Selected Reviews
The Joyce Theater has rarely felt as electric.
[...]
There is a skillful blurring, too, in Sandoval’s melding of movement traditions, an approach that accents tap’s African diasporic roots, teasing out Afro-Brazilian connections in particular. Flashes of samba, house, Lindy Hop and Orisha dances (which honor Yoruba deities) punctuate a steady stream of percussive footwork, a blending reflected in the soulful layers of Richardson’s original music, composed with Sandoval and the band.
January 31, 2024 - Siobhan Burke, The New York Times
Review: Music From the Sole Brings a Party to the Joyce Theater
[...]
There is a skillful blurring, too, in Sandoval’s melding of movement traditions, an approach that accents tap’s African diasporic roots, teasing out Afro-Brazilian connections in particular. Flashes of samba, house, Lindy Hop and Orisha dances (which honor Yoruba deities) punctuate a steady stream of percussive footwork, a blending reflected in the soulful layers of Richardson’s original music, composed with Sandoval and the band.
January 31, 2024 - Siobhan Burke, The New York Times
Review: Music From the Sole Brings a Party to the Joyce Theater
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Leonardo Sandoval—a poet in tap shoes—produced an especially lovely, swinging dance to Glass’s Étude #13.
December 12, 2023 - Marina Harss, Cultured Magazine Van Cleef & Arpels’s Dance Reflections Festival Brought International Gems and a Burst of Energy to New York’s Performance Scene |
A choreographic revelation.
December 1, 2023 - Brian Seibert, The New York Times Review: Dancing With Glass at the Joyce Theater |
An unforced crowd-pleaser, original and true to itself... Fall for Dance at its finest.
Sandoval, who is from Brazil and works in New York City, describes Music from the Sole as exploring “tap dance’s Afro-diasporic roots and lineage to a wide range of Black dance and music,” citing jazz, samba, house and passinho (Brazilian funk). In “I Didn’t Come to Stay,” these influences seamlessly intertwine, showing the artists’ easy command of their wide palette.
This sense of togetherness and collective joy extended throughout the work.
September 25, 2022 - Siobhan Burke, The New York Times
Fall for Dance Review
Sandoval, who is from Brazil and works in New York City, describes Music from the Sole as exploring “tap dance’s Afro-diasporic roots and lineage to a wide range of Black dance and music,” citing jazz, samba, house and passinho (Brazilian funk). In “I Didn’t Come to Stay,” these influences seamlessly intertwine, showing the artists’ easy command of their wide palette.
This sense of togetherness and collective joy extended throughout the work.
September 25, 2022 - Siobhan Burke, The New York Times
Fall for Dance Review
"Leonardo Sandoval, accompanied by the bassist Greg Richardson, used his body as an instrument, contrasting soft taps of his feet with gentle slaps on his thighs and chest as he made his way to a wooden platform on the stage. His footwork was hushed — an articulate, musical whisper — as he somehow managed to convey the idea that he was gliding just above his feet."
August 3, 2020 - Gia Kourlas, The New York Times
Review: What Is It Like to Watch Live Dance Again? Amazing
August 3, 2020 - Gia Kourlas, The New York Times
Review: What Is It Like to Watch Live Dance Again? Amazing
"The endless inventiveness and inclusiveness of tap has been one of the big stories of the dance world in recent decades. Each tap choreographer and company leader brings his or her own approach. Now Leonardo Sandoval, born in Brazil and steeped in Brazilian musical traditions such as samba and passinho, has added his easygoing, fluid dancing style to the tap conversation."
November 2021 - Marina Harss, The New Yorker
November 2021 - Marina Harss, The New Yorker
"Even better was “Partido,” by the Brazilian-born Leonardo Sandoval. This, too, was an original composition (by Mr. Sandoval and Gregory Richardson), played by live musicians. It, too, made musical sense, switching between an accumulating polyrhythmic groove and a contrastive section of light, quick mystery. Mr. Sandoval and his five dancers shared a loose athletic grace."
"I only wish there had been more of Mr. Sandoval."
July 12, 2019 - Brian Seibert, The New York Times
Review: ATDF's Rhythm in Motion
"I only wish there had been more of Mr. Sandoval."
July 12, 2019 - Brian Seibert, The New York Times
Review: ATDF's Rhythm in Motion
I do remember the beauty of Leonardo Sandoval’s tap solo, accompanied by Gregory Richardson on double bass. The two entered a friendly conversation, their voices replaced by tapping feet, claps, snaps and pizzicato strings. It was bliss.
December 24, 2020 - Marina Harss, Dance Tabs
Some Memorable Performances in a Dreadful Year – New York
December 24, 2020 - Marina Harss, Dance Tabs
Some Memorable Performances in a Dreadful Year – New York
A marvelous feast of rhythm, both visual and aural.
November 21, 2021 - Susanna Sloat, Dance Tabs
Review: Partido at Harlem Stage
November 21, 2021 - Susanna Sloat, Dance Tabs
Review: Partido at Harlem Stage
Speaking of rhythm, tap dancer Leonardo Sandoval’s feet became a potent percussion instrument for “David Danced Before the Lord With All His Might.” Sandoval’s dance was its own joyful noise unto the Lord with artistry as impressive as his stamina.
January 23 2022 - Matthew J. Palm, The Orlando Sentinel
Audra McDonald, revived Duke Ellington make history in Steinmetz Hall
'Mr. Sandoval, arriving next as if blown in from the wings, had a more spontaneous aura of thinking on his feet as he riffed off the bassist Greg Richardson’s Afro-Brazilian sounds, played live. This smooth solo and the rousing group piece that followed were excerpts from his new show, “Music From the Sole,” created with Mr. Richardson. When will New York get to see the whole thing?'
April 24, 2015 - Siobhan Burke, The New York Times
Review: 'Rhythm in Motion' lets new tap ring out
April 24, 2015 - Siobhan Burke, The New York Times
Review: 'Rhythm in Motion' lets new tap ring out
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'Clara, “a misunderstood girl,” is played a man: Leonardo Sandoval, who’s both winningly girlish and able to bust out a killer tap break'
December 18, 2019 - Brian Seibert, The New York Times Review: A 'Nutcracker' Taps and Swings |
'Leonardo Sandoval is a wonder'
December 18, 2019 - Ivy Lin, Bachtrack Review: Dorrance Dance's Nutcracker Suite a toe-tapping treat at the Joyce |
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'In a duet with Byron Tittle, Brazilian émigré Leo Sandoval conceived beats as mathematically rigorous and exciting in their elaboration as the early Steve Reich phasic music to which the dancing was bound.'
July 13, 2018 - Apollinaire Scherr, The Financial Times Tap City Sampler, Symphony Space, New York - a genre in great shape |
'A thoroughbred on video, Sandoval is strong yet fine-boned, capable of authority and nuance'
July 26, 2013 - Laura Molzahn, Chicago Sun-Times Tapmeisters unite at CHRP's jubilant "JUBA!" |
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'[Sandoval's] work goes both to Brian Seibert’s notion of hybridity, and to Michelle Dorrance’s reaching toward a synthesis of tap traditions.'
August 15, 2016 - Carolyn & Eli Newberger, The Berkshire Edge Review: Tap Dance heaven at Jacob's Pillow with Dorrance Dance '... Leonardo Sandoval's Partido, with its intricate Brazilian beats and textures ...
April 4, 2017 - Brian Seibert, The New York Times Review: 'Abundant tap talent [...]' 'Leonardo Sandoval is [...] laid-back and affable, and marked by a kind of grace'
April 29, 2016 - Marina Harss, Dance Tabs Review: Dorrance Dance - ETM: Double Down |
'The most adventurous use of music this evening, however, is a number set to Steve Reich’s subtle and obsessive “Piano Phase,” with a computer standing in for one of the pianos. Noe Kains is the pianist. Leo Sandoval, who choreographed the piece, dances with Byron Tittle, mirroring and opposing each other, tapping in and out of synch and filling gaps in the rhythm with a sudden, darting leap or a bend to touch the floor. Their performance is a tour de force. Reich’s music seems a natural t for tap — why haven’t I heard them together before?'
July 17, 2018 - Robert Johnson, Dance Enthusiast Magazine Review of Phase at Symphony Space 'No cookie-cutter corps here. There's [...] Leonardo Sandoval’s intricate “in the pocket” rhythmic footwork [...]'
April 14, 2018 - Janet Smith, The Georgia Straight (Vancouver, Canada) Review: Dorrance Dance takes tap in exhilarating new directions at DanceHouse |
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'Dancers Christopher Broughton, Elizabeth Burke, Leonardo Sandoval, and Byron Tittle each demonstrate an impressive precision and dynamic range with their solo parts and among the ensemble.'
February 9, 2019 - Cheryl Callon, TheaterJones.com Review: Heel the Beat 'The smoothest tapper from Brazil'
June 9, 2018 - Wendy Perron, Dance Magazine Rhythm in Motion is the Ultimate celebration of Tap in New York City |
'Especially memorable [was] a tender duet by Leonardo Sandoval and Byron Tittle'
December 4, 2015 - Nancy G. Heller, The Philadelphia Inquirer Review: Dorrance Dance taps in during Philadelphia debut |
TV/ Interviews
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Video: Students get sneak peek at Folk Festival performance
Preview of the National Folk Festival in Greensboro, NC September 9, 2016 - Fox News (TV) Video: New York-based Dorrance Dance perform modern tap in Vancouver
Performance preview/ Interview of Michelle Dorrance April 12, 2018 - Global News (TV) |
Video: A night in Brazil at the Creative Alliance
Interview on Fox 45's morning show May 24, 2016 - Fox 45 (TV) |
