‘The Remix’ brings ’90s hip-hop nostalgia to Spoleto

The familiar boom-bap of Craig Mack’s 1994 single “Flava in Ya Ear” sends pure nostalgia through tap dancer Ayodele Casel. She follows the pulsating baseline with her feet. Tapping left to right, toe to heel, and once again, she is back where it all started.

Tap dancer Ayodele Casel and co-creator and director Torya Beard will present The Remix, a tap ode to ‘90s hip-hop and R&B, at Spoleto Festival USA. The 90-minute show breaks the mold of a traditional tap performance.

“Tap dancers are musicians,” Casel said. “I want people to walk away thinking, ‘This is so much more than I thought it would be,’ and to really understand that artistry is not always contained in one facet.”

The Remix mashes up Casel’s journey with American tap dancing, focusing on its interwoven history with the golden age of hip-hop and R&B. It’s a continuous storyline, complemented with a live emcee and poetry performance.

The production will run June 4-7 at the College of Charleston Sottile Theatre during Spoleto Festival USA.

The show won’t only focus on tap. Body percussion will have a moment, as well as soft shoe tap and ‘sand dancing’ — tap’s cousin with more slides and shuffles.

Alongside her wife, Beard, and a stacked ensemble, Casel will revisit pieces from her decades-long repertoire as well as newer works across more than eight routines.

“It holds tap history, it holds hip hop history and it holds my own personal history,” Casel said.

Casel’s tap career began in 1995 just as a new era of tap emerged. Savion Glover revolutionized the dance genre by fusing tap’s percussive roots with the polyrhythmic beats of hip-hop and rap. Casel embraced this style by practicing her steps to artists like The Fugees and neo-soul icon Lauryn Hill’s solo album.

Now 31 years into her career, Casel said The Remix taught her how to appreciate her youth and the fulfillment she’s experiencing now.

“What I’ve learned is that I’m on the right path, and I’ve been on the right path the whole time,” Casel said.

The Remix is an extension of the collaborative relationship between Beard and Casel. The couple started working together in 2016. They married in 1997. The pair handpicked a group of friends, dancers and musicians with whom they have worked over the years to create a company of “brilliant artists,” Beard said.

“I have learned that as we create work, as we come together to make things, what we’re actually doing is pouring part of our life force, part of our spirit into what we’re doing and doing it together,” she explained. “We are actually not just making work, but we are creating a culture of being together, a culture of belonging.”

Casel and Beard tapped Liberty Styles, a New York City-based dancer, DJ and electronic music performer, to take part in “The Remix.” Styles opens the show with a live DJ performance featuring special guest performers. The live mix is meant to “set the vibe” of “The Remix” — casual, interactive and reminiscent. Styles also contributed sound design and composition to the show.

Tap and hip-hop both share a backbone built on innovation. They both focus on sampling, snippets and remixing — taking a piece of music or a tap move and altering it to create a new collage, Styles explained.

“When you listen to music of the ‘90s, it’s all so funky and syncopated,” Styles said.

The cast, including Styles, bonded over their own appreciation for ‘90s hip-hop during rehearsals in New York. Some older cast members would chime in with their favorites, while others would try to recall lyrics from songs their parents introduced them to. Together, the cast will present The Remix for what Casel and Beard intended — a true reflection of collaboration rooted in individualistic experiences.

Casel’s Black and Puerto Rican identities shine through the taps and twirls and stomps of The Remix. She spent her life growing up in both the Bronx and Puerto Rico. For Casel, allowing her culture to find a place in her work is second nature.

“Even before I put on tap shoes, or endeavor to make art, I’m very clear about who I am,” Casel said. “The things that I create are always an extension, naturally of that.”

Casel and Beard are no strangers to a Spoleto lineup. They showcased a solo performance at the festival in 2015, and presented “Chasing Magic” in 2023. The Remix debuted in 2025 in New York City and will be performed for only the second time at Spoleto Festival USA.

The show won’t only focus on tap. Body percussion will have a moment, as well as soft shoe tap and sand dancing — tap’s cousin with more slides and shuffles.

In addition to the hip-hop of her youth, Casel celebrates the 20th anniversary of “Audrey” in The Remix, a piece teeming with the gracefulness of Audrey Hepburn herself. Casel will also perform works choreographed and composed by Naomi Funaki, Caleb Teicher, Quynn Johnson and Ryan Johnson.

Funaki, an assistant choreographer and tap dancer, will perform a soft-shoe acapella duet with Casel. “Little Things” has a gentler sound, appreciating the softer side of ‘90s music, Funaki said.

Developing the show helped Funaki experience more of American ‘90s culture as a 1997 baby born in Japan. Being a part of this cast, and working under the “power couple” of Casel and Beard is a dream for her. Funaki last came to Spoleto with them in 2023 for “Chasing Magic.”

“I’m just so happy to be dancing with my friends,” Funaki said. “How the show starts, it’s a party, it’s a lounge, and we’re not acting.”

The Remix also features musical compositions by Keisel Jimenez and Raul Reyes, with electronic music contributions by Styles and Jared Alexander. This marks Casel and Beard’s first time working with a scenic designer to create a stage that Style said feels like your living room.

That vibe is intentional, Casel said.

“It’s a hang. You want to feel part of the hang.”

IF YOU WANT TO GO:

The Remix will be showcased from Thursday, June 4, to Sunday, June 7, at the College of Charleston Sottile Theatre. Tickets start at $48.

Showtimes: