Mission

Samaw Dance is a community-rooted dance organization that celebrates and uplifts BIPOC and queer artists through performance, education, and collaboration. We activate and cultivate communities through dance, creating spaces where artists feel seen, valued, and inspired to grow. Through projects like Resonance, Diffraction, and DCL Arts Collective, we center joy, authenticity, and cultural connection as tools for collective empowerment and artistic excellence.

Company Bio

Samaw Dance Company is a Brooklyn-based performance company led by choreographer and director David Cartahena Lee. The company creates work that uplifts AAPI+ and queer experiences through street and club dance forms alongside contemporary and jazz practices, grounded in cultural accountability and community care. Resonance grew out of David's NYU Production Lab fellowship and is entering its third year in 2026 after runs at We Are Here Brooklyn in 2024 and 2025, supported by Brooklyn Arts Council in 2025 and 2026. Samaw Dance also produces Diffraction Dance Festival, returning for its second year in 2026 after launching at The Tank in 2025. Work has been presented at Dixon Place, Arts On Site, The Tank, 3 Dollar Bill, the Frederick Loewe Theater, Dance Parade, and the Guggenheim Museum.

Past Supporters

Funders

  • Brooklyn Arts Council (MAP Fund grants, 2025 and 2026, supporting Resonance)

  • Howard Gilman Foundation (regrants)

  • NYU Production Lab (fellowship that gave rise to Resonance and DCL Arts Collective)

  • Full Circle Souljahs (organizational donations, Bronx-based hip hop nonprofit)

In-kind brand partners

  • Lunar

  • Sanzo

  • Yobo Spirits

Community partners (Resonance, cumulative across years)

  • APICHA (Project Connect)

  • Barkada NYC

  • AZN Baddies Club

  • BuHAYin

  • Create by Tobi

  • Chi Chi's

  • Christian Banez

  • DJ Pillow Princess

Fiscal sponsor

  • The Field, since 2024, through its Social Justice Cohort

Past Projects

Samaw Dance operates as a cultural ecosystem with four branches. They support one another without a defined hierarchy.

Samaw Dance Company — the performance ensemble, presenting repertory and original work rooted in contemporary, jazz, and street and club dance forms.

Resonance — the flagship immersive production, pairing a night market pre-show with a full dance performance exploring AAPI+ and queer identity. Grew from 150 audience members in 2024 to 250 in 2025 (+67%), with the 2026 run at Roulette Intermedium targeting 300 to 450 across three shows.

Diffraction Dance Festival — an AAPI+ dance festival platform, one of the few AAPI-led, AAPI-centered dance festivals in NYC. Year one (2025) brought 24 choreographers and about 180 audience members to The Tank; year two (2026) featured 16 artists at Mark Morris Dance Center on May 31.

DCL Arts Collective — the adult training collective, offering accessible dance education in street and club styles. Over 50 dancers across three seasons, with 12 dance films produced.