6 Performance Offerings Worth Checking Out This February

February 4, 2025

Ballet and musical premieres, U.S. debuts, and a raucous celebration of a long-awaited theater opening guarantee a packed performance calendar this February. Here’s what’s at the top of our list.

A Mighty Opening

One dancer leans back, arms thrown overhead, to avoid the other's leg as it's kicked high overhead. Both dancers' mouths are open as though yelling. One wears sparkly red and pearls; the other wears a pair of dark overalls over a patterned button-down.
Our Mighty Groove. Photo by Camilla Greenwell, courtesy Sadler’s Wells.

LONDON  The inaugural production of Sadler’s Wells East, Our Mighty Groove, makes the audience both spectator and participant in the club dance extravaganza. A remixed version of a work Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu first premiered in 2013 and expanded into a full-length production in 2015, this larger-scale iteration sees the professional dancers of Uchenna joined by a cast of young East Londoners. The show concludes with a 30-minute afterparty. Feb. 6–9. sadlerswells.com.

Rite of Passage

Two motorcycles dangle over the heads of two pairs of naked dancers who lunge toward the center. Downstage and between them, another naked dancer reclines in a rolling chair facing stage left; a dancer largely hidden beneath dark fabric kneels at her feet. A dense forest is projected onto the back wall, except for a tall black box at the center.
Florentina Holzinger’s TANZ. Photo by Nada Žgank, courtesy Helene Davis PR.

NEW YORK CITY  The framework of Florentina Holzinger’s TANZ is that of an “action ballet” class taught by Beatrice Cordua, the first woman to dance Le Sacre du Printemps in the nude. Rituals aimed toward mastery of the body elicit supernatural abilities in the intergenerational, all-female cast. The work receives its North American premiere at NYU Skirball, Feb. 14–15. nyuskirball.org.

Making Moves in Madison

A triptych of leaping dancers in white leotards and skirts, pink tights, and pointe shoes.
Madison Ballet. Photo by Tom Davenport, courtesy Madison Ballet.

MADISON, WI  Madison Ballet has a busy month ahead. For its Mozart + More program (Feb. 14–23), there are new works by artistic director Ja’ Malik and Richard Walters, plus the company premieres of Stephanie Martinez’s The Time That Runs Away (a co-production with American Repertory Ballet) and Ja’ Malik’s The Hour Before. Then, on Feb. 28, the company teams up with Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, with Ja’ Malik choreographing a premiere to a selection of movements from Oliver Davis’ Liberty Suite played live. madisonballet.org.

Coincidentally…

Six dancers in rehearsal wear and pointe shoes pique to retiré back, working side arm in middle fifth.
Miami City Ballet rehearsing Pam Tanowitz’s Coincident Dances. Photo by Felix Busso, courtesy The PR Social.

MIAMI  Pam Tanowitz choreographs her first commission for Miami City Ballet, Coincident Dances, after previously creating Gustave Le Gray No. 1 in 2019 on two dancers each from MCB and Dance Theatre of Harlem. The dream team of collaborators for the new ballet includes music by composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery, costumes from Reid & Harriet, and lighting by Brandon Stirling Baker. It’ll be book­ended by a pair of Balanchines: Walpurgisnacht Ballet and La Valse. Feb. 14–March 9. miamicityballet.org.

A Whole New Animal

Herman Cornejo in rehearsal. He is shown from the waist up, gazing forward intently as he raises a hand in front of him.
Herman Cornejo. Photo by Felix Busso, courtesy The PR Social.

NEW YORK CITY  Reviving Vaslav Nijinsky’s final, unfinished work, Caaporá, based on an indigenous Guarani legend about the origins of the urutaú bird, has been a passion project of ballet star Herman Cornejo’s for several years. Choreographed by Anabella Tuliano and performed by Cornejo alongside Grupo Cadabra, the evening-length work, inspired by research into the lost ballet, has only ever been seen in Cornejo’s native Argentina—until now. Anima Animal makes its U.S. premiere at The Joyce Theater Feb. 18–23. animatheshow.com.

A Presidential Parley

A headshot of Daniel J. Watts is set beside a portrait of Jon Rua, who extends one arm to the side as the other tucks behind his head.
Daniel J. Watts and Jon Rua co-choreographed 3 Summers of Lincoln. Photos by Nathan Johnson, courtesy La Jolla Playhouse; courtesy La Jolla Playhouse.

LA JOLLA, CA  President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass met three times as the former sought an end to the American Civil War. That history forms the basis of 3 Summers of Lincoln, a new musical premiering at La Jolla Playhouse this month with director Christopher Ashley at the helm. Choreography is by Jon Rua and Daniel J. Watts (who also co-wrote the lyrics with book writer Joe DiPietro). Feb. 18–March 23. lajollaplayhouse.org.