News

8 Not-to-Be-Missed Performances Happening This October

October 2, 2024

New story ballets, a landmark revival, works that take to the sky or descend into the earth—the fall performance season is going full speed ahead as we move into October. Here’s what has us most intrigued.

A Trilogy Concludes

In a rehearsal studio, eight male dancers cluster together and connect, staring down at a female dancer scooting back from them on the floor.
Birmingham Royal Ballet rehearsing Iratxe Ansa’s contribution to Luna. Photo by Katja Ogrin, courtesy Birmingham Royal Ballet.

BIRMINGHAM, UK  Birmingham Royal Ballet’s trilogy of works celebrating the company’s hometown comes to a close with Luna, a new ballet inspired by the pioneering women of Birmingham. The all-female creative team includes choreographers Iratxe Ansa, Wubkje Kuindersma, Seeta Patel, Arielle Smith, and Thaís Suárez, as well as the composer Kate Whitley. How will this diverse ensemble, brought in by director Carlos Acosta to finish the trilogy he conceived, collaborate to create a cohesive work, and what (feminist?) messages will they choose to convey? Luna premieres Oct. 3–5 at the Birmingham Hippodrome before touring to London’s Sadler’s Wells Oct. 22–23. brb.org.uk. —Emily May

Resistance Takes Flight

A dancer in a bright yellow dress and sneakers perches in a window frame. She grips the railing of the fire escape while throwing her head up and back.
Flyaway Productions’ Jhia Jackson in Ode to Jane. Photo by Brechin Flournoy, courtesy John Hill PR.

SAN FRANCISCO  Named for the pre–Roe v. Wade abortion network, Jo Kreiter’s Ode to Jane explores what resistance can look like today with reproductive health care under attack. Seven aerial artists of Flyaway Productions perform the work, set to an original score by Xoa Asa, on the fire escapes and walls of the Tenderloin district’s Cadillac Hotel. Oct. 4–12. flyawayproductions.com. —Courtney Escoyne

Celebrating an Elder

A performer in a painted Indigenous mask and matching robe in profile. One hand is upraised, the other parallel to the floor.
Dancers of Damelahamid’s Raven Mother. Photo by Chris Randle, courtesy Murray Paterson Marketing Group.

VANCOUVER  Indigenous dance group Dancers of Damelahamid honors the life and legacy of the late Elder Margaret Harris,­ a co-founder of the company, with the premiere of Raven Mother. The evening-length, multimedia work illustrates the breadth of her impact as a new generation carries the company’s vision into the future. Oct. 9–12. thecultch.com. —CE

Down in the Dirt

A half dozen dancers lie in a line in a pile of dirt, rolling onto their left sides.
Black Label Movement in Battleground. Photo by Bill Cameron, courtesy American Dance Festival.

DURHAM, NC  What impacts do perpetual violence and war have on the body? In Carl Flink’s Battleground, Black Label Movement investigates the question through movement and abstraction while performing in a specially created 30-by-25–foot dirt pit, aiming to encourage dialogue about violence’s accepted­ and often celebrated role in today’s society. Oct. 11–13. americandancefestival.org. —CE

A Psych Thriller for ABT

Cassandra Trenary faces away from the camera, holding her wrist up to shoulder height and gazing at it. Cathy Marston stands nearby, watching.
American Ballet Theatre’s Cassandra Trenary and Helen Pickett rehearsing Crime and Punishment. Photo by Emma Zordan, courtesy ABT.

NEW YORK CITY  Literature buff Helen Pickett brings Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s 1866 psychological thriller Crime and Punishment to the American Ballet Theatre stage. When, in a twisted social experiment, ex–law student Raskolnikov kills a crooked pawn broker and her bystander half-sister, he is beset by irreconcilable guilt. Placing the emphasis squarely on humanity and its tangled nature, Pickett and co-director James Bonas have made the ballet’s tortured protagonist a role that can be performed by dancers of any gender; both men and women are slated to dance it during its premiere week. Crime and Punishment debuts on Oct. 30 as part of ABT’s fall season, which also includes the premiere of new commissions by Kyle Abraham and Gemma Bond. Oct. 16–Nov. 3. abt.org. —Kyra Laubacher

Dance of the Dead

Maria Konrad crouches to one side and reaches out a hand toward two dancers rehearsing. A woman in pointe shoes poses angularly as a male dancer reaches an arm through the negative space she creates.
Maria Konrad leading rehearsal at Nashville Ballet. Photo by Skyler Poiley, courtesy Nashville Ballet.

NASHVILLE  Drawing inspiration from the art of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Maria Konrad’s new Dia de los Muertos ballet brings the traditional Mexican celebration of deceased loved ones to Nashville Ballet. Oct. 17–20. nashvilleballet.com. —CE

A New Chapter Unfolds

A Black male dancer is caught mid-leap, one leg extended side and the other tucked up beneath him. He looked up and reaches toward the lights over the bare stage.
Saint Louis Dance Theatre’s Keenan Fletcher. Photo by Pratt + Kreidich, courtesy Saint Louis Dance Theatre.

ST. LOUIS  The recently rechristened Saint Louis Dance Theatre (formerly Big Muddy Dance Company) opens its season with (RE)Claim, a program featuring new works by Jamar Roberts and artistic director Kirven Douthit-Boyd, the company premieres of Robert Battle’s Unfold and José Limón’s Chaconne, and returning works by Omar Román de Jesús and Douthit-Boyd. Oct. 24–27. saintlouisdancetheatre.org. —CE

Confronting Mortality

Nine dancers in red form spokes reaching toward the center of the space, those on the outside reaching away. Black and white images of individual's faces are projected on the back scrim.
The 1994 production of Still/Here. Photo by David Smith, courtesy New York Live Arts.

NEW YORK CITY  Created during the AIDS epidemic, Bill T. Jones’ Still/Here was a controversial work when it premiered in 1994, in large part because it utilized the words, gestures, and images of people from across the U.S. living with terminal diagnoses who participated in widely publicized “survival workshops” run by Jones. Now, it returns to Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave festival 30 years later, a contemplation of mortality that will perhaps have increased resonance for audiences that have experienced an ongoing global pandemic. Oct. 30–Nov. 2. bam.org. —CE

arielle smith Bill T. Jones birmingham royal ballet black label movement brooklyn academy of music brooklyn academy of music next wave festival carl flink carlos acosta dancers of damelahamid flyaway productions gemma bond helen pickett Iratxe Ansa jamar roberts james bonas jo kreiter josé limón kate whitley kirven douthit-boyd kyle abraham margaret harris Maria Konrad nashville ballet Omar Román De Jesús robert battle Saint Louis Dance Theatre Seeta Patel Thaís Suárez wubkje kuindersma xoa asa