IRL + LIVE BROADCAST 21 DECEMBER 2025 @ 4P (EST)

WAACK BAZAAR, MADHURA STUDIOS & MIDHEAVEN NETWORK proudly present DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL 2025: SOLARPUNK

Returning to cosmic alignment for our sixth annual installment, Dark Night of the Soul is MIDHEAVEN.Network’s annual Solstice Festival of art, music and crucial conversations to explore and understand the shadow — where all possibility (including rebirth) originates.

This year’s broadcast is a fundraiser for Black Trans Liberation Kitchen, whose mission is “…to end homelessness and food insecurity within the trans population by providing access and resources from community partners that empower and celebrate the TGNC community”. Please join us in supporting our trans and gender non-conforming community’s future by donating to Black Trans Liberation Kitchen!

For DNOTS2025, our program is a three-part feature, themed to SOLARPUNK:

Whitfield, 2025 —  “Solarpunk” is a subgenre of speculative fiction and a collectivistic social movement that envisions the progression of technology alongside the environment. The “solar” prefix signifies the term’s relation to solar or renewable energy, while the “punk” suffix signifies the countercultural essence of the movement (it also groups the term beside other sci-fi sub-genres like cyberpunk, steampunk, and dieselpunk).

The solarpunk aesthetic depicts visually bright and optimistic ecological utopias, often imagining a society where the climate crisis has been resolved or is being approached with camaraderie.

As an ideological movement, the values of solarpunk tend to be in opposition to philosophies like capitalism, consumerism, and ecofascism. In the words of solarpunk thinker Rhys Williams, solarpunk stands “against a shitty future.” It implies the planet is on the clock and there’s just no time for fashionable pessimism.

4p — VOL. I

Embodied Astrology Weather Report for 2026 with j. bouey & Renee Sills

5p — VOL. II

Broadcast premiere of SATURN: A Tale of Fire & Flight

6p — VOL. III

The Intermission: A space to sharpen your choreographic and performance skills while contributing to the evolution of W*acking/Punking.

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J. (co-producer) is a 2023 Bessie Award Outstanding Performer recipient, the founder of The Dance Union Podcast, initiator of the NYC Dancers COVID-19 Relief Fund and The Dance Union Town Hall For Collective Action to support the dance community through numerous world-changing events.

As a creator, J. is a recent 2021-2022 Jerome Fellow and is a 2022/2023 Movement Research Artist in Residence. J. Bouey was also recently a Gibney 2021 Spotlight Artist, Artist-In-Residence at CPR – Center for Performance Research, and 2021 Bogliasco Fellow. J. was also a 2018 Movement Research Van Lier Fellow, and 2018 Dancing While Black Fellow. 

J. is currently a collaborator with nia love. They were also a former performer with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, danced with Germaul Barnes’ Viewsic Dance, Maria Bauman’s MB Dance, Dante Brown, Antonio Brown Dance, Christal Brown’s INspirit Dance, and apprenticed with Emerge 125 (formerly Elisa Monte Dance) under the artistic direction of Tiffany Rea-Fisher. 

Nubian Néné (Co-Producer) is a Montreal native and a New York-based dancer/choreographer who weaves Street & Club dances to create her unique captivating style. Her resilience and hard work stem from her Haitian roots, enabling her to expand into a producer, creative director, curator, visual artist, teacher, and a reliable asset to the innovative Montreal-based multidisciplinary collective: FRGMNT. Nubian Néné performs with Bboyizm Dance Company's In My Body, Passion Fruit Dance Company's Trapped (2021), and Dimensions (in progress). Signature Verses Liberation (2022), an ode to architecture, dance, and drawing, is her first visual art installation, and proof of harmony. A hybrid context, with an amalgam of texture, layers, and patterns examined and imagined by the artist.  She's the creator of Waack Bazaar, The Essence Experience, Glasses & Laces, and choreographer and artistic director of A Lady in The House Dance Company. Her mentors, some of the pioneers of the Street & Club dance cultures, support, encourage, and inspire her to identify cultural references, to be involved and engaged in the community, and through pedagogy help carry the weight of her legacy.

Born 1976 in New York City and raised with the global immigrant community of Queens, George Del Barrio is the Founding Creative Director × Executive Producer of The Vanderbilt Republic (est. 2008), MIDHEAVEN Network + Studio (est. 2020), & Madhura Studios (2024-present).

As an all-media Director/ Producer deeply versed in photographic physics, immersive curatorial/ theatrical design and all phases of the creative process, Del Barrio's practice is concentrated on archetype expansion. Every site response is engineered by a resolute humanism; every invention, design, & transformation is in search of duende — meaning is not a discovery, it is a creation. Clients include NYC Department of Education, The Keith Haring Foundation, Rutgers University, Textile Arts Center, MADERA, On The Revel, PALISSIMO, Green-Wood Cemetery & the dawning sunlight of an awakened mind. 

Stephy Styles (host) is a professional street and club-style dancer, community activist, event producer, and MC host. She is the co-founder of Ladies Adios and the nonprofit organization A Jam Called Tribe. A first-generation Colombian–Ecuadorian American, Stephy’s work is driven by a deep commitment to culture, community, and creative expression. Her calling is to embody her grandmothers’ wildest artistic dreams—bringing them to life across multiple mediums. Currently, she is expanding into new musical realms, discovering her voice through DJing while continuing to build spaces that celebrate movement, sound, and collective liberation - @stylophonicdoll

Multi-Bessie award winner (2021/2023), New York Times lauded “Queen of Social Dance” and celebrated Best Dance & Breakout Star (2021) LaTasha Barnes (Judge) is an internationally awarded and critically-acclaimed artist-scholar, curator, choreographer, and tradition-bearer of Black American Social Dance co-based in Phoenix, AZ and New York. A Richmond, VA native, she is globally celebrated for her musicality, athleticism, and joyful presence throughout the cultural traditions she bears: House Dance, Hip-Hop, Waacking, Authentic Jazz, and Lindy Hop, among them. Barnes’ expansive artistic, performative and wordsmithing skills have made her a frequent collaborator to The New York Times, Summer Dance Forever & Foundation Hip-Hop Center Amsterdam, International Center for Prince Studies, Singapore-based Timbre Arts Group, Jacob’s Pillow and many more. 

Barnes’ leadership and business acumen have placed her in positions of service as Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees for Ladies of Hip-Hop Festival®, Directing Board Member of the Black Lindy Hoppers Fund, the Frankie Manning Foundation, and consulting artist to efforts such as the Al Minns Next Generation Project and events like Paris Jazz Roots Festival,Women’s Jazzination (Shanghai) and International Lindy Hop Championships.

Expanding the scope of impact for the communities she serves, Barnes completed her self-designed Masters in Ethnochoreology, Black Studies and Performance Studies thru New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study (2019). Her thesis and continued applied research are working to bridge the gap between communities of practice and academic cultural dance research, performance, preservation and pedagogy as well as expand the reach of dance as a healing tool for disabled US military veterans like herself. 

In support of this dialogue, Barnes was honored to be a contributing author to the 2022 National Dance Education Organization Ruth Lovell Murray Book Award winning text Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in the Twenty-First Century - Univ. FL Press (2021). Ensuring future artists and dance scholars maintain authentic cultural context as they move through the world bearing forth Black dance traditions. To further support this effort Barnes joined the esteemed faculty of Arizona State University School of Music, Dance & Theater in Fall 2021. Now Associate Prof. of Dance, Barnes is the second tenured Hip-Hop Dance professor in the US, proudly representing the class of academic educators who actively contribute to the cultures studied. She is also expanding dialogue and critical heritage efforts in service as a 2025 Race, Arts & Democracy Fellow of ASU’s Center for the Study of Race & Democracy.

From the analysis of her research and in deeper concert with the mission to strengthen Black artists reverence for and expression with Jazz, Barnes is honored to be the visionary creator and Artistic Director of the multi-award winning and NYT critically acclaimed intergenerational and intercommunal cultural arts project  The Jazz Continuum.  First commissioned by Guggenheim Works & Process, further supported by The Joyce Theater (2022) TJC is a recipient of the prestigious NEFA National Dance Project grant (2022), and two Bessie Awards for Outstanding Creation/Choreography & Outstanding Music Direction.

Additionally she is also honored to be a part of the Brain Trust that developed the ground-breaking stage production Sw!ng Out, bringing the passion and power of Lindy Hop and its community to the concert stage. The New York Times said of her collaboration with Caleb Teicher in Swing Out, “Barnes is especially extraordinary for the way the past and the present can pass through her...”

Across all her endeavors, Barnes' eternal purpose is to inspire fellow artists and arts enthusiasts to champion artivism in their creative expressions and daily lives.

Rose Gelfand aka Rosewater (Production Assistant) is an interdisciplinary artist and organizer, originally from Richmond, California, now living in Brooklyn, NY. They are a wh/acker, writer, photographer, and facilitator, a cofounder of the Fat Liberation Archive, currently organizing with Punk Something and Crown Heights Care Collective. Across forms, Rose’s work seeks to reclaim our collective memory & relational norms from systems of violence, towards play, pleasure, & presence! Rose has been wh/acking for over seven years and battling for a little less than two, including making Top 40 All Styles at Queen of Disco in Guangzhou China, Top 2 at Punk Something Vol 1, Top 16 at Waack to the Future and more. They are currently developing a wh/acking as disability justice curriculum which they will be running as a 4 part series every Wednesday in January! You can find their work @foreverosie and @rosieoncam on instagram.

Shari Cheverez (The Intermission Competitor) is a teaching artist and movement therapist trained in multiple disciplines. Shari is a force of nature who brings her passion for cultural rhythms and embodied expression to the dance floor. Trained by powerhouses across styles, She has been teaching and choreographing dance for over 15 years, directing teams from Atlanta to NYC and performing on various stages and with cultural legends. Exploring dance as alchemy and the body as a sacred chamber, a catalyst for connection, healing, and transformation within the layers of self and society has been Shari’s focus in this phase of her life as art. This is her second time performing through The Intermission.

Amisha Kumra (The Intermission Competitor) is movement artist; dancer, choreographer, dj and educator based in Oslo/Amsterdam, with roots in Punjab, India. Her practice moves between street and club cultures, and Indian classical and folk forms such as Kathak, Bhangra, and Bollywood. She works with movement as a lived practice- grounded in breath, rhythm, repetition, and collective energy.

Amisha has performed, choreographed, and taught across Europe, South America, and South Asia, with work connected to contexts including the 35th São Paulo Biennial, the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, breaking convention and other international workshops and festivals. Her background includes yogic and somatic practices, energy work, and community-based movement, which she weaves into both her stage work and teaching.

Through her ongoing research project peeling _the purple onion, she explores how ancestral knowledge, street dance, and embodied awareness can support more sustainable, connected ways of moving and living together. Her work imagines futures that are rooted in care, interdependence, and the body as a shared resource.

Soho Su (The Intermission Competitor) is a waacking dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist based in New York City. They hold a Master’s degree in Dance Education from New York University (NYU). Through both performance and pedagogy, Soho is committed to creating work that honors the cultural roots of waacking while expanding its expressive and narrative possibilities.

 Rich James (Judge) is a Panama native that grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn where his eclectic dance style had been deeply influenced by his culture and the people that surrounded him. James, got his first real taste of the entertainment industry as a teen, where he was discovered and hired to model for various national commercial print ads. During his years of exploring and developing his dance identity, he met Princess Lockeroo and Tyrone Proctor who later became his mentors. Currently, James is represented by United Talent Agency and can be spotted teaching around New York City or touring alongside legendary house music artist Crystal Waters. In the Future, he hopes to open his very own dance studio where he can share his love for the arts.

Lady Perez (The Intermission Competitor) Lady Perez is a biracial, Irish Bengali dancer/performer. Born & raised in Ireland, she is a former Londoner and now resides in Philadelphia. She is a graduate of London's Millennium Performing Arts and specializes in waacking, burlesque, & hustle. 

Lady Perez was introduced to waacking and hustle in 2011 while living in the UK. She was part of London’s waacking & hustle communities for almost a decade and repeatedly traveled to NYC & LA to learn from the styles’ pioneers and creators. Lady Perez first dipped her toes into the world of burlesque in 2017. She has performed worldwide as a soloist and she was a member of London's esteemed burlesque troupe, The Folly Mixtures, until their conclusion in 2022. 

Lady Perez has competed and performed across Europe, Asia, & The US. She has done everything from theater tours & festivals, to music videos & cabaret circuits. Her credits include Jennifer Hudson, Ben Pearce, and BBC. Her favourite showgirl memories include performing at the prestigious Café de Paris, the historic Wilton's Music Hall, and competing for Best Large Troupe with The Folly Mixtures at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender 2022.

Nadia AKA Nadin (The Intermission Competitor). I am a dancer driven by passion for movement, emotion, love, experience, and travel. I began dancing at the age of 10, exploring various styles before discovering Waacking in 2010 in my native country, Russia. For the past 15 years, Waacking has been my true language of expression, allowing me to reveal my essence and soul through dance. Beyond the stage, I am a mother of three young boys and a full-time elementary physical education teacher. Balancing these roles has shaped my journey, continually teaching me resilience, growth, and inspiration through the people around me. Through this piece, I present the power of a woman, strong, passionate, and motivated, yet human and vulnerable who can carry many roles at once and still needs connection and support to truly thrive.

L'KA (Capsule Performer), a proud representative of East Coast NYC. 15+ years in the game with extensive vocabulary of breaking, hip hop, house and waacking. Trained by the very OGs of each style. No front - just rawness and soul.

Aché & Even (Capsule Performers) are two all around performers based in Philadelphia, PA. This duo first met back in 2015 where they trained consistently in every street style of dance. They have since gone on to do amazing things in the battle, theater & commercial scenes such as Waack to Future, Soul Train The Musical, WaackLanta, Ciara, Keke Palmer and more.  Aché & Even are continuing to inspire and create a name for themselves in the entertainment world. 

Brando Hermoso AKA Monroe (Capsule Performer) is a freestyle dancer of hip-hop and street style disciplines with over 14 years' experience in Waacking, a dance full of strength, elegance and expression. Throughout his career, he has participated in several competitions, obtaining important recognition as one of the greatest influences in the Waacking scene of Venezuela, always demonstrating his talent and passion at every stage. His experience and discipline make him a key figure in the dance community, inspiring newer generations to follow their dreams and express themselves through movement.   

Renee Sills (Embodied Astrologer) is the founder of Embodied Astrology, a podcast and community learning platform that prioritizes co-learning and co-leadership, and accessible, experiential approaches to astrology through a wide application and synthesis of astrological intelligence in combination with arts, healing, activism, and social design thinking. A second generation astrologer, intuitive, and somatic educator, and a devoted student of embodied spiritual practices for over 30 years, Renee’s work integrates mysticism, bodywork, ritual, and participatory art. She seeks to proliferate individual and communal practices that reawaken enchantment, empathy and environmental interrelatedness.

Constance, aka Conn Alana (DJ), is a Bronx-born and raised artist, spiritual worker, and educator. They use their various gifts to support the learning, healing and expression of others - whether that’s as a DJ, photographer, yoga instructor, energy healing practitioner or teacher. Their focus on deep self-care work inspires them to empower others of all ages to embrace the responsibility and pleasure of self-love.

MIDHEAVEN NETWORK is a brave, generative space of healing and for the building — not “rebuilding” — of a fully inclusive society. MIDHEAVEN exists in paradox: FROM many, one.

THROUGH live arts programming from A GLOBAL phalanx OF performance, visual art, social justice, human development and cinema/ digital/ VR voyagers, MIDHEAVEN will ADVANCE COURAGEOUS, loving & possibility-driven VISIONS to the world.

FOUNDING CREATIVE/ TECHNICAL DIRECTOR × EXECUTIVE PRODUCER GEORGE DEL BARRIO

A-CAMERA, KEY GRIP + PRODUCER IAN CHEN

DIRECTOR OF AUDIO ADRIAN M. MARTINEZ

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY BRIAN C. GONZALEZ

ART DIRECTOR AL-KHABIR RICHMAN

©2025 THE VANDERBILT REPUBLIC

“Remember the Power of the Pause”