New York Notebook

Wendy Whelan and Desmond Richardson. Photo by Jae Man Joo, Courtesy Complexions.

 

Blockbuster Duo: Desmond R. & Wendy W.

Getting a chance to see Desmond Richardson dance is becoming increasingly rare since he began to spend more time mentoring younger dancers last year. So it’s with some excitement that we announce that he is performing with Wendy Whelan, another superstar of dance, on Nov. 15. The duet, Charter, to music by New Orleans trumpeter Nicholas Payton, was made for them by Complexions co-director Dwight Rhoden last spring; it will be part of the company’s two-week run at the Joyce. Other Rhoden works on the agenda are set to music by Tchaikovsky, the Foo Fighters, Rockjazz virtuoso ELEW, and Nina Simone.  www.complexionsdance.org. Nov. 13–25. —Wendy Perron

 

 

Long Live Judson

Continuing its “PLATFORM 2012: Judson Now” that’s been celebrating the 50th anniversary of Judson Dance Theater all fall, Danspace Project presents new work by Yvonne Rainer, Simone Forti, and Deborah Hay this month. To show how Judson opened up the definition of dance for later generations, Patricia Hoffbauer, Juliette Mapp, and Melinda Ring curate performances and dialogues that involve Arthur Aviles, Sara Rudner, Jennifer Monson, and others. An evening of work by Meredith Monk adds another dimension. Nov. 1–Dec. 1.  www.danspaceproject.org. —Cory Stieg

 

Jeanine Durning (left) and Ros Warby (right) in Deborah Hay’s
As Holy Sites Go. Photo by Amin Weber, Courtesy Danspace.

 

 

Kyle’s Real World

Kyle Abraham, one of Dance Magazine’s “emerging artists” last year, has now fully emerged as a player on many fields at once. After his gripping piece for August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble wowed the Jazz Dance World Congress last summer, and before his first work for the Ailey company debuts in December, he’ll show Pavement at Harlem Stage’s Gatehouse (and also Swarthmore College outside Philadelphia) this month. Drawing from the 1991 movie Boyz N the Hood and W.E.B. Du Bois’ classic book The Souls of Black Folk (1903), his rough-edged, unpredictable movement also harks back to the black neighborhoods of his hometown Pittsburgh, complete with searing images of police brutality. Nov. 1–3.  www.harlemstage.org. —W. P.

 

Kyle Abraham (right), with  Jeremy Neal, in
Pavement. Photo by Ian Douglas, Courtesy Harlem Stage.