BalletNext
New York Live Arts
219 W 19th Street, New York City
October 27-November 7 (Tue-Fri at 7:30pm, Sat at 2pm & 7:30pm)
Now that there are seats available in response to a sold-out New York Live Arts season last February, BalletNext, a crucible for change in ballet, has added another week to its coming engagement at NYLA, October 27-November 7. Some of the season’s main attractions include a world premiere by Michele Wiles set to a jazz score by master trumpet player/composer Tom Harrell, and another Wiles world premiere created in collaboration with one of the kings of flex dancing, Jay Donn. The Harrell piece will be played live by the Tom Harrell Quintet, which features the Grammy award-winning Harrell himself on trumpet. Also on the boards are Brian Reeder’s “Surmisable Units,” which Reeder choreographed in 2014 for the company accompanied by a pianist performing on two pianos, and the return of Wiles’s premiere from last year “Ushuaia.” As usual with BalletNext, all the ballets will be accompanied by live music.
Garth Fagan Dance
The Joyce Theater
175 8th Avenue, New York City
November 3-8 (Tue-Wed at 7:30pm, Thu-Fri at 8pm, Sat at 2pm & 8pm, Sun at 2pm & 7:30pm)
On April 25, the mayor of Rochester Lovely Warren and the district’s inimitable Congresswoman Louise Slaughter were among over 450 of Rochester’s finest who dined, danced and toasted the 75th birthday of the city’s pride and joy, Garth Fagan. President Obama’s birthday greetings were read to the crowd and now, New York City dancegoers will get a chance to toast the master and Garth Fagan Dance as it celebrates its 45th anniversary with a program of premieres— one by Garth Fagan, “Dance For/With Geoffrey,” in honor of Geoffrey Holder, and another by veteran Fagan dancer Norman Pennewell. The season also features some of Fagan’s greatest works, which include “Passion Distanced” (1987) and “Mudan” (2009) as well as Fagan’s 2013 hit “No Evidence of Failure.”
Twyla Tharp’s 50th Anniversary
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center, New York City
November 17-22 (Tue-Thu at 7:30pm, Fri at 8pm, Sat at 2pm & 8pm, Sun at 2pm)
Instead of creating the expected for her 50th Anniversary Tour – a retrospective of her greatest hits – Twyla Tharp’s restless spirit demanded she choreograph two brand new dances for her troupe of 13 dancers. The ten-week cross-country celebration, which showcases the two new works, “Preludes and Fugues,” set to Bach’s “The Well-Tempered Clavier” and “Yowzie,” set to a jazz arrangement by Henry Butler and Steven Bernstein, concludes at Lincoln Center’s Koch Theater, November 17-22. The Koch engagement is presented by The Joyce Theater; a lead commissioner of the two new dances.
Trisha Brown Dance Company
Venue TBA
New York City
January 28-30
The Trisha Brown Dance Company will perform in 13 major European and American cities this fall including a 9-day engagement at the Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris, November 4-8 and 10-13 before returning to New York City for a three-day season, January 28-30 (venue TBA). In addition to appearances at Bard College (September 18) in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, and The Barnes Foundation (October 18) and Bryn Mawr College (October 23 & 24) in Philadelphia, PA, the Company will be seen abroad in Pantin, France (October 3 & 4), Ottawa, Canada (October 8), Lisbon, Portugal (November 20 & 21), Tours, France (November 24), Bourges, France (November 26 & 27), Frankfurt, Germany (December 1 & 2) and Ljubljana, Slovenia (December 5). The Company’s national/international tour will culminate in Seattle with three performances, February 4-6.
Alwin Nikolais Celebration
The Joyce Theater
175 8th Avenue, New York City
February 9-14 (Tue-Wed at 7:30pm, Thu-Fri at 8pm, Sat at 2pm & 8pm, Sun at 2pm & 7:30pm)
Would there, could there have been a Pilobolus, Momix, Mummenschanz, Philippe Decouflé, José Montalvo or a Lucy Sexton if Alwin Nikolais hadn’t, in the 1950’s, dared to turn the human body into a piece of abstract expressionism and transform the stage with projected light, slides and video into a playground of magical wit? Welcome to 2016 via 1950 at The Joyce Theater, February 9-14, when a series of Nikolais’ groundbreaking works—“Tensile Involvement,” “Gallery,” “Mechanical Organ III,” “Noumenon Mobilis” and “Crucible” command the stage courtesy of the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, the repository of “Nik’s” greatest hits.