News

8 Performances Heating Up Stages This January

January 6, 2025

Festivals, revivals, premieres, tours—the weather might be chilly, but performance calendars are anything but this January.

Treading New Ground

Two dancers lie on a wooden floor gazing up at the camera, their legs intertwining and disappearing beneath multicolored streamers.
Noa Rui-Piin Weiss and Miranda Brown. Photo by Lily Cole, courtesy Janet Stapleton PR.

NEW YORK CITY  Pioneers Go East Collective puts on its third Out-FRONT! Festival, centering LGBTQ+ and feminist voices, at Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Fisher space and Judson Church Jan. 7–13. On the docket are performances by Miranda Brown + Noa Rui-Piin Weiss, Blaze Ferrer, Kyle Marshall Choreography, Stuart B Meyers, Angie Pittman, jill sigman/thinkdance, and Nattie Trogdon + Hollis Bartlett, alongside a half-dozen dance and experimental short films to be screened at Judson on Jan. 11. pioneersgoeast.org.

Beyond Grace

A quartet of dancers meet at the center of the stage, facing each other as they jump with one knee and both hands upraised.
Ronald K. Brown/Evidence in Brown’s Walking Out the Dark. Photo by J Boogie Love, courtesy Richard Kornberg & Associates.

NEW YORK CITY  Ronald K. Brown/Evidence arrives at The Joyce Theater for a 25th-anniversary performance of Brown’s landmark 1999 work Grace, presented alongside the company premiere of its thematic sequel, Serving Nia, which he created in 2001 for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Also appearing during the two-program run are Order My Steps, featuring text by Chadwick Boseman, and the migration-inspired High Life. Jan. 14–19. joyce.org.

Splashy Swans

A dancer balances on one foot, working leg pulled up beside her ear, as a group lifts her straight up into the air by her standing leg.
Circa’s Duck Pond. Photo by Pia Johnson, courtesy Murray Paterson Marketing Group.

VANCOUVER  A splash of Swan Lake, a dash of The Ugly Duckling, and a healthy heaping of acrobatics, burlesque, and controlled chaos—these are the ingredients of Duck Pond, which Australian dance-circus troupe Circa tours to Vancouver’s DanceHouse for the work’s North American premiere. Jan. 22–25. dancehouse.ca.

Coast to Coast

A line of dancers wearing shades of green and silver shirts that catch the light smile widely out at the audience as they move in unison.
Riverdance. Photo courtesy Polk & Co.

ON TOUR Global Irish dance phenomenon Riverdance celebrates its 30th anniversary with a massive tour, kicking off Jan. 28–Feb. 2 in St. Petersburg, Florida, for its first of 35 U.S. tour stops. Jan. 28–June 8. riverdance.com.

Peck + Deacon, Redux

Justin Peck moves through a note or correction at the front of the studio, two dancers in the background watching with hands on hips.
Justin Peck rehearsing his new work for New York City Ballet. Photo by Erin Baiano, courtesy NYCB.

NEW YORK CITY For his 25th work for New York City Ballet, resident choreographer Justin Peck teams up with composer Dan Deacon, whose “USA I-IV” soundtracked Peck’s The Times Are Racing. The ballet appears on the New Combinations program (Jan. 29–Feb. 2) alongside Christopher Wheeldon’s 2023 From You Within Me and Balanchine’s enigmatic duet Variations pour une Porte et un Soupir. nycballet.com.

Roses and Blooms

A dozen partially clothed dancers cluster together, bodies obscured by a riot of colorful fabrics.
Lia Rodrigues’ Encantado. Photo by Sammi Landweer, courtesy Sadler’s Wells.

LONDON  Shortlisted works for the inaugural Rose International Dance Prize, a biennial competition recognizing outstanding concert-dance pieces in any style, converge at Sadler’s Wells beginning this month. A.I.M by Kyle Abraham’s An Untitled Love, Marco da Silva Ferreira’s CARCAÇA, Christos Papadopoulous’ LARSEN C, and Lia Rodrigues’ Encantado each appear in two-night runs ahead of the announcement of the overall winner and audience-choice vote. In concert with the main competition, Stav Struz Boutrous’ Sepia, Leïla Ka’s Maldonne, and Wang Yeu-Kwn/Shimmering Production’s Beings, finalists for the early-career Bloom Prize, will alight at the Lilian Baylis Studio. Jan. 29–Feb. 8. sadlerswells.com.

Getting Creative in KC

Three dancers lie on their sides on top of each other in a neat stack.
Kansas City Ballet’s Isaac Allen, Andrew Vecseri, and Taryn Pachciarz rehearsing Morgan Sicklick’s work for last year’s New Moves program. Photo courtesy Kansas City Ballet.

KANSAS CITY   This year’s iteration of Kansas City Ballet’s annual New Moves program features premieres by Natasha Adorlee, Duncan Cooper, and Elaine Kimble and from company members Olivia Jacobus and Amira Hogan, Elliott Rogers, and Cameron Thomas. Jan. 30–Feb. 2. kcballet.org.

Stage to Screen and Back Again

A portrait of Christopher Gattelli leaning against a balcony railing, looking thoughtfully beyond the camera.
Christopher Gattelli. Photo by Axel Dupeux, courtesy Gattelli/Kennedy Center.

WASHINGTON, DC  What happens when a troubled couple on a backpacking trip stumbles upon a town where everyone behaves like they’re in a Golden Age Broadway musical? The television series “Schmigadoon!” was a treasure trove for musical theater nerds, with a cast made up of a veritable who’s who of Broadway actors and comedians delivering a loving lampoon of musical theater classics. Now, a stage adaptation is heading to the Kennedy Center, with direction and choreography by Christopher Gattelli (who nabbed two Emmy nominations for the show’s choreography) and book, music, and lyrics by Cinco Paul (who won an Emmy for the Season 1 song “Corn Puddin’ ”). Jan. 31–Feb. 9. kennedy-center.org.

a.i.m by kyle abraham amira hogan angie pittman Blaze Ferrer cameron thomas christopher gattelli christopher wheeldon christos papadopoulous circa dan deacon dancehouse duncan cooper elaine kimble george balanchine jill sigman/thinkdance justin peck kansas city ballet kyle abraham kyle marshall choreography Leïla Ka lia rodrigues marco da silva ferreira Miranda Brown + Noa Rui-Piin Weiss natasha adorlee Nattie Trogdon + Hollis Bartlett new york city ballet olivia jacobus Out-FRONT! Festival Pioneers Go East Collective riverdance Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE rose international dance prize sadler's wells schmigadoon! stav struz boutrous Stuart B Meyers the joyce theater wang yeu-kwn/shimmering production