How was your APAP season (if you observed)? I saw a lot of good stuff and, as always, often wished I could be in two places at once. After the January rush, February is a mellower month. Let’s jump right in.
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.
The list has two main sections: performances (week by week) followed by a roundup of dance-related screenings, talks, and exhibitions. * = free event.
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.
I often add to Dance List as I learn of new events. To submit an addition or a correction, reply to this email or write to me at danceletter@substack.com. (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.
Feb. Highlight: Urban Bush Women, Downtown + Uptown
The work of Urban Bush Women stretches out across the city this month, as the trailblazing Black women-led company continues celebrating its 40th anniversary. SCAT!… The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar has its New York City premiere at PAC NYC in Lower Manhattan, Feb. 5-8. Inspired by the Kansas City childhood of UBW founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, the production (which Zollar has said is her last for the company) weaves together dance, song, and an original live jazz score to tell a love story that unfolds with the Great Migration. At the other end of the borough, the Apollo presents an exhibition charting the company’s history at the intersection of art and activism. Curated by UBW co-artistic directors Chanon Judson and Mame Diarra Speis, Legacy, Lineage and Liberation: An Examination of Urban Bush Women’s Art-Making and Community Organizing Praxis (on view through March 12) features free pop-up performances in the gallery of the Apollo Stages at The Victoria, Feb. 22 and March 8.
Updated 2/2/25 at 9:35pm ET
Performances
Week of Monday, Jan. 27
*Jan. 27: Movement Research at the Judson Church, feat. Serouj Aprahamian and Jennifer Monson, Sabina Bočková, and Soňa Kúdeľová, at Judson Memorial Church
Jan. 28-29: Sarah Michelson, city of dancers - the eternal return of the same, part of Edges of Ailey, at Performance Space New York
Jan. 28-Feb. 2: Compagnie Hervé Koubi, What the Day Owes to the Night at the Joyce
Jan 30: Melissa Almaguer, Cassie Dietrich, and Zoë Davidson at Arts on Site
Jan. 30-31: Split Bill: Ja Jess and Lai Yi Ohlsen at Pageant
Feb. 2: Teo Romero Medici and Innocence at Arts on Site
Feb. 2: Allison Miller with special guest Michelle Dorrance, Rivers in Our Veins at 92NY (in-person and online)
Through Feb. 2: Hayley Stahl, Music, part of the Exponential Festival, at Target Margin Theater
Through March 2: New York City Ballet winter season at David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center
Week of Monday, Feb. 3
*Feb. 3: Movement Research at the Judson Church, feat. Marina Santo, Natsumi Sasabe, and Ivvy, at Judson Memorial Church
Feb. 5-8: Urban Bush Women, SCAT!… The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar at PAC NYC
Feb. 5 and 8: Emilee Lord, Drawing Lessons at the Tank
Feb. 5-9: Camille A. Brown & Dancers, I AM at the Joyce
Feb. 5-15: Brendan Drake, Ghost Porn at Kestrels
*Feb. 6-8: Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born, let slip, hold sway, part of Edges of Ailey, at the Whitney Museum of American Art
Feb. 7: Works & Process at the Guggenheim: Never Alone by Andy Blankenbuehler, at the Guggenheim Museum
Feb. 7-8: Obremski/Works at Arts on Site
Feb. 8 (and Feb. 9 online): David Dorfman Dance, “Downtown to Uptown. Past to Forward.” at 92NY
Feb. 9: Kar’mel Antonyo Wade Small, Glassmask at Arts on Site
Through March 2: New York City Ballet winter season at David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center
Week of Monday, Feb. 10
*Feb. 12: Black Aesthetics, curated by Malcolm-x Betts and Arien Wilkerson, at Judson Memorial Church
Feb. 12-16: Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation, 2nd Annual Rhythms & Movements African American Culture Festival at Abrons Arts Center
Feb. 12-16: Akram Khan, GIGENIS: The generation of the Earth at the Joyce
Feb. 12-16: John Scott Dance and Mel Mercier, Begin Anywhere at Irish Arts Center
Feb. 13-14: SoloDuo Dance Festival, presented by White Wave, at Dixon Place
Feb. 13-15: “Beauty is the Hope of Home,” feat. Alisa Nipp, Ashley Taylor with Ara Dance Project, Claire Kretzschmar with Erin McAtee, Elizabeth Buchheister, Jade Connor, Lorena Farmand, Gabriel DeRego, and Shaelyn Kaiser, at Arts on Site
Feb. 13-15: Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet, Remembering at BAM Fisher
Feb. 14-15: Florentina Holzinger, TANZ at NYU Skirball
Feb. 14-15: IMGE Dance, (no)man, presented by CUNY Dance Initiative, at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center
Feb. 14-15: Miro Magloire / New Chamber Ballet at Mark Morris Dance Center
Feb. 15: Body Artifacts, Angel Visits, feat. Chloe Sonnet Brown, Morgan Gregory, Lulu Munteanu, and Noel Olson, at Chapel of St. Martin at Cathedral of St. John the Divine
Feb. 15-16: Dances by Charles Weidman at Paul Taylor Dance Company Studios
Feb. 15-23: Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater, Nuttin’ but a Word at New Victory Theater
Through Feb. 15: Brendan Drake, Ghost Porn at Kestrels
Through March 2: New York City Ballet winter season at David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center
Week of Monday, Feb. 17
Feb. 18-23: Herman Cornejo with Grupo Cadabra, Anima Animal at the Joyce
Feb. 19-March 1: Douglas Dunn & Dancers, BODY / SHADOW (Feb. 19-22) and L'Embarqement pour Cythère (Feb. 26-March 1) at Judson Memorial Church
Feb. 20-21: Kristel Baldoz at Pageant
*Feb. 20 and 22: Ralph Lemon and Darrell Jones, Low, part of Ceremonies Out of the Air, at MoMA PS1
Feb. 21: EXCAVATE: Butoh Dance Works in Progress, curated by Scoop Slone, at the Brick
Feb. 21: Jelani Taylor / Era Dance Company and Suzzanne Ponomarenko Dance at Arts on Site
*Feb. 22: DraftWork: Jelani Taylor and Nile Harris at Danspace Project
Feb. 22: Free Mind Dance Company at Arts on Site
Feb. 22: Queer Movie Movers Dance Compilation, feat. Donavan “Donny” Rice, Omari Simmons, Ariana Speight, Peter Elizalde, Seph Figueroa, Shackiel Scott, Christopher Cortez, Keith Reeves, and Filip Condeescu, at BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts & Dance
*Feb 22: Urban Bush Women pop-up performance, part of Legacy, Lineage and Liberation, at the Apollo Stages at The Victoria, Frank and Laura Baker Gallery
Through Feb. 23: Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater, Nuttin’ but a Word at New Victory Theater
Through March 2: New York City Ballet winter season at David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center
Week of Monday, Feb. 24
Feb. 24-26: Neta Pulvermacher, The Archive, presented by the Leo Baeck Institute, at the Center for Jewish History
Feb. 25-26: GrahamDeconstructed: Deaths and Entrances at Martha Graham Studio Theater
Feb. 25-March 9: Germán Cornejo, Tango After Dark at the Joyce
Feb. 27-March 1: OO-GA-LA Reimagined (The Fred Holland and Ishmael Houston-Jones 1983 Duet Danced into the 21st Century) at Danspace Project
March 1: CATCH 78 at the Invisible Dog
*March 1: Ralph Lemon, Ceremonies Out of the Air (performance / artist talk), part of Ceremonies Out of the Air (exhibition), at MoMA PS1
Through March 1: Douglas Dunn & Dancers, BODY / SHADOW (Feb. 19-22) and L'Embarqement pour Cythère (Feb. 26-March 1) at Judson Memorial Church
Through March 2: New York City Ballet winter season at David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center
Screenings, Talks & Exhibitions
*Jan. 30 (rescheduled from Jan. 15): GPS Chats: Solo and collective dancemaking practices in Czech Republic and Slovakia at Movement Research at 122CC
*Jan. 31: Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Symposium: Mikhail Baryshnikov: Beyond Boundaries, feat. Marina Harss, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, Alessandra Nicifero, Marcelline Mandeng Nken, Brian Seibert, and Maria Vinogradova, at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (in-person and online)
Feb. 5: Bill Chats: Bill T. Jones in conversation with Judith Butler at New York Live Arts (in-person and online)
*Feb. 6-8: The Essential Jill Johnston Symposium, curated by Clare Croft and J de Leon, presented by NYU Skirball, at various locations
Feb. 8: Coffeehouse Chronicles #178: Dancenoise, with Anne Iobst and Lucy Sexton and guests Cynthia Hedstrom, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Carmelita Tropicana, and more TBA, moderated by Cynthia Carr, at The Club at La MaMa
*Feb. 13: Five Classic Ballets Then & Now, with Marian Smith, Doug Fullington, and Marina Harss, at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Feb. 14: Steve Paxton - a video amble at Danspace Project
*Feb. 20: Youth America Grand Prix: The Evolution of Choreography, from Classical Ballet Pantomime to Today, at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Feb. 21-24: Dance on Camera Festival at Symphony Space
*Feb. 26: The Dance Historian Is In: Barbara A. Jones on Mama Lu Parks and Lindy Hop at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (in-person and online)
*Feb. 27: The Joffrey Methodology: Demonstration and Conversation at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Through Feb. 9: Edges of Ailey at the Whitney Museum of American Art
*Through March 1: The Joffrey + Ballet in the U.S. at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
*Through March 12: Legacy, Lineage and Liberation: An Examination of Urban Bush Women’s Art-Making and Community Organizing Praxis at the Apollo Stages at The Victoria, Frank and Laura Baker Gallery
*Through March 24: Ceremonies Out of the Air: Ralph Lemon at MoMA PS1
p.s.
New from me: reviews of Miguel Gutierrez’s Super Nothing at New York Live Arts and Malpaso Dance Company at the Joyce.