About
Leyda “Lady Sol” Garcia is a proud Mexican-American street dance professional, mother, and wife from Chicago who is globally recognized as a Teaching Artist, Creative Director, Manager, and Cultural Ambassador. She has worked with major media networks including MTV, BET, NBC, TBS and alongside super-stars Damian Marley, Busta Rhymes, Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill, Cham, Dancehall Queen Patra, Mr. Vegas, Elephant Man, Cedric the Entertainer and Ellen Degeneres. Locally, she is a Reggae/Dancehall documentarian, dance teacher, and event host who curates @chicagodancehall IG.
Lady Sol is responsible for bringing Chicago’s Footwork/Juke culture to global stages via King Charles and the FootworKINGz who have performed with Madonna, Will.I.Am, Missy Elliott, Chicago Sinfonietta, IBM, Nike and Red Bull. She has produced and choreographed FootworKINGz dance theater shows at NYC’s Apollo Theater, Lincoln Center, and Kennedy Center in DC.
She is a Co-Founder of Kuumba Lynx (KL), an internationally recognized arts organization that empowers young people through the cultivation of Hip-Hop arts and social activism. She is a present Teaching Artist with Urban Gateways and a Professional Development Trainer with Everybody Dance Now Chicago. Lady Sol is also is a self-proclaimed Professor of Practice who has taught fusions of Afro-Caribbean movement workshops at Columbia College, Stanford University, Northwestern U and University of Chicago. In 2015, she partnered with Jessica “Phoenix” Brundidge and Co-Founded FIYAH Fit USA, an Afro-Caribbean music and dance fitness experience that celebrates women.
In 2018 Lady Sol joined the 3Arts family as a new awardee for her work as a teaching artist. This grant will help support her new, developing work, “Lady Sol’s Dance Diary” an autobiographical solo theater show which she has self-coined as a “dance-dramedy.” Lady Sol humorously explores music industry politics, cross-cultural identity, and the growing pains of uncovering self-love. Her evolving studies include independent research and teaching workshops specific to Jamaican Reggae/Dancehall culture encompassing connections to American Hip Hop. She travels annually to Jamaica with colleague and teacher, Jessica Phoenix. Lady Sol's continuous learning takes place in conversations with local residents and directly with world renown Dancehall practitioners Orville “The Professor” Hall and Chad “Global Bob” Torrington.
Among her many notable teachers, Lady Sol’s immense gratitude is endowed to her mother Maria Garcia and her life long mentor Efe McWorter. Both have granted Leyda priceless wisdom and purpose as a teaching artist. “I intend to continue preserving urban culture by promoting, teaching, and presenting it locally and globally.” says a passionate Lady Sol.
Lady Sol is responsible for bringing Chicago’s Footwork/Juke culture to global stages via King Charles and the FootworKINGz who have performed with Madonna, Will.I.Am, Missy Elliott, Chicago Sinfonietta, IBM, Nike and Red Bull. She has produced and choreographed FootworKINGz dance theater shows at NYC’s Apollo Theater, Lincoln Center, and Kennedy Center in DC.
She is a Co-Founder of Kuumba Lynx (KL), an internationally recognized arts organization that empowers young people through the cultivation of Hip-Hop arts and social activism. She is a present Teaching Artist with Urban Gateways and a Professional Development Trainer with Everybody Dance Now Chicago. Lady Sol is also is a self-proclaimed Professor of Practice who has taught fusions of Afro-Caribbean movement workshops at Columbia College, Stanford University, Northwestern U and University of Chicago. In 2015, she partnered with Jessica “Phoenix” Brundidge and Co-Founded FIYAH Fit USA, an Afro-Caribbean music and dance fitness experience that celebrates women.
In 2018 Lady Sol joined the 3Arts family as a new awardee for her work as a teaching artist. This grant will help support her new, developing work, “Lady Sol’s Dance Diary” an autobiographical solo theater show which she has self-coined as a “dance-dramedy.” Lady Sol humorously explores music industry politics, cross-cultural identity, and the growing pains of uncovering self-love. Her evolving studies include independent research and teaching workshops specific to Jamaican Reggae/Dancehall culture encompassing connections to American Hip Hop. She travels annually to Jamaica with colleague and teacher, Jessica Phoenix. Lady Sol's continuous learning takes place in conversations with local residents and directly with world renown Dancehall practitioners Orville “The Professor” Hall and Chad “Global Bob” Torrington.
Among her many notable teachers, Lady Sol’s immense gratitude is endowed to her mother Maria Garcia and her life long mentor Efe McWorter. Both have granted Leyda priceless wisdom and purpose as a teaching artist. “I intend to continue preserving urban culture by promoting, teaching, and presenting it locally and globally.” says a passionate Lady Sol.
