New York Notebook
Misha Chooses Manou
Baryshnikov Arts Center premieres French-Cambodian choreographer Emmanuèle Phuon’s Khmeropédies I & II June 24–26. Known as “Manou” when she danced with Misha’s White Oak Dance Project, Phuon combines the streamlined look of contemporary choreography with the intricate hands and feet of traditional Cambodian dance. “I am searching for a dialogue between new and old ways of expression,” Phuon has written. The music ranges from Canadian hip hop to the cataclysmic industrial rock band from Germany, Einstürzende Neubauten. Before appearing at BAC, Khmeropédies travels to New Haven for the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. See www.bacnyc.org or www.artidea.org. —Courtney E. Thompson
A Global Mix of Fables
Christopher Williams uses fantastic stories as the springboards for his lush dance spectacles. For two new works, he draws on his interests in folklore, ceremony, and visual art. Eikazu Nakamura dances Gobbledygook, a solo channeling kaidan (ghost stories from Japan’s Edo period), the vampire-like ramanga of Madagascar, and Buddhist ritual to explore themes of death and atonement. In Hen’s Teeth, a cast of 11 fleshes out his vision of flying and birdlike women, sourcing a Breton fairytale and Greek myth. A puppeteer and student of mask tradition, Williams contributes to costume design in addition to choreographing. June 3–6, Dance New Amsterdam. See www.dnadance.org. —Mary Love Hodges
DonQQQ
This spring American Ballet Theatre plans a season of celebrations: their 70th anniversary, a 90th birthday for Cuban grande dame Alicia Alonso, and the 30th year since their first Bayadère (see “Here’s Looking at You, Natasha,” May). On June 3, they honor Alonso, whose Ballet Nacional de Cuba is known for her Don Quixote, with a Don Q in triplicate. Each of the three acts will be danced by a different stellar couple. ABT never lacks for exciting dancers, and this spring the guest artists include the delicate, dreamy Alina Cojocaru from The Royal Ballet and the handsome, hunky Roberto Bolle. See www.abt.org. —Wendy Perron
Pictured: Chumvan Sodhachivy in
Khmeropedies
