TDF Stages

Catch international companies, Broadway choreographers and politically minded pieces

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This month's roundup of intriguing dance events includes pieces from three choreographers who've worked on Broadway; visiting companies from New Zealand, Ireland and Spain; politically charged programs and a celebration of Merce Cunningham as his centennial draws to a close. Of the 11 performances we're highlighting, at press time we have TDF member discounts to four, and we expect to have others in the coming weeks. It's best to check our offers daily as ticket availability changes frequently.

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Black Grace
Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street

Runs October 29-November 3. At press time, discount tickets were available for Black Grace.

Hailing from New Zealand, this troupe makes its Joyce debut with its contemporary take on traditional Samoan and Maori dance. The program features pieces choreographed by its founder Neil Ieremia that span the company's 24-year history, with musical accompaniment ranging from prerecorded Vivaldi to live singing, drumming and chanting.

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Ephrat Asherie Dance
Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street

Runs November 5-7.

Celebrated for her vibrant performances in works by Michelle Dorrance, Israeli-born Asherie brings her distinctive blend of breaking, hip-hop and voguing to the Joyce. Her full-evening piece Odeon features seven dancers and is a collaboration with her brother, jazz pianist Ehud Asherie. His syncopated score for four musicians incorporates the music of Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth, who mixed classical and Afro-Brazilian styles.

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Big Dance Theater
NYU Skirball, 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square

Runs November 8-9. At press time, discount tickets were available for Big Dance Theater.

Fresh off her rave reviews for choreographing David Byrne's American Utopia on Broadway, Annie-B Parson presents a trio of works for her company Big Dance Theater, which is known for using a variety of artistic mediums for inspiration. Loosely based on an Ionesco play, The Road Awaits Us is staged as a birthday party for dance luminaries such as Bebe Miller, George Faison and Black-Eyed Susan. The duet Ballet Dance is influenced by repeated viewings of Balanchine's Agon as well as John Haskell's novel The Complete Ballet. And Paul Lazar reprises his solo Cage Shuffle: redux in which he delivers a series of one-minute lectures by John Cage while performing Parson's movements.

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Camille A. Brown & Dancers: Mr. TOL E. RAncE
Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street

Runs November 9-10.

Since earning a Tony nomination for choreographing Choir Boy on Broadway last season, Camille A. Brown has been on a roll -- her work can currently be seen in the Public Theater's revival of For Colored Girls and in the Metropolitan Opera's new staging of Porgy and Bess. For her eponymous company's return to the Joyce, Brown reprises Mr. TOL E. RAncE, the Bessie Award-winning piece that launched her trilogy exploring black identity. The hour-long work incorporates animation, comedy and live music by Scott Patterson, and is both a celebration of the tenacity of black performers as well as a deconstruction of oppressive cultural stereotypes.

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Colin Dunne
Baryshnikov Arts Center, 450 West 37th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues

Runs November 14-16. At press time, discount tickets were available for Colin Dunne.

Irish dancer-choreographer Colin Dunne performs his solo piece Concert, set to the challenging rhythms of fiddle player Tommie Potts' 1972 album The Liffey Banks, a collection of emotional Irish folk songs.

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Tom Gold Dance
Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street between Madison and Park Avenues

Runs November 15-16.

Former New York City Ballet soloist Tom Gold presents a full-length world premiere with his plucky chamber-size troupe. His ballet Spectral Preludes is set to Lera Auerbach's 24 Preludes for Piano, which will be performed by pianist Arthur Williford.

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Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca
Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street

Runs November 19-December 1.

Expect two weeks of robust, soul-stirring flamenco music and dance when Soledad Barrio and her company return to the Joyce with a program of solos, duets and ensemble pieces. Barrio's fierce, semi-improvised solos are always a highlight.

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Elisa Monte Dance: Emerged Nation
The Flea Theater, 20 Thomas Street between Broadway and Church Street

Runs November 21-24.

Elisa Monte Dance artistic director Tiffany Rea-Fisher presents the world premiere of her politically charged full-evening work Emerged Nation. Its three sections examine a country in the midst of transition as immigration, cultural acclimation and diversity dominate our cultural conversation.

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The Chase Brock Experience: The Four Seasons
Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues

Runs November 21-December 8.

Last season Chase Brock choreographed Be More Chill on Broadway, and soon he'll be off to London to work on the musical's West End premiere. But first, his dance-theatre company is reviving his 2008 evening-length work The Four Seasons about climate change. During this narrative piece for 11 dancers, Vivaldi's namesake composition is punctuated with increasingly terrifying weather reports as an American community in the near future copes with impending environmental collapse.

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Ballet Hispánico
Apollo Theater, 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Frederick Douglass Boulevards

Runs November 22-23. At press time, discount tickets were available for Ballet Hispánico.

Ballet Hispánico's program at the Apollo features a trio of very personal works by women choreographers, including a world premiere by the in-demand Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. Her Tiburones explores the problematic stereotyping of Latinx people, particularly in the media. Andrea Miller's Naci celebrates the Sephardic culture of Spain, particularly its Moorish influences. Michelle Manzanales' Con Brazos Abiertos draws on her experiences growing up Mexican-American in Texas.

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Merce Cunningham Centennial Celebration
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1271 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street

Runs November 24-25.

There's still time to mark Cunningham's centennial, which comes to a close next month. This fete opens with an arrangement of solos that make excellent use of the Guggenheim's intimate theatre. Dylan Crossman and Jamie Scott -- members of the final Cunningham roster before the company shut down -- will perform duets representing several decades of his choreography. The evening concludes with a discussion featuring Cunningham dancers from multiple generations.

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Susan Reiter regularly covers dance for TDF Stages.

Top image: Black Grace. Photo by John McDermott.

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