STREB
SLAM
November 8 - December 22

STREB, New York's Own Action Heroes, bring the action back home at SLAM, their Williamsburg playground. Elizabeth Streb and her Extreme Action Company “…give Action a voice and story in FORCES. It's the theater of flight. Big Ideas, Big Hardware, Big Hearts and Big Muscles in a big show for the whole family,” notes the company’s website.  Find out more ~ www.streb.org

See the promo clip as a teaser - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTrUqcwMnvE

Complexions Contemporary Ballet
The Joyce Theater
November 19 – December 1

Complexions returns to the Joyce Theater with three programs of premieres and repertory works.  The world premieres are Innervisions by one of the Founding Artistic Directors and Resident Choreographer, Dwight Rhoden, and You Do What You Can… by company member Gary W. Jeter II.  Also on the program is the New York premiere of Recur by Associate Artistic Director/Ballet Master, Jae Man Joo and the Company premiere Never Was by Alejandro Cerrudo.  Other works from the repertory round out the programs.  Find out more ~ www.complexionsdance.org

Patricia Hoffbauer
Danspace Project
November 21 – 23

Danspace Project will present the premiere of Hoffbauer's Para-Dice (Stage 2), created and directed by Hoffbauer in collaboration with George Emilio Sanchez, Peter Richards, Peggy Gould, Elisa Osborne, Tom Rawe, Alyssa Alpine, and Laura Gilbert.  “Para-Dice (Stage 2) is a new performance work that combines dance, performance, film, academic lecture, language, and anthropology as a means of navigating racial politics and colonialism. The title of this work riffs on the phrase "pair of dice," referring to chance and the accident of discovery. Hoffbauer and company revisit colonial concepts of "Paradise" through a performance language informed by parody, mimicry, and a carnavalesque sensibility,” as noted in the release.  Find out more ~ www.danspaceproject.org







Martha Graham Dance Company
As part of Performa 13 at the Martha Graham Studio Theater.
November 19 – 21
The Martha Graham Dance Company will present two Graham, Herodiade (1944) and Spectre-1914 (1936), as part of the Company’s GrahamDeconstructed Series and Performa 13. Find out more ~ www.marthagraham.org.

Susan Marshall
BAM – Fisher
November 20 – 23
Susan Marshall & Company returns to BAM with the New York premiere of the evening-length work Play/Pause, which explores “…the intersection of high art and popular culture…Referencing the dance moves and sleek production value of popular music videos.”  Find out more ~ www.bam.org.

Undertoe Dance Project
14th Street Y
November 20 – 24
Undertoe Dance Project's brings a yet to be titled world premiere by director Dana Fisch and company manager Lauren Newby, plus repertoire created over the past five years.  Find out more ~  For more information, visit undertoedance.com 

Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG)
Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater
November 21 – 23
As part of the White Light Festival, Mark Morris’ L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, set to Handel’s oratorio, will be presented with MMDG Music Ensemble, vocal soloists and the Riverside Choral Society Chamber Singers, led by conductor Nicholas McGegan, for this engagement.  Find out more ~ www.whitelightfestival.org

Nu dance
The Riverside Church
November 22 – 23
This season will feature DASH Ensemble, Dane Iquail, Jeremy McQueen, Oui Danse, Cat Cogliandro and Buggé Ballet.  Find out more ~ http://www.theriversidetheatre.org

Ballet Hispanico
The Apollo Theater
November 23
Ballet Hispanico returns to The Apollo for the third time with Umbral (World Premiere) by Edgar Zendejas, Hogar (World Premiere) by artistic director, Eduardo Vilaro to live music by Lev Zhurbin and Sombrerísimo (Apollo Premiere) by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.  Find out more ~ www.ballethispanico.org

 

Put aside the fact that for Friday evening’s performance of Sun (November 15) at BAM, Hofesh Shechter Company had some technical difficulties, then look at the dancing, and that was indeed satisfying.  (Sadly, the music kept dropping out and they had to stop the show for a long time.  When they did restart, they picked up close to where they left off.) Shechter’s Sun, like his other work presented at BAM last year (Political Mother – October 2012) was jam packed with really loud music, a mix of theatre, and really good dance.  Sun had all that, but this time around mostly the dance, and the delivery of the dance was what held the show.  The dancers again take Shechter's vocabulary, a mix of Jewish folklore and contemporary styles that glide across the floor, tempered by off-kilter and joint-driven movements or gestures in small or large groups, and it just seem right.  More of this Hofesh; more of the dance.

There is nothing that could truly prepare anyone for Rawls’ re-imagining of his time in the Balkans.  The Planet-Eaters, (November 13-16) at The Chocolate Factory, however, is filled with memory, folklore, questions and a taste of his endearing connection.  There is a great deal to grasp in a short time, but Walls’ production leaves room for us to digest it all.  For example, his continual stepping/walking/running sequences and intricate footwork, which, based on the little Balkan dance history I’ve come to understand, compliments the traditional village dances and the complex ones too.  His use of different masks, costumes, music and entangled stories also help to bring his Balkan eyes to the stage.  In the end, Rawls and composer/musician/performer, Chris Kuklis return without elaborate costumes, instead in jeans and t-shirts, and in a “simple” repeating cross-step, Rawls swinging a tube-like prop in one hand, the lights fades.  

Brown/Evidence completed a three-year residency with BRIC Arts I Media House (BRIC House), (November 13 – 24) with a cast that included 30 community members, ages 8-77, in a new version of On Earth Together set to music by Stevie Wonder.  The always powerful 1999 work, Gatekeepers juxtaposing linear movements that tell the tale of “…soldiers walking toward heaven…” against rippling bodies, opened one of the two programs.  Wonder, Brown, the company, and the community of 30 are a hit in On Earth Together.  To be sure, the company holds the main focus, but holding their own just as strong are the community members who weave in and out, section after section.  Especially poignant is Brown’s treatment of Wonder’s music, coloring each song with just the right intention.  An expressly tender duet between Brown and Annique Roberts where the movement is minimal, but the presentation, a hand touching a face, and a smile is the response, is delicious and deserves kudos.  The other outstanding members of the company are: Arcell Cabuag, Shayla Caldwell, Maresa D’amore-Morrison, Coral Dolphin, Solomon Dumas, Randall Riley and Clarice Young.  

BRIC House
Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company
November 13 – 24

For two weeks, Brown/Evidence will share the inaugural season at Brooklyn’s new BRIC Arts | Media House (BRIC House), fulfilling part of a three-year residency which includes community-based performances.  Two programs will include the world premiere/new version of On Earth Together set to music of Stevie Wonder featuring 30 community members, ages 8–77.  Says Brown, “What I want to do at BRIC House is create something that feels like home and have it be a family celebration.”

Program A: Gatekeepers (1999), On Earth Together (World Premiere)
November 13, 14, 17 at 7:30pm; November 15, 16 at 8:00pm

Program B: Torch (2013), On Earth Together (World Premiere)
November 20, 21, 24 at 7:30pm; November 22, 23 at 8:00pm

Find out more ~ www.bricartsmedia.org

Blaktina Performance Series
BAAD! The Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance
November 2 - 22
The choreographers for this year’s Blaktina Performance Series will present a Dance Tribute to Whitney Houston at BAAD!'s new space in Westchester Square with performances by twelve choreographers. Find out more ~ www.BronxAcademyofArtsAndDance.org

Jérôme Bel and Theater Hora
New York Live Arts
November 12 – 16 
New York Live Arts, in partnership with Performa for Performa 13, presents the U.S. premiere of French choreographer Jérôme Bel and Zurich-based Theater Hora’s Disabled Theater.   Find out more ~ www.newyorklivearts.org  


Garth Fagan Dance
The Joyce Theater
November 12—17
Garth Fagan Dance returns to the Joyce for their 43rd season with two world premieres, No Evidence of Failure by Fagan and Gin by long-time company member Norwood Pennewell, plus  revivals and classic works.  Find out more ~  www.joyce.org  

Will Rawls
The Chocolate Factory Theater
November 13 – 16
The Chocolate Factory Theater presents The Planet-Eaters conceived, choreographed, composed and performed by Rawls with live musical performance and additional composition by guitarist Chris Kuklis.  Find out more ~ www.chocolatefactorytheater.org

The 8th Annual LATIN AMERICAN CULTURAL WEEK
Around New York
November 15-24
The Pan American Musical Art Research presents music, dance, theater and visual arts including performances by Glamour Tango, the all-female music/dance show and Ballet Hispanico.  Find out more ~ www.lacw.net



Deeply Rooted Dance Theater 
Mark Morris Dance Center
November 15 – 17
Chicago’s Deeply Rooted Dance Theater comes to Brooklyn with their multi-generational repertory project, Generations featuring classic and new works by emerging and legendary choreographers. Find out more ~ www.deeplyrootedproductions.org

Kate Weare’s examination of sexuality, Dark Lark (November 6-9) at BAM – Fisher, was framed by a team of collaborators who helped make this work come to life.  Special kudos to cellist and composer, Christopher Lancaster who performed an original score live, pulling attention to his own dance.  The very intimate and beautiful opening danced by Leslie Kraus accompanied by Lancaster, set the stage.  Kraus' musicality and her sense of grounded-ness was lovely to watch.  And though there was a great deal of nice dancing throughout, when the end came, there was a bit of question.  Hmmm…was there more?  The dancers are: Jacquelyn Elder, Douglas Gillespie, Kraus, Luke Murphy and T.J. Spaur.  The other collaborators are: Costume Designer - Sarah Cubbage; Lighting Designer - Brian Jones; and Set Designer - Kurt Perschke.

Angelin Preljocaj’s  And then, one thousand years of peace at BAM (November 7-9) started and ended with a bang.  This was Preljocaj’s impression of St. John’s Apocalypse in the Book of Revelations.  Beginning with a sea of barely clad women darting their limbs into angular and repeating shapes, followed by men in suits carrying large pieces of plastic that envelope the women until they all crash to the floor, the chapters of incitement kept coming.  In an orgy, barely clad bodies are accessorized with flags, or against a shiny wall there is a meeting of sex-craved lovers, these movers are primal and poetic.  Mixed between more group sections were memorable duets--angelic or brave.  Preljocaj ends with a wall of sinks way upstage, and row by row, a dancer pulls a wet flag, shakes it while walking towards the audience, then lays it on the floor in a long line.  To end, two lambs, quietly brought on stage are placed center stage-- they slowly walk off.

Here's a glimpse of And then, one thousand years of peace