Ballet performers **Julie Buena‍ ‍**and **Isaiah Newby**.

On a quiet November night in SoHo—where luxury storefronts glow and the creative undercurrent hums just beneath the concrete—POSH HQ became the site of something far more intimate than a standard exhibition.

The Weight of Worth, co-curated by Josh Sauceda and Karley Wasaff, unfolded as a deeply human inquiry disguised as an art event: What does it mean to show up in a world that constantly demands more?

The evening refused to let that question sit idle. Instead, it stretched across screens, choreography, paint strokes, and sound—creating a hybrid of mediums and eras that felt both monumental and startlingly tender.

Creative director, producer and choreographer, Karley Wasaff gives an opening speech in a ceremony-style environment - aiding the lore and outline of the night.

At the heart of the night was Wasaff’s world premiere ballet duet, a work that stripped classical ballet of its perfectionist sheen and exposed the emotional negotiations underneath.

The dancers didn’t just move—they revealed. Julie Buena and Isaiah Newby trembled through hesitation, collapsed into vulnerability, and rebuilt themselves mid-phrase. The choreography captured the secret battles we wage within our bodies: the pursuit of excellence, the pressure to be flawless, the ache of questioning our own worth. In addition to a performance, VIP ticket holders were allowed to interact with the dancers via a digitalized magical 8-ball game where the choreography fell into the hands of them who was brave enough to step to the alter.

Surrounded by a halo of digital screens, the ballet became something more than a performance. It felt like watching two human beings think with their muscles—unraveling, recalibrating, daring to take up space despite the fear of being “not enough.”

It was classical discipline meeting contemporary vulnerability, the past and future folding into one fragile, powerful moment.

Encircling the duet was a meticulously curated digital exhibition put together by Sauceda and Wasaff in partnership with open-call platform HUG. This was an ecosystem of generative pieces, AI portraits, surreal motion worlds, and intimate visual confessions. Each artwork felt like a psychological fragment of the ballet, expanding the narrative outward into digital language.

Featured artists included:

The works didn’t aim for spectacle—they aimed for resonance. Each screen offered a new entry point into self-worth, identity, and the invisible pressures that shape our internal architecture.

While the ballet and digital art gallery offered emotional release and reflection, the evening’s energy was also grounded by two forces.

Bleu Pablo’s vivid strokes unfolded as a direct response to the night’s themes—balancing chaos with intention, echoing the dancers’ physical vulnerability through color and texture. His canvas became a living companion to the performance.

DJ Domo SX Crazy shaped the emotional temperature of the event with a set that moved from atmospheric introspection to rhythmic uplift. His soundscape held the night together—guiding guests through the exhibition, underscoring the ballet’s emotional tension, and turning the reception into a communal pulse. Domo’s presence served as a connective tissue.

Richard of Harlem Fine Arts in attendance front row.

POSH HQ has hosted countless creative activations, but The Weight of Worth felt singular. The venue’s sleek design, ballroom like architecture, and warm, community-forward atmosphere made it the perfect vessel for a night that demanded both stillness and stimulation.

Guests didn’t simply watch—they absorbed. They wandered. They lingered. They asked questions of themselves that the artwork gently insisted upon. The result was a room full of people who, even after the final applause, stayed rooted in conversation and introspection.

In collaboration with: HUG, POSH, TBD Products, Exchange.Art, and BONK. The night became a living example of what creative ecosystems can generate when they function not as separate entities, but as a unified cultural engine.

When the final guests stepped back onto Crosby Street, something lingered—an internal shift, a softness, a recognition of the delicate work of being human. The Weight of Worth didn’t offer a solution. It offered space—space to question, to breathe, to witness oneself reflected across multiple mediums.

And in that space, the answer revealed itself quietly: Showing up is its own kind of worth.

A group photo of the after party crew shortly after the main exhibition ended.

Writing and photo by Josh Sauceda

The Weight of Worth: A One-Night Collision of Ballet, Digital Art, and the Anatomy of Being Enough

Arete Is Becoming Fashion’s New International Discovery Engine