Fall for Dance Anniversary Bash

Twenty-four dance companies (24!) are packed into the Fall for Dance festival, opening this Wednesday at NY City Center. How can you not love this cornucopia of dance riches at $15 a pop? You get to see four different companies or artists each night. Even the few people who complain about it usually admit that they saw something they never would have seen. Personally, I’m addicted to it.

Colin Dunne
Photo by Maurice Gunning, Courtesy City Center

The international array will be intriguing. There’s the charming Colin Dunne, whose experiments with Irish step dancing are done in improvisational mode rather than strict, arms-like-rods prancing—and in bare feet. There’s Nrityagram, a collective of women from India that combines tradition with a contemporary approach. And, from London, there is the very musical Richard Alston, who admires Ashton and Cunningham equally. (See more about him in this “Choreography in Focus.”)

Nrityagram
Photo Karthik Venkatraman, Courtesy City Center

This year Fall for Dance has commissioned three world premieres to celebrate its 10th anniversary. (Full disclosure: I was on an artistic advisor for a few of those years.) The first is a work by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa for Ballet Hispanico. The second originated with a dancer—the luscious Sara Mearns—rather than the choreographer, Justin Peck. The last is a duet from The Royal Ballet’s artist in residence, Liam Scarlett. (He talks about this duet in our “Choreography in Focus.”)

Click here to get tickets. The Dance Talks are fun too. I’ll be moderating the one on October 1, with the choreographers who’ve been commissioned. Maybe I’ll see you there. Click here for details of the Dance Talks.  —Wendy Perron