George C. Wolfe's Shuffle Along, or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed returns this month for two performances at Lincoln Center, ten years after its abrupt Broadway closing.

Three women from the 2016 ensemble—Lisa LaTouche, Karissa Royster, and Pamela Yasutake—are returning to the project, and the location carries weight. Lincoln Center stands just steps from the former 63rd Street Music Hall, where the original Shuffle Along premiered in 1921. That venue sat in the Lincoln Square neighborhood beside what was then known as San Juan Hill, a Black and brown neighborhood razed partly to make way for the Lincoln Center campus. The dancers describe ongoing patterns of erasure of artists and communities of color—which, they say, is precisely why Shuffle Along and its return matter.

The original show made history. Written by Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles, with music by Eubie Blake and lyrics by Noble Sissle, Shuffle Along became the first major all-Black musical comedy hit on Broadway when it opened in 1921. It brought jazz and ragtime to the Great White Way, and its dynamic chorus—performing choreography by Charles Davis and Lawrence Deas—influenced industry giants like Florenz Ziegfeld. Yet the show slipped into a historical footnote.

Wolfe's 2016 revival, with a revised libretto and his own direction, ran only four months. But as in 1921, the dancing stood out, choreographed by tap luminary Savion Glover.

For the returning cast, the show's material lands differently now. "The show has a song called 'They Won't Remember You,'" Royster says. "There's something interesting about acting and dancing in this number about the original cast, about how their lives and their significant role in dance and theater got swept under the rug." The music and dance of Shuffle Along are landmarks in the trajectory of American arts, and their persistence in the historical record testifies to the people and movements that produced them. "We are tapping in, literally and figuratively, to the source and the sauce of this country," LaTouche says.

The dancers also point to a changed political climate. "When we were heading into the production in 2016, it was a different landscape," Yasutake says. "I think now we're at a place where, especially in New York City, there's been this huge shift in people recognizing a need for dramatic change. Being able to approach [the show] at a time where people need to feel that empowerment—I think it sets us up to have a great opportunity as artists."

A decade has changed the performers as well as the world around them. Many cast members have started families. "A lot of life has been lived in 10 years!" Yasutake says. "We're reconciling all of that with where we are physically, mentally."

Royster is several months postpartum. "I'm walking into the space a little different," she says. "I'm going into this 10 years wiser. Recently I've been looking at some clips of what we did. I was just reminded that we were all really saying something."

All three dancers want the whole audience to see the show, but they are especially interested in Black youth seeing Black history onstage. "We finally get to finish our assignment," LaTouche says. And no matter who comes, she concludes, "they're going to hear us."