From ballet to ballroom, classical to contemporary, New York City is home to some of the world’s greatest dance performances. Get inspired this summer with our picks for the best dance in New York City, which includes performances by Misty Copeland, Twyla Tharp Dance, and the American Ballet Theatre.
New York City Ballet may be out of town for the summer, but balletomanes still have a treat for them in store at Lincoln Center, as American Ballet Theatre performs at the Metropolitan Opera House through July 3. The company’s repertoire will feature classic favorites like Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Romeo & Juliet, along with the lesser-seen The Golden Cockerel. Fans of ballet star Misty Copeland will be able to see the trailblazing dancer take on several iconic roles during the season, including Juliet and Odette/Odile.
ABT won’t be the only dance at Lincoln Center this summer. Legendary dance troupes Mark Morris Dance Company and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will perform at the David H. Koch Theater from August 24-27 and June 8-19, respectively. As part of the Lincoln Center Festival, which brings international performing arts productions to NYC, the National Ballet of Canada will perform Christopher Wheeldon’s ballet adaptation of The Winter’s Tale from July 28-31. For those who’d rather don their dancing shoes than sit and watch, Midsummer Night Swing will take place June 21–July 9, offering a nightly dance party with a variety of live music acts. Dance lessons will be offered at the start of each evening, so non-dancers have no excuse to miss out on the festivities. On July 23, families can head to Lincoln Center’s Family Day, an outdoor block party featuring a dance party and performances by Dance Theater of Harlem and Philadelphia dance collective Illstyle & Peace Productions.
RIOLT Dance NY/Basil Childers
NYC’s other major dance hub is the Joyce Theatre, whose summer programming features an exciting mix of world-class companies. Twyla Tharp Dance, led by internationally renowned choreographer Twyla Tharp, will perform at the Joyce for the first time in 12 years from July 11-23, showcasing a mixed bill of classic repertory and new work. Other Joyce summer highlights include respected modern dance company RIOULT Dance NY (June 21-26); Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, whose work draws from dances of the African Diaspora (June 28-July 3); LA Dance Project, which was founded by former New York City Ballet Benjamin Millepied (July 26-30); and Philadelphia-based company BalletX, who will perform to music spanning from Amy Winehouse to Mozart (August 16-21).
Just a few blocks away at The Kitchen, American Dance Institute will spend the summer debuting five new works by innovative choreographers. Jane Comfort and Company’s You Are Here (June 16-18) will celebrate the city’s denizens, while Susan Marshall and Company’s Chromatic (June 23-25) takes its inspiration from color theory and Josef Albers’ 1963 work Interaction of Color.
For dance fans wanting a bit more variety, the city will also host a number of showcase performances highlighting works by different choreographers. The 92nd Street Y will give choreographers a platform with the 2016 Wave Rising Series, a two-week festival featuring emerging and established dance makers from around the world (June 17-26). Choreographers will also have a chance to shine at the Choreographer's Canvas, which showcases dance pieces in all genres. The 2016 Canvas will take place at 92Y’s Buttenweiser Hall on July 16.
Those looking to scope out the next generation of dance makers, meanwhile, should head to the Young Choreographer’s Festival, which will take place at Symphony Space on June 18. The festival will showcase work by 13 choreographers ages 18-25, along with seven guest artists.
Translate/Dixon Place
Downtown on the Lower East Side, Dixon Place’s packed slate of dance programming will showcase a vast variety of emerging and established choreographers. On June 21, CoreDance Contemporary and Jazz Roots Dance Company will be workshopping 25-35 minutes of new work as part of the theatre’s Fast Forward series. The theatre will then present TRANSLATE (voices of dance) from June 30-July 1, an annual choreography festival that seeks to support the dance community at large.
