Make Your Own Dance Sampler
Downtown New York City will be teeming with dance festivals in January. It’s a good way to ease back into viewing dance after the holiday funk.
New York Live Arts’ Live Artery confirms NYLA position on the cutting edge with reprisals of 2014’s best works: John Jasperse’s Within Between, Beth Gill’s New Work for the Desert and Cynthia Oliver’s BOOM! Beside these known hits, Live Artery takes a chance with works-in-progress by Rashaun Mitchell, Okwui Okpokwasili and RoseAnne Spradlin.
American Realness
specializes in the brash and provocative. Last year the brashness swung out of control, igniting a lovely controversy about the limits of rule-breaking in performance. (See Siobhan Burke’s commentary on the Performance Club’s site.) This year’s lineup includes Miguel Gutierrez, Keith Hennessy, Ivo Dimchev, Jack Ferver and Tere O’Connor. Jan. 8–18, Abrons Arts.
P.S. 122’s Coil Festival, inhabiting various venues, includes, among others, Faye Driscoll’s (literally) ground-breaking Thank You for Coming Jan. 6–10, and Seattle renegade Zoe|Juniper Jan. 14–16.
As always, there are plenty of APAP showings around the city. If you’re performing in one or more, good luck. It can be an unnatural situation to perform for potential presenters. Let’s face it, APAP is an audition to get bookings. But if you’re an audience person wandering around, it can be fun to sample different wares.
Above:
Age & Beauty, Part I, by Miguel Gutierrez. Photo by Ian Douglas.
Peridance
has lined up two programs of lesser known groups Jan. 10 and 11. They include Ate9 dANCE cOMPANY, Bellydance Evolution and Peridance Contemporary Dance Company.
From Jan. 9–13, the 14th Street Y showcases Lee Saar Company, Bennyroyce Dance, Eva Dean, Yin Yue and some out-of-town companies like Missouri Contemporary Ballet.
If you’re a denizen of New York City, it will be easy to sample some of these dance offerings. Pick a time when you can see both familiar and unfamiliar dance artists. Let yourself be surprised.
