsor  directly sustain our mission.

If just 500 people commit to $5 a month, we can cover our monthly rent and continue providing accessible space for artists, classes, rehearsals, and cultural programming in East Harlem.

Your generosity supports operational stability including rent, utilities, and equipment upkeep; essential staff including our Founder, Co-Directors, and Front Desk/Administrative Coordinator; marketing staff/expenses, community programming, outreach, artist residencies; and ongoing studio improvements and educational initiatives that promote cultural exchange and inclusion.

Every donation—large or small—helps ensure this vision thrives: a space where art, spirituality, and community pulse together in rhythm.