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7 April Performance Picks Ushering in Spring With Style

March 31, 2022

April’s performance calendar is filled with happy returns, from Broadway once again welcoming Camille A. Brown to a fresh cohort of contemporary artists at Danspace Project for its Platform 2022. Here’s what’s piqued our interest.

Brown Is Back on Broadway

A portrait of Camille A. Brown. She gazes intently over one shoulder, not acknowledging the camera. Her red lipstick is a few shades darker than her long-sleeved blouse. Her braids are wrapped in a gold patterned head wrap so they sit piled at the back of her head.
Camille A. Brown. Photo by Josefina Santos, Courtesy Polk & Co.

NEW YORK CITY The inimitable Camille A. Brown makes her Broadway directorial debut with for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, for which she will also choreograph. The first Broadway revival of the acclaimed choreo-poem by Ntozake­ Shange, which illuminates the inner lives of seven Black women, begins previews April 1 at the Booth Theatre (where it premiered in 1976) and is expected to officially open on April 20. forcoloredgirlsbway.com. 

International Delights

A dancer on a dark stage presses their palms against their ribcage, head jutting down towards them as their torso pulls away. Their skin is lit fuchsia in the stage lights, brightly contrasting with the close-fitting peach shirt they wear.
Royal Ballet of Flanders in Drew Jacoby’s Jack. Photo by Foteini Christofilopoulou, Courtesy Dance Salad Festival

HOUSTON  After two years with few visitors from abroad, the Dance Salad Festival promises a feast of international artists for its 25th edition. Planned performers include Hofesh Shechter Company, Dresden Semperoper Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet’s Kammerballetten, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Dunia Dance Theatre and Laboration Art Company. April 14–16. dancesalad.org.

Closing the Distance

Eiko Otake's mouth opens as she runs, hands pulling at the faded white shirt she wears. She looks to DonChristian Jones, a little blurry as he runs past the camera, his off-white shirt pulled just to one shoulder to bare most of his chest.
Eiko Otake with DonChristian Jones in her Distance is Malleable. Photo by Ben McKeown, Courtesy NYU Skirball

NEW YORK CITY  Eiko Otake’s ever-evolving Distance is Malleable (Duet Project) has seen the lauded dancer-choreographer partner with 23 artists, living and dead, who span ages, disciplines and cultures. For the New York premiere at NYU Skirball, she’ll perform with revered choreographer Ishmael Houston-Jones, painter and rapper DonChristian Jones, avant-garde pianist Margaret Leng Tan and poet Iris McCloughan. April 15–17. nyuskirball.org.

Out and Away

Four dancers in white pause on a blue-lit stage. Two balance with their downstage leg extended low behind them, leaning forward with their arms extended side, holding hands. Two other dancers kneel behind them, holding the standing dancers' ankles to provide a counterbalance.
Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, Myssi Robinson, Douglas Gillespie and Kellie Ann Lynch in A(Way) Out of My Body. Photo by Jack Beal, Courtesy NYU Skirball

NEW YORK CITY  The idea of out-of-body experiences serves as a starting point to consider today’s body politic, the search for personal truths and more in David Dorfman Dance’s (A)Way Out of My Body. The cast of six includes Dorfman himself and his wife, Lisa Race. What the choreographer says might be his most personal work yet is set to premiere at NYU Skirball April 22–23. nyuskirball.org.

Digging In

Amit Patel and Ishika Seth pose against a dark backdrop, both wearing red costumes and a combination of silver and gold jewelry. Seth looks over her left shoulder, extending her left arm with her palm upraised, her right hand matching the mudra. Patel balances on one leg directly behind her, face turned in profile towards his upraised right arm, elbow bent and palm to the ceiling.
Amit Patel and Ishika Seth. Photo by Genevieve  Parker, Courtesy John Hill PR

SAN FRANCISCO  Amit Patel and Ishika Seth excavate the Ramayana, one of India’s most significant epic poems, for untold perspectives in Unearthed. The Indian contemporary work looks to give voice to the women and the villain of the tale, drawing parallels to contemporary issues through Seth’s viewpoint as an immigrant and mother and Patel’s as a queer, first-generation Indian American. The work is planned to premiere at ODC Theater April 22–23. odc.dance.

Spring at City Ballet

Pam Tanowitz stands in a wide second position at the front of a studio, smiling as she brings one hand to her chin. Dancers wearing layers are blurry in the foreground and in the mirror behind her.
Pam Tanowitz rehearsing with New York City Ballet. Photo by Erin Baiano, Courtesy NYCB

NEW YORK CITY  For the company premiere of Pam Tanowitz’s Gustave le Gray No. 1, New York City Ballet will be joined by guest artists from Dance Theatre of Harlem, which originated the work with Miami City Ballet in 2019. It will mark the first time NYCB and DTH have shared a Lincoln Center stage in 20 years. Appearing alongside it on the Visionary Voices program, beginning April 22, will be Tanowitz’s­ second commission for the company and repeat runs of Justin Peck’s Partita and Jamar Roberts’ Emanon—In Two Movements. One more premiere, this time from Silas Farley, is on tap; featuring a score by David K. Israel that’s based on compositional exchanges between George Balanchine and Igor Stravinsky, it will debut during the company’s spring gala on May 5, part of the 50th-anniversary celebration of NYCB’s 1972 Stravinsky Festival. nycballet.com.

Dreaming at Danspace

Ogemdi Ude looks at the camera, weight falling into her right leg as she lightly raises her bent arms to her left. She wears a light blue denim jacket over white jeans and a white shirt. Behind her, an industrial-seeming grey-painted wall and the beginning of an orange-railing to either steps or a ramp.
Ogemdi Ude. Photo by Sophie Schwartz, Courtesy Danspace Project

NEW YORK CITY  Danspace Project returns to in-person performances at St. Mark’s Church with Platform 2022: The Dream of the Audience (Part II). Named for and inspired by a 1977 poem by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, which addresses the audience as “a distant relative,” this year’s iteration furthers last year’s theme with a fresh cohort of artists: mayfield brooks, Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener, iele paloumpis and Ogemdi Ude. April 23–June 11. danspaceproject.org.

amit patel broadway camille a. brown dance salad festival dance theatre of harlem danspace project david dorfman david dorfman dance donchristian jones dresden semperoper ballet dunia dance theatre eiko otake hofesh shechter company iele paloumpis iris mccloughan ishika seth ishmael houston-jones jamar roberts justin peck laboration art company lisa race margaret leng tan mayfield brooks new york city ballet ntozake shange nyu skirball ogemdi ude pam tanowitz rashaun mitchell + silas riener royal ballet of flanders royal danish ballet kammerballetten silas farley