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Miriam Miller and Daniel Ulbricht of New York City Ballet in George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which is part of the company's spring season. Photo by Erin Baiano.
Catch New York City Ballet's spring season, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Martha Graham Dance Company and more
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Dance is in full bloom this April with major companies including New York City Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Martha Graham's and Trish Brown's namesake troupes all performing this month. For adventurous audiences, there are also three festivals featuring emerging choreographers and a tribute to the groundbreaking work of the Judson Dance Theater by New York Theatre Ballet.
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The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street in Chelsea
Runs April 1-13.
On the cusp of its centennial next year, this venerable modern dance troupe offers three programs over two weeks, showcasing an exciting mix of enduring classics by Martha Graham as well as contemporary works commissioned in recent years. The Graham oeuvre includes the rarely seen Deaths and Entrances (1943), inspired by the lives of the three Brontë sisters, the duet Errand into the Maze (1947) and the second act of Clytemnestra (1958). New this season is Cortege, a world premiere by the choreographic duo Baye & Asa offering a contemporary spin on Graham's 1967 Greek myth-fueled Cortege of Eagles; and Xin Ying's Letter to Nobody, a tribute to Graham that uses AI on archival footage to bring the dance legend back to the stage. Also on the lineup: Rodeo by Graham's friend and contemporary Agnes de Mille, with its celebrated Aaron Copland score played by a bluegrass ensemble, along with popular additions to the rep by Jamar Roberts and Hofesh Shechter.
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New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Midtown West
Runs April 3-5. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
While Sara Mearns is best known as a riveting principal dancer with New York City Ballet, she also embraces more experimental work. She curates and dances in this program of two world premieres: Don't go home, a dance-theatre piece co-created by Canadian choreographer Guillaume Côté and Canadian actor-writer Jonathon Young exploring the fuzzy line between being a performer and a person. Mearns' fellow NYCB principal Gilbert Bolden III is also featured. In Dance Is a Mother, Mearns continues her collaboration with choreographer and former Alvin Ailey dancer Jamar Roberts, who returns to the stage for this piece, a celebration of those who dedicate their lives to dance.
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NYU Skirball, 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South in the West Village
Runs April 4-5. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Reggie Wilson's Brooklyn-based Fist and Heel Performance Group focuses on work that explores African and African-American traditions. In his world premiere The Reclamation, he reimagines early moves and themes for our current moment, investigating what we should hold on to, and what we should discard to evolve.
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Multiple Manhattan locations.
Runs April 8-12. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets to the gala performance.
Young aspiring ballet dancers from 16 countries show off their skills at this annual competition founded by former Bolshoi Ballet and New York City Ballet dancer Valentina Kozlova, now a noted teacher. This year's edition includes two new categories, contemporary and free style, in addition to the usual classical dance. Rounds will be held Tuesday, April 8 to Thursday, April 10 at New York Live Arts in Chelsea. The gala performance and announcement of winners will take place at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater in Midtown West on Saturday, April 12.
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Bohemian National Hall, 321 East 73rd Street between First and Second Avenues on the Upper East Side
Runs April 10-11.
Former New York City Ballet soloist Tom Gold creates an intimate, in-the-round setting for Le Voyage, his new evening-length work inspired by Paris' iconic Moulin Rouge and French cinema. This world premiere is set to music by Michel Legrand and other French composers that is performed live by a pianist and jazz chanteuse. Gold's six dancers include the versatile current NYCB soloist Harrison Coll.
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92NY, 1395 Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street on the Upper East Side
Runs April 11-12.
The fourth edition of this dance fest spotlights 24 emerging choreographers. There are two components: an online dance film program, available to stream Thursday, April 10 to Sunday, April 20, along with two in-person performances at 92NY on Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12. Previous participants have gone on to illustrious careers, including Baye & Asa.
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New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Midtown West
Runs April 10-13. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets to the gala performance.
Robert Garland celebrates his second season as the artistic director of the venerable Dance Theatre of Harlem with a wide array of impressive repertory. His new work The Cookout is inspired by DTH cofounder Arthur Mitchell and the company's history of struggle and triumph. The Passage of Being is a world premiere by Jodie Gates, a former Joffrey Ballet dancer. The lineup also includes the company debut of two demanding works by 20th-century masters: George Balanchine's Donizetti Variations newly staged by former NYCB star Kyra Nichols, and William Forsythe's The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, a virtuosic explosion for five dancers. Garland's popular Return, set to classic hits by James Brown and Aretha Franklin, is also on the bill.
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Multiple La MaMa venues on East 4th Street in the East Village.
Runs April 10-May 4. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Marking its 20th anniversary, this expansive, elegantly curated festival provides an important showcase for a wide range of contemporary choreographers. Its ten programs fill multiple La MaMa spaces over four weeks—the schedule is too vast to itemize here. Many are shared bills juxtaposing works by contrasting artists. Among those presenting premieres are John Jasperse Projects (April 10-13), whose Tides (working title) features downtown luminaries Jodi Melnick and Vicky Shick; and Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company and Pat Catterson, who share a program April 18-20.
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NYU Skirball, 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South in the West Village
Runs April 11-12. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
This veteran Canadian choreographer revives his acclaimed Amour, acide et noix, set to Vivaldi's The Four Seasons and performed by four nude dancers. Known for his unique choreographic style made up of repetition and short phrasing, Léveillé explores isolation, tenderness and harshness in this 2001 work.---
The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street in Chelsea
Runs April 15-20. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
BODYTRAFFIC, a vibrant and adventurous company from Los Angeles, returns to The Joyce with an intriguing program of three New York premieres. Two are by well-regarded choreographers Matthew Neenan and Trey McIntyre, and the last is by up-and-comer Juel D. Lane. McIntyre's Mayday is inspired by the life and music of Buddy Holly. Neenan's emotional I Forgot the Start explores resilience and connection. Lane's Incense Burning on a Saturday Morning: The Maestro features projections and immersive lighting and pays tribute to Ernie Barnes, a legendary Los Angeles artist.
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NYU Skirball, 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South in the West Village
Runs April 18-19.
Distinctive choreographer Seán Curran offers a double bill. Danced to a score by Christopher Wheeldon regular Joby Talbot, Curran's world premiere PATH centers on the Camino de Santiago, the ancient Catholic pilgrimage route across northern Spain. It's paired with Curran's 2018 work Everywhere All the Time examining how humans interact with the natural environment. Set to music by Donnacha Dennehy, it features costumes by Liliana Casabal, founder of the fashion label Morgane Le Fay.
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Multiple Upper East Side locations.
This brand-new festival is thinking big from the get-go with seven days of programming at a pair of storied Upper East Side venues: 92NY's Harkness Dance Center and Works & Process at the Guggenheim. In addition to performances by many prominent tap, hip-hop, street dance, flamenco, Irish step dance and Kathak Indian dance artists, there will be workshops at additional neighborhood venues. Co-curator Caleb Teicher is doing post-performance talkbacks, and some programs will be available to watch online.
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The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street in Chelsea
Runs April 22-27.
Kyle Abraham's talented dancers perform repertory by three contrasting choreographers alongside his fast-paced quartet 2x4. Andrea Miller's YEAR examines identity in our online era. Paul Singh's Just Your Two Wrists explores themes of loss and resilience. Shell of A Shell of The Shell by Rena Butler delves into the impact of society on individuals.
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David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, 20 Lincoln Center Plaza at 63rd Street and Columbus Avenue in Lincoln Square
Runs April 22-June 1.
With six weeks jam-packed with exceptional programs, New York City Ballet's spring season includes two evenings devoted to cofounder George Balanchine spanning 50 years of works, from the starkly innovative Apollo (1928) to the lavish spectacle of Vienna Waltzes (1977). There's more waltzing in his masterpiece La Valse, part of an intriguing all-Ravel program. Jerome Robbins is well represented, including the welcome return of his final ballet Brandenburg (1997). There is also plenty of contemporary choreography on tap, such as works by Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, Kyle Abraham, Caili Quan and Lynne Taylor-Corbett, who passed away in January. Longtime principal dancer Andrew Veyette gives a special farewell performance on May 25, and the season closes with Balanchine's enchanting A Midsummer Night's Dream.
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Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South at Thompson Street in the West Village
Runs April 25-26.
New York Theatre Ballet goes post-modern with this fascinating program, performing works by several leading lights of the Judson Dance Theater, a collective of adventurous dance artists whose early 1960s experiments were hugely influential. Fittingly, the troupe performs these seminal works in the venue where they began. Two pieces on the program, Beethoven/1999 and A Plain Romance Explained/Keith's Solo, are by David Gordon, who created sly, witty, multilayered works for many decades. Also on the lineup: Trisha Brown's Spanish Dance and An Eccentric Beauty, Revisited by James Waring, an innovative choreographer of the era who died young.
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The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street in Chelsea
Runs April 29-May 4.
The company continues to revive seminal works by its late founder Trisha Brown. This program includes a pair of pieces created in collaboration with innovative artists who helped her develop her intricate, fluid style. In Opal Loop (1980), dancers move with spontaneity and abandon through a "cloud sculpture" by Japanese fog artist Fujiko Nakaya. Son of Gone Fishin' (1981) revels in Brown's mathematical complexity and is set to a Robert Ashley score. Rounding out the lineup is Time again, a commissioned premiere by Australian dancer-choreographer Lee Serle, who previously performed with the company.
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Susan Reiter covers dance for TDF Stages.
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