Mai Lê is a French-Vietnamese street/club dance performer, choreographer, educator, coach, dj, curator, and the Founder and Artistic Director of LayeRhythm Productions INC, a NYC-based non-profit dedicated to highlighting freestyle voices in performance art.
In 2015, Mai Lê founded LayeRhythm, a cutting edge monthly jam session that creatively layers live musicians & vocalists with freestyle dancers. Since 2019, the project has been taking its club roots to the stage with The LayeRhythm Experiment ensemble, co-creating unique performances in partnership with live audiences at 92Y, Jacob's Pillow, Purdue University (online) and offering educational programs for aspiring freestyle artists.
As a core dancer in the pioneering street dance theater company Rennie Harris PureMovement since 2013, and in Passion Fruit Dance Company since 2016, Mai Lê has performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Guggenheim Museum, LA Music Center, Apollo Theater, Dance Place DC, NJPAC, City Center New York, Kimmel Center, and more than 60 additional venues across the USA and abroad. She also toured Europe with seminal Detroit music producer Theo Parrish and his live band in 2014.
In 2021, Mai Lê was selected to be artist-in-residence at Bridge Street Theater, virtual artist-in-residence with Asian American Arts Alliance, and movement curator for Asian Cultural Council’s East West Fest.
From 2017 to 2019, Mai Lê was the Program Director of It’s Showtime NYC! (IST), a City-funded program that celebrates NYC street culture and provides performance and professional development opportunities to street and subway dancers.
As a dance educator, Mai Lê has taught house dance workshops in Brazil, Vietnam, Japan, DRC, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and throughout the US, and has held weekly classes at EXPG NYC for over 5 years.
Contact: maile@layerhythm.org / IG: @mailegrooves
Photo Credit: Lauriane Ogay