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This Month’s Performance Picks Are Chock-Full of New Choreography

March 2, 2022

All of our performance picks this month—an evening-length ballet and an off-Broadway musical, mixed bills and multi-choreographer projects—feature intriguing premieres from an impressive array of dancemakers. Here’s what we’re most looking forward to.

Ballet Her Way

Lia Cirio stands in profile to the camera in an airy ballet studio, head tipped thoughtfully as she points towards a couple working out a partnering move. One of the dancers looks to Cirio, while the other watches his partner, holding her hands aloft.
Lia Cirio rehearsing her Boston Ballet colleagues in 2019. Photo by Brooke Trisolini, Courtesy Boston Ballet

BOSTON  This season’s ChoreograpHER program at Boston Ballet boasts five premieres by women: New York City Ballet star Tiler Peck, rising neoclassical choreographer Claudia Schreier, visual artist Shantell Martin, Boston Ballet principal Lia Cirio and noted Cunningham and Pam Tanowitz dancer Melissa Toogood. March 3–13. bostonballet.org.

Rock the Vote

Raja Feather Kelly stands wearing colorful, mismatched socks on a shiny floor as he speaks in the middle of an art gallery, gesturing with his hands.
Raja Feather Kelly. Photo by Ric Kallaher, Courtesy Kelly

NEW YORK CITY  Powerhouse off-Broadway venue The Public Theater presents another new musical drawing on American history: SUFFS, a look at the triumphs and failures of the women’s suffrage movement of the early 20th century. Raja Feather Kelly provides choreography for the Shaina Taub–written, Leigh Silverman–directed premiere. Previews begin March 10, with an opening night slated for April 6. publictheater.org.

Doña of Drama

In a black and white image, a dancer in a white, flowing gown sinks to the floor in a shadowy space, an arm reaching plaintively behind her and to the side as she arches back.
Ballet Hispánico’s Amanda del Valle in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Doña Perón. Photo by Rachel Neville, Courtesy Michelle Tabnick Public Relations

ON TOUR  Ballet Hispánico teams up with Annabelle Lopez Ochoa for the company’s first evening-length commission. Doña Perón takes inspiration from the life of Eva “Evita” Perón, the controversial woman who rose from dancehall performer to First Lady of Argentina, and whose advocacy work was often viewed as being in conflict with her embrace of upper-class life. The work debuts in New Orleans March 12, followed by tour appearances in Detroit (March 19–20) and Chicago (March 26–27) before alighting in New York City April 1–3, closing out the company’s 50th-anniversary celebrations as part of the inaugural City Center Dance Festival. ballethispanico.org.

An Eight-Part Premiere

A male and female dancer in white pose together onstage in blue light. They face upward, the female dancer balanced across the male dancer's torso and thighs as he presses his hips up from the ground.
Jacob Larsen and So Young An in Martha Graham’s “Moon”. Photo by Melissa Sherwood, Courtesy Martha Graham Dance Company

LOS ANGELES  Martha Graham’s 1952 Canticle for Innocent Comedians is known to have comprised eight vignettes, each celebrating aspects of nature and humanity’s relationship to it, but the work is largely considered to be lost. The Martha Graham Dance Company debuts a new version at The Soraya on March 19, reimagined by a team of choreographers led by Sonya Tayeh. Graham’s “Moon” section and an iteration of “Wind” by late original cast member Sir Robert Cohan are joined by new vignettes by Tayeh, Kristina and Sadé Alleyne, Juliano Nuñes, Micaela Taylor, Yin Yue and Jenn Freeman, tied together by a new prelude, finale and transitions crafted by Tayeh. marthagraham.org.

Community Creations

One dancer sits facing the side, hands pressed into the ground behind him for support as a second dancer is suspended almost parallel to the floor with one hand pressing against the first's knees. In this moment of suspended motion, the dancers stare intently into each other's eyes.
Grand Rapids Ballet’s Isaac Aoki and Nigel Tau in Jennifer Archibald’s Brothers. Photo by Ray Nard Imagemaker, Courtesy GRB

GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Grand Rapids Ballet continues its 50th-anniversary season with Jumpstart 22. Joining revivals of Penny Saunders’ Amiss and Jennifer Archibald’s Brothers are premieres of works by company members, each of which was created in partnership with other local organizations, including the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids Civic Theatre, Grand Valley State University, Opera Grand Rapids and St. Cecilia Music Center. March 25–27. grballet.com.

Deadly Dances

STUTTGART  Gauthier Dance continues its penchant for ambitious, multi-choreog­rapher projects with Seven Sins. Aszure Barton, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Sharon Eyal, Marcos Morau, Sasha Waltz, Marco Goecke and Hofesh Shechter each tackle a sin for the evening of work, planned to debut March 26. theaterhaus.com. 

Update: Gauthier Dance has postponed the premiere of Seven Sins to May 7, due to members of the company testing positive for COVID-19.

Marco Goecke, in street clothes and sunglasses, stands facing straight ahead, elbows raised so his palms frame his face. Dancer Luca Pannacci is slightly behind him in a deep fourth lunge, hands splayed over the top of his head as his elbows squeeze toward center.
Marco Goecke and Gauthier Dance’s Luca Pannacci. Photo by Jeanette Bak, Courtesy Gauthier Dance

annabelle lopez ochoa aszure barton ballet hispanico boston ballet claudia schreier gauthier dance grand rapids ballet hofesh shechter jenn freeman jennifer archibald juliano nunes kristina alleyne leigh silverman lia cirio marco goecke marcos morau martha graham dance company melissa toogood micaela taylor penny saunders raja feather kelly sadé alleyne sasha waltz sharon eyal sidi larbi cherkaoui sonya tayeh tiler peck yin yue