Kick Off the New Decade With These Editor-Approved Performance Picks
The ’20s might just be beginning, but the dance world hasn’t lost any momentum. Here are five performances for a roaring start to the decade.
The Air We Breathe
Mariana Valencia in her Yugoslavia
Ian Douglas, Courtesy Blake Zidell & Associates
NEW YORK CITY
In her new evening-length, Mariana Valencia pays homage to the Mexican and Mexican-American pop culture icons whose work she grew up with, such as the comedian Cantinflas and the sitcom characters El Chavo and Don Ramón. In AIR, the Latina choreographer, who took home the Bessie Award for Outstanding Breakout Choreographer in 2018, roots out these unconscious influences on her work through a mixture of poetry, lecture and dance. Jan. 9–11, 16–18. performancespacenewyork.org. —Courtney Escoyne
Common Time
RJ Muna, Courtesy Hunter
SAN FRANCISCO
Deaf dance pioneer Antoine Hunter and San Francisco Contemporary Music Players are teaming up to pay tribute to Merce Cunningham and John Cage. The work, set to Cage’s Concert for Piano and Orchestra—originally the accompaniment for Cunningham’s Antic Meet—places Hunter onstage among the musicians. He’ll be able to see their movements, but not hear the piece—which features flexible musical phrases, with order and pacing determined largely by the performers in the moment. Hunter won’t be improvising, though: In another nod to Cunningham and Cage, who famously developed their dances and scores independently, he’ll have set his own movement in advance. Jan. 17. sfcmp.org. —Rachel F. Elson
Why We Build the Wall
Keone Madrid in Beyond Babel
Aidan Gibney, Courtesy The Press Room
NEW YORK CITY
Commercial dance darlings Keone and Mari Madrid are bringing their West Coast cool off- Broadway. Co-produced with Brooklyn’s Hideaway Circus, Beyond Babel contemporizes Romeo and Juliet to comment on today’s social issues—in particular, the proposed border wall. London Kaye’s crocheted set elements and the Madrids’ portrayal of the star-crossed lovers combine in the duo’s first evening-length work, which debuted in San Diego in 2018. Previews begin Jan. 21, with an official opening set for Feb. 2. beyondbabelshow.com. —CE
Step Back
Jati Lindsay, Courtesy The New 42nd Street
CHEVERLY, MD
Step Afrika!’s latest work digs into the genesis of stepping. Inspired by the Stono Rebellion and subsequent Negro Act of 1740, which forbade the use of drums, reading and assembly, Drumfolk honors the origins and resilience of percussive movement forms. In addition to contemporary stepping work and beatboxing, it utilizes the ring shout (rarely seen on U.S. stages) and features the company’s first presentation of masked dances from Nigeria and Benin, illustrating the traditions in which modern stepping is rooted. Jan. 22–24 at Publick Playhouse, with a national tour to follow. stepafrika.org. —CE
Shades of Bayadère
ANTWERP AND GHENT
Daniel Proietto is taking a big swing with his first full-length. RASA [after La Bayadère] seeks to dig into the classical ballet’s problematic colonialist perspective to find a multicultural approach to spirituality. Debuting at Royal Ballet of Flanders this month, the work draws on the devadasi tradition that inspired the ballet’s original scenario, Gustave Doré’s illustrations of Dante’s Divine Comedy and the idea of rasa—an elusive concept roughly translated from Sanskrit as “essence” or “flavor,” which carries both spiritual and aesthetic connotations. Jan. 25–Feb. 2 in Antwerp, Feb. 7–12 in Ghent. operaballet.be. —CE