14 Dance Performances to See This September
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The fall dance season starts fast and furious this year. September is full of festivals, major companies including New York City Ballet and fancy footwork in venues both large and small. There are even a few FREE events.
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Manhattan West Plaza, 385 Ninth Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets in Midtown West
Wednesdays, September 3, 10, 17 and 24. FREE.
The Guggenheim’s celebrated series Works & Process presents free dance events at this public plaza every Wednesday in September at 5 p.m. Enjoy evenings devoted to the Latin hustle (September 3), swing with Gaby Cook and the Eyal Vilner Big Band (September 10), Sekou McMiller and friends doing salsa to the Palladium Mambo Band (September 17) and queer country dancing with Stud Country. Every performance ends in a dance party!
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Trajal Harrell: Monkey Off My Back or The Cat’s Meow
Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue between 66th and 67th Streets on the Upper East Side
Runs September 9-20. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Dubbed a “runway spectacular,” Trajal Harrell’s Monkey Off My Back or The Cat’s Meow fuses the Zurich-based choreographer’s broad range of creative interests—contemporary dance, fashion, music and spoken word—into an extravaganza celebrating joy and freedom. He turns his imagination loose in the expanse of the Armory’s Drill Hall, where 17 dancers, outfitted in 60 delicious looks designed by Harrell, will preen, pose and perform during this eye-popping pageant on a 150-foot runway.
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Juilliard Fall Festival Opening Night
Runs September 12.
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Miro Magloire: New Chamber Ballet
Runs September 12-13.
Prolific choreographer Miro Magloire is always on the lookout for new and interesting musical scores to use for his New Chamber Ballet company. Staged in the round, Twine, his latest intimately scaled, elegantly formal work, is set to five pieces by Tonia Ko played live on piano and violin. A new solo for Rachele Perla rounds out the program.
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Indigenous Enterprise: Still Here
The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street in Chelsea
Runs September 16-21.
Admired for presenting traditional dances and storytelling in a theatrical context, Indigenous Enterprise returns to The Joyce with Still Here. Through a tale focused on the relationship between a grandfather and his grandson, the dancers, powwow drummers and singers pay homage to their ancestors while celebrating their ever-vibrant culture.
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New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Midtown West
Runs September 16-27.
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New York City Ballet Fall Season
David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, 20 Lincoln Center Plaza at 63rd Street and Columbus Avenue in Lincoln Square
Runs September 16-October 12. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets to select programs.
New York City Ballet launches its season with a jam-packed four-week run. Highlights include the company premiere of Justin Peck’s Heatscape featuring vivid scenic design by Shepard Fairey, and a Jamar Roberts world premiere with costumes by Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen. There are also a pair of estimable programs dedicated to the work of company cofounder George Balanchine and the return of Jerome Robbins’ majestically imaginative The Goldberg Variations.
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Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener: Open Machine
NYU Skirball, 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South in the West Village
Runs September 19-20. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Former Merce Cunningham dancers and longtime collaborators Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener present their ambitious new work Open Machine. This Skirball commission incorporates projected images and virtual renderings that respond in real time to the dancers’ movements. AI meets experimental dance in this boldly high-tech work, performed to a sound score by electronic musician Mas Ysa.
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Newhouse Center at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace on Staten Island
Runs September 19-28.
Equal parts performance, immersive experience and participatory workshop, WASTELANDIA is the brainchild of Edisa Weeks, who choreographed and penned the text. This multilayered project confronts our ecological crisis by inviting the audience to interact with an environment constructed from recycled materials as a way to imagine a more sustainable future.
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Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street at Ninth Avenue in Midtown West
Runs September 20-21.
The annual Erasing Borders fest offers a deep dive into the contrasting styles and rich traditions of Indian dance. Presented by the Indo-American Arts Council, the two evenings showcase performances by eminent Bharatanatyam artists and several US-based companies that specialize in the style.
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Noé Soulier: Movement on Movement
Le Skyroom at L’Alliance New York, 22 East 60th Street between Madison and Park Avenues in Midtown East
Runs September 24-25.
Noé Soulier, an emerging figure in French contemporary dance, brings his new work Movement on Movement to L’Alliance New York’s Crossing The Line Festival. Soulier’s lecture-performance riffs on William Forsythe’s Improvisation Technologies to explore the relationship between movement and meaning.
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BalletX
The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street in Chelsea
Runs September 24-28.
The adventurous Philadelphia-based BalletX has been commissioning and performing contemporary dance works for two decades now. With 16 highly versatile dancers, the troupe celebrates its 20th anniversary season at The Joyce with a pair of NYC premieres: Gregory Dawson’s Sojourner featuring a live jazz ensemble playing Luke Carlos O’Reilly’s score, and Noelle Kayser’s Scales on the Wings of a Butterfly inspired by the art of microscopic photography. Excerpts from Darrell Grand Moultrie’s Vivir (2018) and Nicola Wills’ Two People in Love Never Shake Hands (2024) round out the program.
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A.I.M by Kyle Abraham
Runs September 25-27.
Lincoln Center presents choreographer Kyle Abraham’s company of eloquent dancers in three recent pieces, all performed to intriguing musical scores. 2×4 is set to an experimental classical composition by Shelley Washington played live by two baritone saxophonists. Created in collaboration with renowned visual artist Glenn Ligon, The Gettin’ is danced to a jazz score by Robert Glasper. The tunes of Nina Simone serve as the music for If We Were a Love Song. Tickets are pay-what-you-wish starting at $35, so not many are left!
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The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street in Chelsea
Runs September 30-October 12.
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