New York Notebook

Opposites Attract

He’s a choreographer, she’s a famous actress. He’s “brown” and she’s “white.” He is of East Asian descent, she is French. Two radically different kinds of charisma meet and mesh in In-I, Akram Khan’s collaboration with movie star Juliette Binoche. “It’s about a relationship,” he said in these pages, “but it’s also a confrontation of me wanting to be white as a child.” She has said it’s about “how we dare to love.” Critics have called the duet everything from “a reflection of society’s obsession with celebrity” (www.ballet-dance.com) to “a gloriously real and raw journey” (Dance Australia). BAM’s Next Wave Festival, Sept. 15–26. See www.bam.org. —Wendy Perron

A Burst of Everything

DanceNOW[NYC] celebrates its 15th year of ushering in the fall season with a burst of everything. Their tag line, “Find Your Artistic Crush,” could certainly be taken literally, given that they present 75 artists and groups (a few are Gerald Casel, David Dorfman, Sidra Bell, Amos Pinhasi, and TAKE Dance) in three venues. Look for them at DTW Sept. 8–12, at the DUO Theater Sept. 26, and then at Joe’s Pub Oct. 22–24. See www.dancenownyc.org. —W.P.

Double Dose of Guerin

This fall, New York gets a double dose of Australia’s Lucy Guerin. Her choreography fascinates on many levels, from the most intricate gesture to grandly dramatic themes. In Corridor (Sept. 16–20 at Baryshnikov Arts Center), the dancers react to information received by phone, iPod, and notes. DTW will show Structure and Sadness (Oct. 1–3), based on Melbourne’s 1970 West Gate Bridge tragedy. Guerin’s inventive language and set design draw on the physics of structural engineering—and runs a gut-wrenching gamut from construction to collapse. See www.bacnyc.org or www.dtw.org. —Susan Yung

Photo by Marianne Rosenstiehl, Courtesy BAM