By Rachel Straus
February 4 and 5 @ 8:00 p.m.
Miro Magloire’s New Chamber Ballet at City Center
Magloire’s choreographic inspiration is music. Lately, the German-born, composer-choreographer has been inviting emerging dance makers to his evenings at City Center’s studio. The program will include three world premieres: Constantine Baecher’s Sketches Of A Woman Remembering (a trio to music by Debussy), Emery LeCrone’s solo to a violin sonata by Saint-Saens, and another trio by Magloire, which will uncharacteristically be performed in near silence.
February 7 @ 7 p.m.
Two films by former Cunningham filmmaker-in-residence Charles Atlas will be screened at the Baryshnikov Arts Center. The first, Sounddance (1975), includes a percussive score by David Tudor. The second, Pond Way (1998), features a pointillist backdrop by Roy Lichtenstein and a Brian Eno score, said to be mesmerizing. Regardless of the sounds, the Cunningham dancers possess a physicality found nowhere else. Think panther meets machine.
February 8-13 (curtain times vary)
Ronald K. Brown/Evidence at the Joyce Theater
Brown’s 25th anniversary season will include the world premiere of On Earth Together, set to music by Stevie Wonder (program A only). The Brooklyn-born choreographer grew up performing modern dance, but he found his choreographic voice through Cuban, Caribbean, and West African dance vocabularies. His work is joyous and thoughtful, a rare combination.
February 11 and 12 @ 7 p.m.
Dancemopolitan presents Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion and Friends (Joe’s Pub)
Called Heartbreak and Homies, this cabaret-style, laidback Valentine’s day-inspired event should be sweetly sly and definitely silly, thanks to the invited dancers, which include Alex Escalante and Faye Driscoll. Out Magazine recently called Abraham, who will perform, one of New York’s 100 most eligible gay bachelors.
February 15-20 (curtain times vary)
Buglisi Dance Theatre at the Joyce Theater
Artistic Director Jacqulyn Buglisi made a name performing principal roles with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Her 17-year-old troupe offers highly dramatic dances that feature strong women. Buglisi’s choreography is painterly, occasionally overwrought, but always beautifully performed. For her New York season, she will present two world premieres: Letters of Love on Ripped Paper and Requiem.
February 22 – March 6 (curtain times vary)
Paul Taylor Dance Company at City Center
In 12 days, the company will unfurl 16 dances by its namesake choreographer. Two works—Phantasmagoria and Three Dubious Memories—are New York premieres. One—Orbs (set to Beethoven’s late string quartets)—is a revival. The tickets for March 1 have been slashed to “Great Depression Special Prices:” $19.29 for all seats normally $25-$150, $5 for all seats normally $10.
February 19 @ 2 p.m., February 23 @ 7:30 p.m. , February 25 @ 8 p.m., and February 26 @ 8 p.m.
New New York City Ballet work by Benjamin Millepied (David H. Koch Theater)
With a commissioned score by David Lang, who won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Music, Millepied’s Plainspoken promises to be a well-attended City Ballet event. The work premiered last summer at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, months before Millepied became renowned as the ballet consultant for Darren Aronofsky’s vampire film Black Swan. Plainspoken, says Millepied, is inspired by the personalities of the dancers who helped realize the ballet.
February 24 @ 8 p.m.
Guitar maestro Paco Peña and his Flamenco Dance Company will present their new production Flamenco Vivo, which includes a cast of guitarists, percussionists, vocalists and three male dancers—Ángel Muñoz, Ramón Martinez, and Charo Espino. This should be a Gypsy-style, testosterone-fueled, must-see event. Ole!
February 25 and 26 at 8 p.m. and at 3 p.m. on the 27th
As indicated by the title of Williams’ latest work, this dance-theater choreographer isn’t into minimalism. Mumbo-jumbo will reference controversial 19th century juvenile literature, which traffics in xenophobia and racism. It might pack a punch.
February 27 and 28 at 7:30 p.m.
Guggenheim Museum’s Works + Process: John Zorn, Donald Byrd, Pam Tamowitz
Choreographers Donald Byrd and Pam Tanowitz each create new works, commissioned by Works & Process, set to the music of composer John Zorn. Byrd, known for his beautiful yet volatile work, will choreograph a piece with his Seattle-based company Spectrum Dance Theater set to Zorn’s ∴ played by pianist Stephen Drury. Tanowitz, known for her unflinchingly postmodern treatment of classical dance, sets a work to Zorn’s Femina, written as a tribute to the rich legacy of women in the arts. (Taken verbatim from Guggenheim website)
Tags: 92nd St. Y, Baryshnikov Arts Center, City Center, Joe's Pub, Joyce Theater, New York City Ballet, Town Hall