I often add to Dance List as I learn of new events. To submit an addition or correction, write to me at danceletter@substack.com. Thanks for reading! —Siobhan
We’re creeping into August, and the NYC dance calendar is about as quiet as it’s going to get for the rest of the year. Since there’s not a ton going on performance-wise, this issue includes a special, not-at-all-comprehensive section on where to go out dancing in the month ahead, crowd-sourced through the very unofficial means of my Instagram story. If you have something to add, please send it my way!
Looking over this month’s list, I’m struck by how much dance you can see for free during the summer in New York, despite the generally slower pace of things. If ticket prices are usually a limitation for you, now might be a good time to see a bunch of shows. Also, while I’m still sticking with my five-boroughs parameter, one reader pointed out the abundance of dance on (or near) the beach this summer, including two August offerings in Asbury Park: the Siren Arts deepwater series, featuring ocean-side performances on Thursdays through Aug. 15; and the Asbury Park Dance Festival on Aug. 24. This is in addition to the ever-popular Beach Sessions in the Rockaways, which is marking its 10th year with a new work by Faye Driscoll; more on that below.
For shows through Aug. 4, see Dance List 10, which includes a few recent updates.
A few notes for navigating this list:
The events are listed in order of opening date. Where listed as “through” a certain date, the event has already opened.
This list has three sections: performances (week by week) followed by a roundup of dance-related screenings, talks, and exhibitions and (special for August) some crowd-sourced suggestions for where to go out dancing.
* = free, suggested donation, or sliding-scale ticket options
The information below is current as of the last time I checked, but things can change, and while I strive for accuracy, I will inevitably make a few mistakes. Please visit the event websites for up-to-date details and full date/time info.
Want to let me know about an upcoming show? Reply to this email, or write to me at danceletter@substack.com. (Please note that to keep the workload of this project manageable, I tend not to list student recitals or showcases, as much as I appreciate them!)
When I have work/news of my own to share, you can find it at the end under p.s.
Updated 8/26/24 at 1:01pm ET
Performances
Week of Monday, Aug. 5
*Aug. 5, 8 (also Aug. 2, 4): Alexa West, “Open Rehearsals” at SculptureCenter
*Aug. 7: Ballet Hispánico in works by Pedro Ruiz and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, part of SummerStage, at Rumsey Playfield, Central Park
Aug. 7-10: Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca, Bulls and Butterflies at Joe’s Pub
*Aug. 8: Carvalho Park Summer 2024 Performance Series, feat. Diana Orving, Jodi Melnick, and Sara Mearns, at Carvalho Park
Aug. 8-9: Qween Jean, The Summer Legacy Ball at Little Island
*Aug. 9-10: Nile Harris, minor b, part of Open Call, at The Shed
*Aug. 10: Ephrat Asherie + Barkin/Selissen Project, curated by the New Victory Theater, at Bryant Park
*Aug. 11-17: Battery Dance Festival at Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City
Through Aug. 11: Pilobolus, re:CREATION at the Joyce
Through Sept. 8: CATS: “The Jellicle Ball,” choreographed by Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, at PAC NYC
Week of Monday, Aug. 12
Aug. 13-18: Ballet Festival: UNITE, curated by Calvin Royal III, at the Joyce
*Aug. 15: serpentwithfeet, Heart of Brick / Boy Cordero DJ / The Missing Element & Beatbox House, part of SummerStage, at Marcus Garvey Park
*Aug. 15-17: Kayla Hamilton, How to Bend Down/How to Pick It Up, part of Open Call, at The Shed
*Aug. 16: Merce Cunningham Trust, Fielding Sixes Workshop Showing, staged by Jean Freebury, at the Alvin Ailey Studios
Aug. 16: go.co / AFFEKT Dance at Arts on Site
*Aug. 17: Beach Sessions Dance Series, feat. OCEANIC FEELING by Faye Driscoll and video installation of Moriah Evans’s REPOSE, at Rockaway Beach [Note: Faye Driscoll work rescheduled for Sept. 2]
Aug. 17-18: Obremski/Works INVENTS at Arts on Site
*Aug. 20: Taylor Gordon, UNPACKED, a dance adventure at Waterside Plaza
Through Sept. 8: CATS: “The Jellicle Ball,” choreographed by Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, at PAC NYC
Week of Monday, Aug. 19
Aug. 22: Amanda Hameline, PARTY DISH at Arts on Site
Aug. 23: LayeRhythm at 275 Park
Aug. 23: OFFERINGS feat. Amelia Heintzelman, Leah Fournier, Tess Michaelson, and Samara Michaelson at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin
Aug. 23-24: Jacob Taylor / JacoTayl Dance! at Arts on Site
Aug. 23-25 (also Sept. 13-15): Drive East Indian Music and Dance Festival at Navatman Theater
Aug. 24: Hunter Sturgis, Flowers Are Blooming in Antarctica at BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance
Through Sept. 8: CATS: “The Jellicle Ball,” choreographed by Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, at PAC NYC
Week of Monday, Aug. 26
*Aug. 28: Assembly, presented by Good Move, at Domino Park
*Aug. 29: Jonathan González, residency performances at David Zwirner
Aug. 29: Jessica Marchand and Natalia Sanchez at Arts on Site
*Aug. 29-30: Kalliope Piersol, Eternity, Eternity, Eternity at Pageant
Aug. 30-31: Inter-grant Fest, feat. Marie Lloyd Paspe and Shannon Yu (8/30) and Ching-I Chang, Maria Takeuchi, and Huiwang Zhang (8/31) at Arts on Site
*Aug. 31: Contemporary Dance: Mark Morris Dance Group, Blacks in Ballet, and Reed Luplau, curated by Tiffany Rea-Fisher, at Bryant Park
Through Sept. 8: CATS: “The Jellicle Ball,” choreographed by Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, at PAC NYC
Screenings, Talks & Exhibitions:
*Aug. 11: All the Ladies Say, streaming at BronxNet.org
*Aug. 15-30: Janet Panetta: Repertoire, hosted by American Dance Museum, at Garth Greenan Gallery
*Aug. 22: Virtual screening of Telephone, directed by Krishna Washburn and Heather Shaw, hosted by Lincoln Center
*Through Aug. 18: Joshua Serafin, Creation Paradigm at Amant
*Through August: MX Oops, UnFiNiShEd aNiMaL gallery installation at New York Live Arts
Through Sept. 22: Crafting the Ballets Russes: The Robert Owen Lehman Collection at the Morgan Library
Through Oct. 31: Dance to Belong: A History of Dance at 92NY, curated by Jessica Friedman and Ninotchka Bennahum with Jeanne Haffner, at Milton J. Weill Art Gallery, 92NY
Where to Go Out Dancing
A couple of weeks ago, I put out a call on Instagram asking: what’s your favorite summer spot to go out dancing in NYC? From the replies (plus a few events I’ve come across myself), I assembled this little list of dance parties coming up in August. Of course, this is just a fraction of what’s out there. Where’s your favorite place to spend a night (or day) on the dance floor, in the summer or any season? Let me know, and maybe I’ll do more of these in the future. Thanks to everyone who sent me their recs!
718 Sessions: Danny Krivit & Toribio: Aug. 11 at Knockdown Center (Maspeth)
¡Arriba! with Los Hacheros, Nieves Dance Studio, and DJ Mickey Pérez: Aug. 15 on the High Line (Chelsea)
Dance Is Life: Aug. 5 at Hudson River Park’s Pier 76; Aug. 19 pop-up at Governors Island
Live Salsa with Maria Raquel Quintet: Sundays at Verlaine (Lower East Side)
Live Salsa Music at Sahadi’s: Fridays at Industry City (Sunset Park)
Matinee Social Club: Aug. 3, 10, 16, 17, 24 at Joyface (East Village) and Café Balearica (Williamsburg)
Mister Sunday: Sundays through end of October at Nowadays (Ridgewood)
Soul Summit Music Festival: Aug. 4 in Fort Greene Park (join the Soul Summit text/email list for more summer events)
Summer for the City social dance and silent disco events: Through Aug. 10 on the Dance Floor at Josie Robertson Plaza (Lincoln Center)
Summer Sway: Fridays through Aug. 16 at The Shed (Hudson Yards)
Swing Dance Party: Aug. 17 at 92NY (Upper East Side); see NYC Swings for more swing dance events throughout the city
Warm Up: Fridays through Aug. 16 at MoMA PS1 (Long Island City)
Folks also recommended these venues more generally. Click through to see what’s coming up:
C’mon Everybody (Bed Stuy)
Friends and Lovers (Crown Heights)
Gonzalez y Gonzalez (SoHo)
H0L0 (Ridgewood)
Mood Ring (Bushwick)
Nowadays (Ridgewood)
TV Eye (Ridgewood)
p.s.
On a blessedly not-humid night in July, I reviewed Pam Tanowitz’s Day for Night at Little Island, a fun assignment. And in case you missed it, for this very newsletter, I talked to Symara Sarai on the occasion of her recent show at Kestrels. The window of unpaywalled access has closed, but if you’d like to read it — and receive first and full access to posts like this in the future — you can sign up for a paid subscription here:
As a reminder, if you’re an artist, freelancer, or student, there is now a special subscription option for you! Get 25% off forever at danceletter.substack.com/artist.
In other news, I wrapped up the Momus Arts Journalism Residency feeling full of new ideas and grateful for new connections, if still uncertain about how to make freelance arts writing sustainable for myself in the long term. (Will let you know if I figure it out.) I also took part in the inaugural MoBBallet Dance Writers Convening, hosted by Theresa Ruth Howard at the Kennedy Center. Some further reflections on both programs might be forthcoming, but for now I’ll just note that I really appreciated the chance to slow down and sit with some bigger-picture questions about what and how I want to write, in conversation with a lot of smart and inspiring people.
Last month I shared the first batch of faculty reading lists from the Momus residency. More are now available, from our sessions with Carolina A. Miranda; Danielle A. Jackson and Niela Orr; Ossie Michelin; and Parul Sehgal.
I’ll soon be in syllabus-prep mode for the fall. If you happen to be there, too, please keep in mind that (as I mentioned over here the other day), I love to visit classes to talk about dance / writing / dance writing. If you’d be interested in having me for a guest lecture or workshop in your class or educational program, in person or virtually, or if you just want to chat about what that might look like, please reach out. You can reply to this email or reach me through my website: sioburke.com/contact.