Resources, Films + Selected Curatorial Work

This page gathers selected exhibitions, films, curriculum, public programs, press, writing, and research resources created, curated, directed, written, produced, or significantly shaped by Derrick León Washington, Ph.D.

This page brings the work together for citation, teaching, research, press, and future partnerships, from Urban Stomp and landmark museum exhibitions to United Nations human rights work, cultural anthropology, and the arts. 

Featured Curatorial & Human Rights Work

Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor, Museum of the City of New York - Curated by Derrick León Washington, Ph.D., Urban Stomp was a first-of-its-kind museum exhibition centering social dance as New York City history, public culture, and living creative practice. Through objects, archives, photographs, music, films, tutorials, public programs, artist collaborations, and interactive gallery experiences, the exhibition traced how New Yorkers have used dance to gather, make style, challenge rules, build community, and imagine new social possibilities across ballrooms, bars, parks, living rooms, clubs, parades, and neighborhood spaces (Role: Curator). View the exhibit trailer, 8-minute documentary, or full documentary.

Rhythm & Power: Salsa in New York, Museum of the City of New York - Museum exhibition and program teaser video for Rhythm & Power: Salsa in New York, a first-of-its-kind exhibition that examined salsa as music, dance, business, storytelling, community life, and political activism. The exhibition showed how New York City’s diversity helped give rise to salsa through Afro-Caribbean rhythms, Latin music, migration, nightlife, record labels, dancers, musicians, promoters, and neighborhood spaces. As the first interactive museum exhibition on salsa that included spaces for actual dancing, it brought together more than 200 objects, including Tito Puente’s instruments, Mike Anthony’s custom microphone, Eddie Torres’ dance shoes, record label installation, the first Latin Grammy Award, and garments worn by Celia Cruz (Role: Curator). Watch exhibition film trailer.

Will to Adorn, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage - Presented at the 47th Annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Will to Adorn was a multi-year research and public presentation project exploring African American culture through style, dress, adornment, music, fashion, artistry, and community life. Mr. Washington assisted with bringing choreographic research, scholarly panels, audience talks, and curatorial assistance to object- and sensory-based public learning experiences that reached more than 500,000 festival visitors (Role: Project Manager, Curator, Script Writer & Lead Researcher). More info.

Apollo Theater Live Wire: From the Archives - A feature-length film and public program that opened up the Apollo as a living archive, from its legendary stage to the building’s layered history, artist spaces, green rooms, backstage areas, lesser-seen rooms, archival footage, dancers, and rarely shown objects and ephemera from the Apollo’s collections. The project connected Harlem, the theater, the stage, the artists, the building, and the archive to show the Apollo as both an iconic performance space and a cultural site shaped by history (Role: Project Manager, Curator, Script Writer & Lead Researcher). Watch documentary.

I Still Believe in Our City, United Nations Human Rights - Featuring Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya with commentary from Derrick L. Washington, Ph.D. Produced by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in partnership with the NYC Commission on Human Rights (Role: Storyboard, Assistant Director, Interviewer & UN Intervention). Watch film.

Dreams & Defiance: Centering Cultural Expressions of People of African Descent, United Nations Human Rights - Film celebrating the United Nations International Day of People of African Descent. The film was featured prominently on United Nations and United Nations agencies’ media platforms (Role: Host, Project Manager, Producer, Script Writer & Curator). Watch trailer. Watch full film.

A Call for a New Social Contract: Centering Indigenous Cultural Expressions, United Nations Human Rights - Film in honor of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, a collaboration between the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations Headquarters Visitor Services. The film centers Indigenous communities, their artistic practices, and the ways they tell and shape their own narratives across regions. The film features diverse Indigenous communities and nations from around the world, highlighting cultural expression and contemporary realities. The film was featured prominently on United Nations and United Nations agencies’ media platforms (Role: Co-Host, Project Manager, Producer & Script Writer). Watch film.

Urban Stomp Education/Programs Deck — Dance, Culture & Community - Explore the Urban Stomp Education + Programs Deck, which outlines ways the platform can support schools, museums, cultural institutions, community spaces, and public programs. The deck includes options for workshops, classes, film screenings, gallery activations, walking tours, professional development, and larger cultural programs rooted in social dance, music, public history, film, and cultural anthropology (Role: Curator & Project Manager). Click here to view.

Urban Stomp Exhibition + Program Resources

Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor, Museum of the City of New York (April 2025–February 2026) - Curated by Derrick León Washington, Ph.D., Urban Stomp was a first-of-its-kind museum exhibition centering social dance as New York City history, public culture, and living creative practice. Through objects, archives, photographs, music, films, tutorials, public programs, artist collaborations, and interactive gallery experiences, the exhibition traced how New Yorkers have used dance to gather, make style, challenge rules, build community, and imagine new social possibilities across ballrooms, bars, parks, living rooms, clubs, parades, and neighborhood spaces (Role: Curator). More information.

Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor - (8-minute film)
A short trailer, 8-minute documentary, and full documentary film documenting the exhibition’s curatorial vision, objects, artists, public programs, interactive design, and social dance history. The 8-minute film offers a concise introduction to the project, while the full documentary serves as a deeper archival record of the exhibition and its method (Role: Curator, Director & Producer). Watch film.

Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor - (Full Documentary)
A full-length documentary record of Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor at the Museum of the City of New York. The film offers a deeper look at the exhibition’s curatorial vision, artists, objects, films, public programs, interactive design, and the social dance histories that shaped the project. It serves as both a record of the exhibition and a resource for educators, cultural institutions, public programmers, dancers, researchers, and communities interested in dance, music, public history, and cultural life in New York City (Role: Curator, Director & Producer). Watch documentary.

Urban Stomp: From Swing to Mambo - Documentary short film sharing the importance of the arts and community in New York City. Created with initial support from the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Abyssinian Baptist Church, Center for Traditional Music and Dance, Bronx Music Heritage Center, and National Jazz Museum in Harlem (Role: Director, Interviewer, Storyboard, Producer & Curator). Watch documentary.

Urban Stomp Education/Programs Deck — Dance, Culture & Community - Explore the Urban Stomp Education + Programs Deck, which outlines ways the platform can support schools, museums, cultural institutions, community spaces, and public programs. The deck includes options for workshops, classes, film screenings, gallery activations, walking tours, professional development, and larger cultural programs rooted in social dance, music, public history, film, and cultural anthropology (Role: Curator & Project Manager). Click here to view.

A+/P Credit Course: Culture in Motion: Teaching NYC Immigration History Through Dance, Museum of the City of New York (Ongoing) - A week-long professional development course for educators using dance, music, cultural studies, and history to teach New York City immigration and community life. Inspired by MCNY’s exhibitions and programs, the course offers 3 A+/P Credits and 45 CTLE hours, with no prior dance experience required. The curriculum uses movement and creative expression as entry points for teaching 20th- and 21st-century histories and culturally responsive education (Role: Curator, Curriculum Developer & Lead Facilitator). More information.

Groundbreaking Museum Exhibitions + Curatorial Projects

Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor, Museum of the City of New York (April 2025–February 2026) - Curator of the first-of-its-kind exhibition exploring over 300 years of social dance in New York City, from the ballrooms and bars of the 19th century to today’s parks, living rooms, and clubs. The exhibition highlights how the city’s dance cultures, and the spaces they animate, foster collective joy, resistance, and new social possibilities that reverberate far beyond the dance floor (Role: Curator). View the exhibit trailer, 8-minute documentary, or full documentary.

New York at Its Core, Museum of the City of New York (2016–Ongoing) - New York at Its Core captures the human energy that drove New York to become a city like no other, featuring the city’s “big personalities,” including Alexander Hamilton, Walt Whitman, Emma Goldman, JP Morgan, Fiorello La Guardia, Jane Jacobs, and Jay Z. Through nearly 450 historic objects and images, many from the Museum’s collection, alongside contemporary video, photography, and interactive digital experiences, the exhibition invites visitors to explore the city’s past and imagine its future. Recipient of the Excellence in Exhibition Award from the American Alliance of Museums (Role: Curatorial Assistant & Research). More information.

Will to Adorn, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage - Presented at the 47th Annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Will to Adorn was a multi-year research and public presentation project exploring African American culture through style, dress, adornment, music, fashion, artistry, and community life. Mr. Washington assisted with bringing choreographic research, scholarly panels, audience talks, and curatorial assistance to object- and sensory-based public learning experiences that reached more than 500,000 festival visitors (Role: Project Manager, Curator, Script Writer & Lead Researcher). More info.

Rhythm & Power: Salsa in New York, Museum of the City of New York - Museum exhibition and program teaser video for Rhythm & Power: Salsa in New York, a first-of-its-kind exhibition that examined salsa as music, dance, business, storytelling, community life, and political activism. The exhibition showed how New York City’s diversity helped give rise to salsa through Afro-Caribbean rhythms, Latin music, migration, nightlife, record labels, dancers, musicians, promoters, and neighborhood spaces. As the first interactive museum exhibition on salsa that included spaces for actual dancing, it brought together more than 200 objects, including Tito Puente’s instruments, Mike Anthony’s custom microphone, Eddie Torres’ dance shoes, record label installation, the first Latin Grammy Award, and garments worn by Celia Cruz. Watch exhibition film trailer.

The exhibition and its program series, the most extensive developed for a museum exhibition on salsa, included staff leadership workshops, high school dance history courses, oral history projects with leading practitioners, professional development with Broadway artists, interactive workshops, concerts, painting workshops, walking tours, film screenings, SummerStage performances, an academic conference, a publication, and a week-long Department of Education professional development institute.

The project received national and international media coverage, including The New York Times, BBC, Huffington Post, New York Post, Red Bull Music Academy, NBC Channel 4, Time Out New York, and multiple Latin American outlets (Role: Curator). More information.

Activist New York, Museum of the City of New York (2016–Ongoing) - The exhibition explores the history of social activism in New York City from the 17th century to the present. Through artifacts, photography, audio-visual media, and interactive elements, it examines movements across civil rights, economic justice, gender equality, environmental advocacy, and more. Director and storyboard writer for the exhibition’s film components (Role: Researcher on nuclear activism and director and storyboard writer of documentary films exploring immigration, gender equality, economic rights, civil rights, and environmental advocacy). More information.

Human Minority Rights: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Headquarters (December 2019) - Presented at the Twelfth Session of the Forum on Minority Issues at United Nations Human Rights Headquarters in Geneva (Role: Curator & Program Manager).

Various Exhibits and Programs, El Fogón Center of the Arts (March 2011–January 2013) - Produced, managed, and curated community exhibitions, live music concerts, artist showcases, book events, music workshops, spoken word programs, dance classes, and educational collaborations with New York City institutions. These initiatives built relationships with Garifuna, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Colombian, and African American communities. Received media coverage from Channel 12 News Bronx, Bronx Free Press, Mott Haven Herald, and Bronx 360 (Executive Director & Curator).

Harlem Swing: The Birth of a Movement, Museum of the City of New York (February 2016) - An exhibition and public program tracing the Swing Era, Lindy Hop, and the Harlem spaces that helped launch a cultural movement still moving today. The experience brought rare artifacts and ephemera into conversation with storytelling, symposia, interactive installations, food programming, dance workshops, live music, and all-ages art activities (Role: Curator, Researcher & Facilitator).

United Nations Human Rights & National/International Cultural Policy

I Still Believe in Our City, United Nations Human Rights - Featuring Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya with commentary from Derrick L. Washington, Ph.D. Produced by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in partnership with the NYC Commission on Human Rights (Role: Storyboard, Assistant Director, Interviewer & UN Intervention). Watch film.

Todavía creo en Nueva York - (I Still Believe in Our City, United Nations Human Rights, with Spanish-language subtitles): Watch film with Spanish subtitles.

Dreams & Defiance: Centering Cultural Expressions of People of African Descent, United Nations Human Rights - Film celebrating the United Nations International Day of People of African Descent. The film was featured prominently on United Nations and United Nations agencies’ media platforms (Role: Host, Project Manager, Producer, Script Writer & Curator). Watch trailer. Watch full film.

Film Trailer: A Call for a New Social Contract: Centering Indigenous Cultural Expressions - Watch film trailer.

A Call for a New Social Contract: Centering Indigenous Cultural Expressions, United Nations Human Rights - Film in honor of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, a collaboration between the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations Headquarters Visitor Services. The film centers Indigenous communities, their artistic practices, and the ways they tell and shape their own narratives across regions. The film features diverse Indigenous communities and nations from around the world, highlighting cultural expression and contemporary realities. The film was featured prominently on United Nations and United Nations agencies’ media platforms (Role: Co-Host, Project Manager, Producer & Script Writer). Watch film.

Immigrants. Dance. Arts. Conference: Advancing the Rights of Immigrants - Centering discussions about the advancement of immigrant rights through dance - moderated by dance anthropologist and arts activist, Derrick León Washington, joined by Pascal Rioult, artistic director and choreographer of RIOULT (rē-you) Dance, and Potri Ranka Manis Queano Nur, Founder, Artistic Director, and Tradition-Bearer of Kinding Sindaw (Role: Moderator). More Information.

United Nations Chamber Music Society: Virtual Concert in Celebration of Human Rights Day - Expert video intervention for the official UN Human Rights Day concert that featured Ms. Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights and Head of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in New York, Mr. Ndaba Mandela, human rights activist, Global Ambassador of UNAIDS, and grandson of the late South African president, Nelson Mandela, and Mr. Derrick L. Washington, cultural anthropologist and United Nations Human Rights (Role: Provided Expert Intervention). Watch & listen here.

Human Rights, Art & Protest - The first in the series, this UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) and Freemuse series examines inspiring examples and narratives of resilience related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of tangible and intangible cultural heritage in promoting human rights. The webinar is further meant to increase understanding of artistic expression as a mode of protest and an act to stand up for human rights. The webinar included internationally exhibiting, multidisciplinary artists such as Chelsea Hollow (U.S.A.), Jose “Dr. Drum” Ortiz (Puerto Rico/U.S.A.), Leah Tubbs (U.S.A.), and Victoria Rios (U.S.A.) (Role: Moderator, Artist Procurement & Script Writer). Watch here.

Speaking Truth to Power - This webinar is the second in the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) and Freemuse series that brings together artists from religious or belief communities to present artwork on the freedom of artistic expression. This webinar aims at shifting the discussion among and between communities and individuals, including in circumstances where artists may be threatened by anti-blasphemy or anti-apostasy laws, as well as by other forces limiting civic space. It aims to deepen UN Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN system’s engagement with art and artists as a powerful player in discourse and action on human rights. The webinar included internationally exhibiting, multi-disciplinary artists such as Órion Lalli (Brazil), Yuliya Lanina (Russia/U.S.A.), Mazen Khaddaj (Lebanon/Germany), and Rita Dewan (Bangladesh) (Role: Moderator, Artist Procurement & Script Writer). Watch here.

United Nations News Podcast: Durban +20 - Forging a Creative Path in Defense of Human Rights - On the UN flagship podcast series, Dr. Washington speaks informally about arts and curatorial practice in defense of human rights locally, nationally, and internationally (Role: Interviewee). Watch here.

Special Report: I Still Believe In New York-Using Art To Resolve Hatred Against Asians - Article and podcast about the short film, I Still Believe in Our City. Article written in Chinese (Role: Provided Concept & UN intervention). Watch here.

An Illustration of Resilience and Hope: In the Face of Anti-Asian Hate - Article about the short film, I Still Believe in Our City (Role: Provided Concept & UN intervention). Watch here.

Film + Media Projects

Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor - (8-minute film)
A short trailer, 8-minute documentary, and full documentary film documenting the exhibition’s curatorial vision, objects, artists, public programs, interactive design, and social dance history. The 8-minute film offers a concise introduction to the project, while the full documentary serves as a deeper archival record of the exhibition and its method (Role: Curator, Director & Producer). Watch film.

Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor - (Full Documentary)
A full-length documentary record of Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor at the Museum of the City of New York. The film offers a deeper look at the exhibition’s curatorial vision, artists, objects, films, public programs, interactive design, and the social dance histories that shaped the project. It serves as both a record of the exhibition and a resource for educators, cultural institutions, public programmers, dancers, researchers, and communities interested in dance, music, public history, and cultural life in New York City (Role: Curator, Director & Producer). Watch documentary.

Nueva York: A Musical History of Latin New York - A feature-length documentary broadcast on the ARTE television network. It broadcast in more than 22 nations in Europe and European territories. It received a positive review in one of France’s most influential and widely circulated newspapers, Le Monde (Role: Expert & Consultant, the film was inspired in part by research and public history connected to Rhythm & Power: Salsa in New York). Watch trailer (here). Watch film (here).

Rhythm & Power: Salsa in New York, Museum of the City of New York - Museum exhibition and program teaser video for Rhythm & Power: Salsa in New York, a first-of-its-kind exhibition that examined salsa as music, dance, business, storytelling, community life, and political activism. The exhibition showed how New York City’s diversity helped give rise to salsa through Afro-Caribbean rhythms, Latin music, migration, nightlife, record labels, dancers, musicians, promoters, and neighborhood spaces. As the first interactive museum exhibition on salsa that included spaces for actual dancing, it brought together more than 200 objects, including Tito Puente’s instruments, Mike Anthony’s custom microphone, Eddie Torres’ dance shoes, record label installation, the first Latin Grammy Award, and garments worn by Celia Cruz (Role: Curator). Watch exhibition film trailer.

Dreams & Defiance: Centering Cultural Expressions of People of African Descent, United Nations Human Rights - Film celebrating the United Nations International Day of People of African Descent. The film was featured prominently on United Nations and United Nations agencies’ media platforms (Role: Host, Project Manager, Producer, Script Writer & Curator). Watch trailer. Watch full film.

I Still Believe in Our City, United Nations Human Rights - Featuring Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya with commentary from Derrick L. Washington, Ph.D. Produced by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in partnership with the NYC Commission on Human Rights (Role: Storyboard, Assistant Director, Interviewer & UN Intervention). Watch film.

Todavía creo en Nueva York - (I Still Believe in Our City with Spanish-language subtitles): Watch film with Spanish subtitles.

Apollo Theater Live Wire: From the Archives — A feature-length film and public program that opened up the Apollo as a living archive, from its legendary stage to the building’s layered history, artist spaces, green rooms, backstage areas, lesser-seen rooms, archival footage, dancers, and rarely shown objects and ephemera from the Apollo’s collections. The project connected Harlem, the theater, the stage, the artists, the building, and the archive to show the Apollo as both an iconic performance space and a cultural site shaped by history (Role: Project Manager, Curator, Script Writer & Lead Researcher). Watch documentary.

Urban Stomp: From Swing to Mambo - Documentary short film sharing the importance of the arts and community in New York City. Created with initial support from the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Abyssinian Baptist Church, Center for Traditional Music and Dance, Bronx Music Heritage Center, and National Jazz Museum in Harlem (Role: Director, Interviewer, Storyboard, Producer & Curator). Watch documentary.

A Call for a New Social Contract: Centering Indigenous Cultural Expressions, United Nations Human Rights - Film in honor of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, a collaboration between the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations Headquarters Visitor Services. The film centers Indigenous communities, their artistic practices, and the ways they tell and shape their own narratives across regions. The film features diverse Indigenous communities and nations from around the world, highlighting cultural expression and contemporary realities. The film was featured prominently on United Nations and United Nations agencies’ media platforms (Role: Co-Host, Project Manager, Producer & Script Writer). Watch film.

#ActivistNY: Tony's Story - Exhibition case study video for Activist New York exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York, December 2016 (Role: Director, Script Supervisor & Interviewer). Watch (here).

#ActivistNY: Angy's Story - Exhibition case study video for Activist New York exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York, December 2016 (Role: Director, Script Supervisor & Interviewer). Watch (here).

#ActivistNY: Dante's Story - Exhibition case study video for Activist New York exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York, December 2016 (Role: Director, Script Supervisor & Interviewer). Watch (here).

#ActivistNY: Sasha's Story - Exhibition case study video for Activist New York exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York, December 2016 (Director, Script Supervisor & Interviewer). Watch (here).

Dreams & Defiance: Latin Dance Vs. The World - Instructional film about Latin dances and cultures in collaboration with the National Jazz Museum (Role: Director & Curator). Watch (here).

1969 Moon Landing - Screened at Dance on Film Festival at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York, NY. Directed by Johanna Witherby (Role: Choreographed & Performed).

Publications + Writing

Book: Inside Urban Stomp: A Curator's Guide to Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor, Derrick León Washington (Author), Olha Aleksandrova (Illustrator).

Book: Rhythm & Power: Performing Salsa in Puerto Rican and Latino Communities, co-edited by Derrick León Washington, Centro Publications, 2017.

Article: Dance Culture in NYC, Museum of the City of New York, March 7, 2017.

Museum Blog Post: How to Curate an Interactive History Exhibition in 11 Easy Steps, Museum of the City of New York, August 28, 2017.

Interviewed for article related to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts evening-length Urban Stomp performance,

New York City: Dancer's Delight, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ The Score, June 28, 2019.

Article: “Embodied Representation: Racial and Gender Identity in Hip-hop Choreography.” Text, Practice and Performance VIII, 79-94, 2009.

Dissertation: The Whole World is a Rumba Nueva: The Creation of Transnational Communities through Performance and Social Media in New York City and Havana, 2014.

Forthcoming Manuscript: Urban Stomp: A Unified Curatorial Practice of Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage

Curriculum + Education Resources

Urban Stomp Education/Programs Deck — Dance, Culture & Community - Explore the Urban Stomp Education + Programs Deck, which outlines ways the platform can support schools, museums, cultural institutions, community spaces, and public programs. The deck includes options for workshops, classes, film screenings, gallery activations, walking tours, professional development, and larger cultural programs rooted in social dance, music, public history, film, and cultural anthropology (Role: Curator & Project Manager). View deck.

A+/P Credit Course: Culture in Motion: Teaching NYC Immigration History Through Dance, Museum of the City of New York (Ongoing) - A week-long professional development course for educators using dance, music, cultural studies, and history to teach New York City immigration and community life. Inspired by MCNY’s exhibitions and programs, the course offers 3 A+/P Credits and 45 CTLE hours, with no prior dance experience required. The curriculum uses movement and creative expression as entry points for teaching 20th- and 21st-century histories and culturally responsive education (Role: Curator, Curriculum Developer & Lead Facilitator). More information.

New York at Its Core Seminar Day: Rhythm & Power - This free seminar day for educators will explore the themes from the exhibition, Rhythm & Power, in conjunction with New York at Its Core, the first exhibition to present the compelling story of New York’s rise from a striving Dutch village to today’s “Capital of the World” (Role: Co-Curriculum Developer & Research). More information.

Rhythm & Power: Dance, Immigration, and Community Action in History - Curriculum illuminates multiple engagement strategies and lessons that engage students through music, dance, cultural studies, and history. Suitable for educators of all grades – and requiring no prior dance experience – this course is inclusive of information gathered by award-winning exhibitions and programs of the Museum of the City of New York (Role: Curriculum Developer & Research).

Apollo Theater Live Wire: From the Archives - A feature-length film and public program that opened up the Apollo as a living archive, from its legendary stage to the building’s layered history, artist spaces, green rooms, backstage areas, lesser-seen rooms, archival footage, dancers, and rarely shown objects and ephemera from the Apollo’s collections. The project connected Harlem, the theater, the stage, the artists, the building, and the archive to show the Apollo as both an iconic performance space and a cultural site shaped by history (Role: Project Manager, Curator, Script Writer & Lead Researcher). Watch documentary.

Dreams & Defiance: A Salsa Unit Plan - A 92nd Street Y Dance Education Laboratory learning resource that included anthropologically based exercises covering Cuban rumba, lindy hop, jazz dances, Cuban casino, contemporary dance, salsa caleña, and New York “On2” salsa. A historic institution founded in 1874, the 92nd Street Y has hosted artists/scholars such as Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, T.S. Eliot, Octavio Paz, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Role: Curriculum Writer).

Urban Stomp: From Swing to Mambo - Cultural anthropology-based curriculum that shows connections between art disciplines, ethnic groups, geographic spaces, and histories. (Role: Curriculum Writer).

The Oyster: The Great Equalizer of New York City - A presentation that developed into a curriculum about the importance of oysters in pre-colonial, colonial, and industrial New York City. The presentation began at the Museum of the City and expanded since that time (Role: Curriculum Writer).

Dance Culture in New York City - At the Museum of the City of New York, a free elective for students in grades 8–12, took place on Saturdays, October 29, November 5, 12, December 3, 10, and 17 from 10:00 am–12:00 pm. Dance instruction included lindy hop, solo jazz, salsa, and bomba (Role: Co-Curriculum Writer). More information.

Texas School of the Blind and Visually Impaired - Dance, movement, and therapy program for a class of cognitive and visually impaired TSBVI students. Innovated a unique style of “touch technique” that utilized touch, vision, and smell to teach movement (Role: Curriculum Writer).

Mambo, Salsa & Music/Dances of the Americas

Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor, Museum of the City of New York (April 2025–February 2026) - Curator of a first-of-its-kind exhibition exploring over 300 years of social dance in New York City, from the ballrooms and bars of the 19th century to today’s parks, living rooms, clubs, and dance floors. Salsa is part of this larger story, connecting migration, Afro-Caribbean music, mambo, neighborhood life, nightlife, family gatherings, style, and New York’s role in shaping a local dance culture that became global. The exhibition highlights how the city’s dance cultures, and the spaces they animate, foster collective joy, resistance, and new social possibilities that reverberate far beyond the dance floor (Role: Curator). More information.

Urban Stomp: From Swing to Mambo - Documentary short film sharing the importance of the arts and community in New York City. Created with initial support from the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Abyssinian Baptist Church, Center for Traditional Music and Dance, Bronx Music Heritage Center, and National Jazz Museum in Harlem (Role: Director, Interviewer, Storyboard, Producer & Curator). Watch documentary.

Rhythm & Power: Salsa in New York, Museum of the City of New York - Museum exhibition and program teaser video for Rhythm & Power: Salsa in New York, a first-of-its-kind exhibition that examined salsa as music, dance, business, storytelling, community life, and political activism. The exhibition showed how New York City’s diversity helped give rise to salsa through Afro-Caribbean rhythms, Latin music, migration, nightlife, record labels, dancers, musicians, promoters, and neighborhood spaces. As the first interactive museum exhibition on salsa that included spaces for actual dancing, it brought together more than 200 objects, including Tito Puente’s instruments, Mike Anthony’s custom microphone, Eddie Torres’ dance shoes, record label installation, the first Latin Grammy Award, and garments worn by Celia Cruz (Role: Curator). Watch exhibition film trailer.

Salsa: Neuerfindung karibischer Identitäten (Salsa: Reinventing Caribbean Identities) - Austrian national radio station story about salsa as an artistic socio-cultural movement with Mr. Washington taking listeners on a journey of some of the most iconic locations related to its artistic and social history in New York City. On Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF). This is on one of the four national radio stations of Austria (Role: Interviewee). Link: Salsa: Neuerfindung karibischer Identitäten | DI | 31 01 2023 | 9:45 - oe1.ORF.at

Dreams & Defiance: Latin Dance Vs. The World - Instructional film about Latin dances and cultures in collaboration with the National Jazz Museum (Role: Director & Curator). Watch (here).

¡LoiSALSA! - The first “open mic” series dedicated to dance and history at the Nuyorican Poets Café (established in 1973). (Role: Co-Host, Director & Curator).

¡Urban Stomp! The Artistic and Cultural Connections between Swing, Mambo and Salsa - An evening-length research presentation with live music and dance, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; New York, NY (Role: Curator, Speaker & Dancer). More information.

Rhythm & Power: Dance, Immigration, and Community Action in History - Curriculum illuminates multiple engagement strategies and lessons that engage students through music, dance, cultural studies, and history. Suitable for educators of all grades – and requiring no prior dance experience – this course is inclusive of information gathered by award-winning exhibitions and programs of the Museum of the City of New York (Role: Curriculum Writer).

Dreams & Defiance: Centering Cultural Expressions of People of African Descent, United Nations Human Rights - Film celebrating the United Nations International Day of People of African Descent. The film was featured prominently on United Nations and United Nations agencies’ media platforms (Role: Host, Project Manager, Producer, Script Writer & Curator). Watch trailer. Watch full film.

Dreams & Defiance: A Salsa Unit Plan - A 92nd Street Y Dance Education Laboratory learning resource that included anthropologically based exercises covering Cuban rumba, lindy hop, jazz dances, Cuban casino, contemporary dance, salsa caleña, and New York “On2” salsa. A historic institution founded in 1874, the 92nd Street Y has hosted artists/scholars such as Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, T.S. Eliot, Octavio Paz, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Role: Curriculum Writer).

Dancing Classrooms at the Abyssinian Baptist Church - Urban Stomp: From Swing to Mambo segment on performance (Role: Director & Curator). Watch (here):

What Are the Roots of Salsa? - New York Public Library Main Branch; New York, NY (Role: Curator & Presenter).

Nueva York: A Musical History of Latin New York - A feature-length documentary broadcast on the ARTE television network. It broadcast in more than 22 nations in Europe and European territories. It received a positive review in one of France’s most influential and widely circulated newspapers, Le Monde (Role: Expert & Consultant, the film was inspired in part by research and public history connected to Rhythm & Power: Salsa in New York). Watch trailer (here). Watch film (here).

Day of Dreams, Defiance and Dance! - The New York University Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) and the New York International Salsa Congress present a Day of Dreams, Defiance and Dance! This full-day event curated by Dr. Derrick León Washington honors the history of New York Salsa featuring a walking tour of the Lower East Side, workshops and panel discussions and dance. The title of this recorded panel discussion is "What’s the Right Way to Dance Salsa?” (Role: Curator, Moderator & Project Manager).

Dreams & Defiance: A World Re-Imagined Through Social Music and Dance Symposium - This first conference in this series explores the circular flows of music and social dance traditions in the Caribbean as a way of broadly exploring notions of nation, citizenship and belonging. Panelists investigated New York City salsa, Dominican merengue, Dominican bachata, and Cuban rumba. While there is a plethora of social dances performed throughout the Caribbean, these social dance and music styles have found global popularity in clubs, festivals, dance classes as well as the more intimate spaces in which they were created. Along with the social mobility afforded to some practitioners, economic possibilities figure largely in the ways they are performed in the present (Role: Curator & Moderator). More information.

A Day of Dreams, Defiance, and Dance! program - At New York University and in collaboration with the New York International Salsa Congress, the day-long program included: A behind-the-scenes walking tour of the history of Salsa in the Lower East Side, visits to some of the venues featured in “Our Latin Thing” (the documentary that helped make the Fania All-Stars a global phenomenon), a workshop on the beauty of the clave with Multi-Grammy Award-nominated musician/bandleader, Bobby Sanabria, an interactive panel discussion on ways to dance salsa with style, and an after-work celebration in the heart of New York University (Role: Curator & Moderator). More information.

Sabor & Ritmo: International Family Day of Dance - At the Museum of the City of New York, this day of interactive learning spotlighted dance cultures, including salsa with Balmir Latin Dance Studio, bomba with Milteri Tucker of Bombazo Dance Company, kizomba with Annie Louis of B-More Kizomba and DJ Elmano, children’s creative movement/dance, and multilingual storytime (Role: Curator & Dance Instructor). More information.

Sketch & Sip: Salsa in New York - Museum guests explored the dance costumes, musical instruments, maps, record covers, and photographs featured in the exhibition Rhythm & Power: Salsa in New York and learned how to add action and motion to drawings. A lesson by The National Arts Club instructor/artist Simon Levenson, followed by independent sketching time in the gallery, allowed guests to see how movement and music can affect visual art (Role: Curator). More information.

Youth & United Nations Human Rights

The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) YOUTH FORUM 2021 – Commemorating its 10th Anniversary -  Final plenary, “Leaving No Youth Behind: Addressing the Long-Term Consequences of COVID-19 for Vulnerable Youth Groups”, with youth human rights defenders from Syria, Australia, Bangladesh, Guatemala, and Tunisia. Sponsored by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights), Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth (OSGEY), United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) - Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and  United Nations Women (Role: Moderator, Curator & Panelist Coach). Watch here.

Jazz Music, Swing & Jazz Dances

Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor, Museum of the City of New York - Curator of a first-of-its-kind exhibition exploring over 300 years of social dance in New York City, from 19th-century ballrooms and bars to today’s parks, living rooms, clubs, and dance floors. Swing dances, including Lindy Hop and solo jazz, are part of this larger story, showing how Black social dance, jazz music, improvisation, partner dancing, style, and community helped shape New York’s cultural life and continue to influence how people gather, move, and create together. The exhibition highlights how the city’s dance cultures, and the spaces they animate, foster collective joy, resistance, and new social possibilities that reverberate far beyond the dance floor (Role: Curator).

Urban Stomp: From Swing to Mambo - Documentary short film sharing the importance of the arts and community in New York City. Created with initial support from the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Abyssinian Baptist Church, Center for Traditional Music and Dance, Bronx Music Heritage Center, and National Jazz Museum in Harlem (Role: Director, Interviewer, Storyboard, Producer & Curator). Watch documentary.

¡Urban Stomp! The Artistic and Cultural Connections between Swing, Mambo and Salsa - An evening-length research presentation with live music and dance, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; New York, NY (Role: Curator, Speaker, Dancer).

Bizet Has His Day - Musicians and dancers find a way to connect virtually and feel a little less isolated in times of social distancing. Performed by The Revisionists and recorded in home studios across the country by band members in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic (Role: Dancer). Watch here.

Harlem Swing: The Birth of a Movement, Museum of the City of New York (February 2016) - An exhibition and public program tracing the Swing Era, Lindy Hop, and the Harlem spaces that helped launch a cultural movement still moving today. The experience brought rare artifacts and ephemera into conversation with storytelling, symposia, interactive installations, food programming, dance workshops, live music, and all-ages art activities (Role: Curator, Researcher & Facilitator).

Dreams & Defiance: A Salsa Unit Plan - A 92nd Street Y Dance Education Laboratory learning resource that included anthropologically based exercises covering Cuban rumba, lindy hop, jazz dances, Cuban casino, contemporary dance, salsa caleña, and New York “On2” salsa. A historic institution founded in 1874, the 92nd Street Y has hosted artists/scholars such as Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, T.S. Eliot, Octavio Paz, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Role: Curriculum Writer).

Cutting a Rug: Evidence(s) of Social Dance in Brooklyn - Blog post published by the Brooklyn Public Library about social dance, lindy hop, swing, and social movements. Mr. Washington was prominently quoted in the post, problematized how the word integration is used, and helped frame the topic by including what is included in archives and the peoples and histories that are excluded (Role: Interviewee). Article (here).

Dance Culture in New York City - At the Museum of the City of New York, a free elective for students in grades 8–12, took place on Saturdays, October 29, November 5, 12, December 3, 10, and 17 from 10:00 am–12:00 pm. Dance instruction included lindy hop, solo jazz, salsa, and bomba (Role: Curator). View here.

Research + Movement Studies

Rough Cut of Dance Outtakes - (Role: Dancer), watch here.

Wake-Up Wednesday Workout Routine - (Role: Dancer), watch here.

Pandemic Dance Animations - (Role: Dancer), watch here.

Jazz Steps - (Role: Dancer), watch here.

Swamp Marsh Movement - (Role: Dancer), watch here.

Film Trailer: Dreams & Defiance: Centering Cultural Expressions of People of African Descent - (Role: Curator & Director), watch here.

Film Trailer: Dreams & Defiance: Latin Dance Vs. the World - (Curator & Director), watch here.

Movements Our Mothers Gave Us [Spring/Break Art Show Edition (NYC)]

• Film Trailer Link (here).

• Documentary Short Film Link (here).

Peoples of African Descent in the Americas

27th Session of the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent - Oral testimony to the 27th Session of the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent mid-term review for the UN International Decade for People of African Descent (Role: Expert Intervention). Watch here.

Apollo Theater Live Wire: From the Archives - A feature-length film and public program that opened up the Apollo as a living archive, from its legendary stage to the building’s layered history, artist spaces, green rooms, backstage areas, lesser-seen rooms, archival footage, dancers, and rarely shown objects and ephemera from the Apollo’s collections. The project connected Harlem, the theater, the stage, the artists, the building, and the archive to show the Apollo as both an iconic performance space and a cultural site shaped by history (Role: Project Manager, Curator, Script Writer & Lead Researcher). Watch documentary.

Dreams & Defiance: Centering Cultural Expressions of People of African Descent, United Nations Human Rights - Film celebrating the United Nations International Day of People of African Descent. The film was featured prominently on United Nations and United Nations agencies’ media platforms (Role: Host, Project Manager, Producer, Script Writer & Curator). Watch trailer. Watch full film.

Dreams & Defiance: Latin Dance Vs. The World - Instructional film about Latin dances and cultures in collaboration with the National Jazz Museum (Role: Director & Curator). Watch (here).

Selected Press + Reviews

·     Artforum, Body Movements On Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor, October 2025 Issue.

·     The New York Times, New York City’s Creative Churn: The View From the Dance Floor, April 28, 2025.

·     The New York Times, ‘Rhythm & Power’: A Little Bling, a Little Politics, a Lot of Salsa, June 17, 2017.

·     The New York Times, At ‘Uptown Bounce,’ Salsa Dancing and So Much More, July 27, 2018.

·     The New York Times, Birth of the Hot: Salsa in New York, June 7, 2017.

·     The Los Angeles Times, Museo de Nueva York cuenta la historia de la salsa en Nueva York, June 13, 2017.

·     British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), En busca del lugar de Nueva York donde se "inventó" la salsa, September 22, 2017.

·     CBS News, Urban Stomp Feature Video, May 2025.

·     Spectrum News NY1, New exhibit looks at dance legacy of NYC, April 28, 2025.

·     WNYC, Dance Like a New Yorker, May 2025.

·      ABC7 New York, Urban Stomp Video Feature, May 2025.

·      ABC7 Los Angeles, Urban Stomp Video Feature, May 2025.

·      ABC7 Chicago, Urban Stomp Video Feature, June 2025.

·     New York Post, How New Yorkers’ Obsession with Cuba Gave Rise to Salsa, June 14, 2017.

·     Huffington Post, Hip, Hot, and Hungry Happenings in New York City, August 8, 2017.

·     PIX11 News, Explore NYC’s Dance Scene in New Interactive Exhibition, May 2025.

·     Time Out New York, Urban Stomp: Dreams, Defiance on the Dance Floor Explores 200 Years of NYC’s Dance History, April 23, 2025.

9 of the Strangest Things in NYC Museums, April 1, 2025

Best Museum Exhibitions in NYC, April 23, 2025

Best Museum Exhibitions in NYC, September 15, 2025

·     Remezcla, This New York Museum Is Highlighting Latin American Dance Culture, June 2025.

·     Le Monde, Nueva York, une Histoire Musicale du New York Latino, January 4, 2022.

·     Red Bull Music Academy, A Visual History of Salsa in New York, June 13, 2017.

·     United Nations News Centre, An Illustration of Resilience and Hope in the Face of Anti‑Asian Hate, September 12, 2021.

·     United Nations News Centre (Chinese), Special Report: I Still Believe in New York—Using Art To Resolve Hatred Against Asians, September 14, 2021.

·     United Nations News, Durban +20: Forging a Creative Path in Defence of Human Rights, December 6, 2021.

·     Broadway World, Ailey Celebrates National Dance Day With Museum Of The City Of New York, September 16, 2025.

·     Fordham Observer, Exhibit Explores the “Defiant Joy” of Social Dance in New York, October 2025.

·     Mission Magazine, Urban Stomp Takes Visitors Through 200 Years of Social Dance in the City, June 2025.

·     La Voce di New York, New Museum Exhibit on Dance Invites Guests to Strut Their Stuff, April 30, 2025.

·     Chelsea News, Urban Stomp Showcases 200 Years of Dance Moves, May 2025.

·     Dance Media Newsletter, Urban Stomp Feature (PDF), May 2025.

·     DNAinfo, Salsa's Roots Traced to City's Streets in New Museum Exhibit, June 16, 2017.

·     Jezebel, Explore the History of Salsa in a New Museum Exhibit, June 15, 2017.

·     The Dance Enthusiast, New York Meets Havana at the Museum of the City of New York, June 12, 2017.

·     ArtDaily, Bilingual Exhibition Traces History of New York Salsa From Local Dance Movement to Global Phenomenon, June 12, 2017.

Interviews Related to Research

• Interviewed for article related to Lincoln Center performance: New York City: Dancer's Delight, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ The Score, June 28, 2019.

• Interviewed for the United Nations News Podcast: Durban +20 - Forging a Creative Path in Defense of Human Rights, December 4, 2021.