Oct. 6, 2016
A selected guide to dance performances in New York City.
Full reviews of recent dance performances: nytimes.com/dance. A searchable guide to these and other performances is at nytimes.com/events.
CATERINA RAGO DANCE COMPANY (through Saturday) Caterina Rago is an Italian choreographer now based in New York. The title of her work for eight women is “Labir Into” (1:20), a play on the Italian word for “labyrinth,” which speaks to her theme: navigating the interior dead ends and false turns we all face on the unclear path to self-awareness. The Italian designer Pier Paolo Bisleri provides a set that turns the stage into a physical labyrinth. Costumes are by Karen Young. At 7:30 p.m., New York Live Arts, 219 West 19th Street, Chelsea, 212-924-0077, newyorklivearts.org. (Brian Schaefer)
★ COMPANY WANG RAMIREZ (Wednesday through Oct. 15) It’s not easy to blend dance styles: The result can be cute at best, or just awkward. Honji Wang trained in ballet and martial arts; Sébastien Ramirez is a b-boy. Their sharp, captivating show “Monchichi” works because the stylistic blend is seamless — and they both look great. (So does the simple, elegant set.) Ms. Wang is Korean-German, and Mr. Ramirez is French-Spanish, giving the work a global appeal. The two are also real-life partners, so there’s a subtle romantic angle, too. (0:55). Wednesday, Thursday and Oct. 15 at 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 14 at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Fishman Space, Fisher Building, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 321 Ashland Place, near Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene, 718-636-4100, bam.org. (Schaefer)
★ COMPANY XIV (Thursday through Nov. 12) Perhaps one of the first literary beauty pageants, the Judgment of Paris is a Greek myth in which the titular Trojan mortal must choose the fairest of three goddesses. Company XIV, the flirty collective created and directed by Austin McCormick, offers an adults-only interpretation of the tale and transposes it to a French dance hall where opera flair blends with burlesque naughtiness. The company’s signature style embraces elements of ballet, circus and cabaret with song, dance and overall seduction. Contains partial nudity, 16 and older (2:00). At 8 p.m., Irondale Center, 85 South Oxford Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, companyxiv.com. (Schaefer)
CRACKS OF LIGHT (through Saturday) Gibney Dance works with survivors of domestic violence throughout the year, but for October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the company puts a brighter spotlight on the issue. “Cracks of Light” is a series of performances created through the company’s community-action partnerships. Each evening features a different solo, followed by a work by the advocacy organization Sanctuary for Families, created with members of Gibney Dance. That is followed by poetry and song by young artists from the organization Girl Be Heard (1:30). At 8 p.m., Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, 280 Broadway, near Chambers Street, Lower Manhattan, 646-837-6809, gibneydance.org. (Schaefer)
DANISH DANCE THEATER (Thursday through Oct. 16) The future is dark and sleek, silver and shiny, filled with despair, but also hope. That’s a fairly well-trod conception — both visual and psychological — of what lies ahead for humanity, and it’s the world of Tim Rushton’s “Black Diamond.” Mr. Rushton illustrates his vision with an electronic score and 16 statuesque dancers vamping in front of a giant princess-cut backdrop that morphs from dark to light, making our frightening future look remarkably glamorous (1:50). Thursday through Oct. 15 at 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. performances on Oct. 15 and 16, Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue, Manhattan, 212-242-0800, joyce.org. (Schaefer)
★ FALL FOR DANCE (through Saturday) The best sampler platter of dance in town concludes on Friday and Saturday with the fifth program of exciting artist mash-ups that includes Shantala Shivalingappa with a tribute to the deity Shiva in the Kuchipudi style of classical Indian dance; Nederlands Dans Theater with a haunting, spastic work by Marco Goecke to songs by Jeff Buckley; the beloved ballet stars Alessandra Ferri and Herman Cornejo in a commissioned premiere by Wayne McGregor; and Cloud Gate 2 from Taiwan in a work inspired by that country’s street dance (approximately 2:05). At 8 p.m., City Center, 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan, 212-581-1212, nycitycenter.org. (Schaefer)
MARIA HASSABI (through Saturday) Ms. Hassabi is interested in how the performer relates to the audience and takes her time exploring that dynamic. A New York-based choreographer, she is known for slow-motion movement, allowing viewers to fixate on subtle details that might otherwise blur by. In “Staged” (approximately 1:00), part of the Crossing the Line Festival, Ms. Hassabi’s four dancers embrace stillness and sculpture, creating a quiet counterpoint to the impatience of the outside world. At 8 p.m., the Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, 212-255-5793, thekitchen.org. (Schaefer)
★ DEBORAH HAY/LAURIE ANDERSON/CULLBERG BALLET (through Sunday) Deborah Hay was a founding member of Judson Dance Theater, the radical collective that upended American modern dance in the early 1960s. More than half a century later, she still champions the primacy of internal motivation and the potency of improvisation in spirited works that veer from tranquil to frenetic and find harmony between the virtuosic and the pedestrian. “Figure a Sea” (1:00), which Ms. Hay created for the rebellious Cullberg Ballet of Sweden with an original score by Laurie Anderson, is a good example. Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., Alexander Kasser Theater, Montclair State University, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, N.J., 973-655-5112, peakperfs.org. (Schaefer)
Planning a Train Trip in Europe? New Sleeper Trains and High-Speed Routes Await.A Ramen That Merges Japan and the SouthWhat Happens to My Rent When the Building’s Tax Benefit Expires?
NIALL JONES (Thursday through Oct. 15) The New York- and Philadelphia-based dance artist Niall Jones presents “Splendor #3,” a cerebral work “seeking an embodied representation that transcends legibility,” according to a news release. Mr. Jones employs repetition as a tool to imagine alternate realities and trajectories of the elements of time, language and form. At 8 p.m. (also at 5 p.m. on Oct. 15), Gibney Dance, 280 Broadway, near Chambers Street, Lower Manhattan, 646-837-6809, gibneydance.org. (Schaefer)
★ NEW YORK CITY BALLET (through Oct. 16) The Classic NYCB program, new to the season this week, includes three Balanchine staples (“Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux,” “Western Symphony” and the resplendent “Serenade”) and Christopher Wheeldon’s “American Rhapsody” (Friday, Saturday matinee, Wednesday). On Saturday evening the company will revisit its all-Stravinsky program, which honors Balanchine’s inspired and fruitful relationship with that composer with a quintet of works in a famously spartan black-and-white aesthetic. Thursday’s program introduces Jerome Robbins’s “Dances at a Gathering” and his “Firebird,” created with Balanchine. (See website for running times.) At various times, David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center, 212-496-0600, nycballet.com. (Schaefer)
★ NY QUADRILLE (through Sunday) For this innovative series, the Joyce Theater in Chelsea temporarily reconfigured itself in the round and invited four astute New York choreographers to take turns occupying it. The last, and greenest, of them is Loni Landon, who on Friday and Sunday presents two works: “Rebuilding Sandcastles,” which The Times called a “revelation” when it debuted at the Joyce in 2013, and a new work, “Fast Love,” which ponders modern human connection (0:53). Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., 175 Eighth Avenue, Manhattan, 212-242-0800, joyce.org. (Schaefer)
RACHID OURAMDANE (Thursday through Oct. 15) In a departure from previous work that examined pressing global issues, the French-Algerian choreographer Rachid Ouramdane brings a more intimate work to New York, as part of the Crossing the Line Festival. “Tordre (Wrought)” comprises two solos that occasionally overlap, each a portrait of remarkable dancers who have worked regularly with Mr. Ouramdane: Lora Juodkaite engages in her hypnotic practice of voracious spinning; Annie Hanauer explores her relationship with her prosthetic arm (1:10). At 8 p.m., Jerome Robbins Theater, Baryshnikov Arts Center, 450 West 37th Street, Manhattan, 646-731-3200, bacnyc.org. (Schaefer)
PLATFORM 2016: LOST & FOUND (Thursday through Nov. 19) A generation of dancers and choreographers was swallowed by AIDS. The open wound left by their absence is the subject of Danspace Project’s 2016 Platform series, which covers six weeks and includes over 80 artists and 28 events that honor those who were lost. On Thursday, Bill T. Jones will talk with the Platform curators Ishmael Houston-Jones and Will Rawls about Arnie Zane, his artistic and romantic partner, who died of AIDS in 1988. Filmed excerpts from their duets will be shown. Various times and locations; more information at danspaceproject.org.
★ SHEN WEI DANCE ARTS (through Saturday) In 1977, the composer Morton Feldman and the author Samuel Beckett, two 20th-century titans of the avant-garde, first presented “Neither,” an anti-opera about wrestling and embracing the shadows within. The choreographer and visual artist Shen Wei, known for sinuous movement and for creating his own striking designs, tackles this challenging work (1:00), illustrating the tensions between light and dark through a large, ominous moving set and in the bodies of his 12 sharp dancers. At 7:30 p.m., Howard Gilman Opera House, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Avenue, at Ashland Place, Fort Greene, 718-636-4100, bam.org. (Schaefer)
LUCA VEGGETTI (through Sunday) The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater arrived in Central Park in 1877 and now hosts puppet shows and birthday parties for children. This week, the space becomes a black box theater for “Oltra Mar,” a work by the Italian choreographer Luca Veggetti aimed at adults and named for an orchestral work by the Finnish contemporary composer Kaija Saariaho. It tells the story of two lovers separated by the sea and, true to its New York setting, mixes dance with traditional and modern puppetry (0:45). At 6:30 p.m., Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater, 79th Street and West Drive, Central Park, 212-988-9093, cityparksfoundation.org. (Schaefer)
By nytimes.com