Nina Simone married art and activism during her legendary Carnegie Hall performance in 1964, leading to a historic live album and definitive recording of her civil rights anthem “Mississippi Goddam.” Boldly stepping into Simone’s shoes is powerhouse vocalist and Grammy winner Ledisi, whose 2021 album Ledisi Sings Nina showcases “both the diversity and depth of Simone’s musicianship, and the breathtaking range and reach of Ledisi’s own voice” (The New York Times). Taking on Simone’s emotionally searing, socially conscious songs, Ledisi returns to Carnegie Hall—with a 30-piece orchestra—to pay tribute to one of the icons of 20th-century music.
Ledisi
Following its triumphant debut at The Joyce last season, New York's Gibney Company returns with a powerful program featuring two world premieres and Johan Inger's Bliss, an ode to the joy of dancing. Co-artistic directors of Vancouver's Out Innerspace Dance Theatre, Tiffany Tregarthen & David Raymond make their U.S. debut with a new work commissioned for Gibney Company. Featuring rigorous, hyper-detailed movement, the work will meld dance and design into an inseparable and ambitious interdisciplinary collaboration. Acclaimed choreographer Yue Yin combines Chinese classical and folk dance, ballet, and contemporary dance movement into a completely unique creation. Her new work for Gibney Company features an original score of live music and recorded sound by Ryan Lott of the band Son Lux. Rounding out the program, Johan Inger's Bliss was inspired by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett's legendary Köln Concert who is considered the epitome of virtuoso improvisation. Inger translates the essence of Jarrett's iconic music into dance that truly is a state of bliss.
The Nrityagram Dance Ensemble in collaboration with the Chitrasena Dance Company presents the New York City premiere of Āhuti, a thrilling combination of classical Odissi dance from India and traditional Kandyan dance from Sri Lanka. Meaning “offering,” Āhuti bridges the gap between distinct dance traditions of these South Asian cultures, in the second cross-cultural collaboration between these two acclaimed companies.
Bessie Award winner Ayodele Casel is a longtime City Center collaborator and one of the world’s great tap talents, beloved for her musicality, strength, and fluid, generous style. As the second featured artist-curator in our Artists at the Center series, Casel invites an all-star roster of choreographic and performing talent to join her on the City Center stage in an evening that features six World Premiere City Center Commissions. Casel expands her sublime 2021 Fall for Dance commission Where We Dwell—featuring live original music by Crystal Monee Hall—to further explore her and her collaborators’ personal, cultural, and musical approaches to the quintessentially American tap form. “The work transforms the stage into a kaleidoscope of vibrant dancing bodies” —The New York Times
Constant repertory renewal has always been a tradition at New York City Ballet, as this program of new and recent works illustrates. Alysa Pires, a Canadian choreographer who has been called “a dancemaker to watch,” creates her first ballet for the Company. Christopher Wheeldon’s long history with the Company continues as he makes his 23rd ballet for a new generation of dancers. Rounding out the evening is The Times Are Racing, Justin Peck’s sneaker ballet, which features innovative gender-neutral choreography for several roles and is set to Dan Deacon’s propulsive electronic score, with music and dance combining to capture the exuberance of urban life.
Justin Peck’s fondness for putting sneakers on classical dancers returns with Partita, a dynamic ballet for eight dancers. The dance rests upon an unusual score, a Pulitzer Prize-winning a cappella composition by Caroline Shaw, as well as a vibrant but simple setting by Eva LeWitt, the daughter of acclaimed artist Sol LeWitt (one of whose works, in turn, inspired Shaw’s music). This program is rounded out by recent new works, fresh from their sold-out fall premieres, by choreographers Gianna Reisen, to a commissioned free jazz score by Solange Knowles, and Kyle Abraham, featuring an intoxicating series of electronic R&B songs by James Blake.
Dances set to music from 19th-century France comprise this program. Balanchine’s La Source, set to the music of Léo Delibes, has been hailed as the choreographer’s tribute to the charm and sophistication of French dancing. Originally composed as a pas de deux, it was later expanded with the addition of an ensemble. Alexei Ratmansky turned to the lesser-known Édouard Lalo for inspiration for his Namouna, A Grand Divertissement, a ballet that likewise draws on classical French steps and style as it depicts a romantic tale of thwarted love eventually rewarded, combining pure dance, hints of drama, and lively moments of wit.
Concerto Barocco, first presented in 1941, was among the three works danced at the first performance ever given by the newly established New York City Ballet in 1948. Its formal beauty and responsiveness to the score has made it an undisputed classic of the international repertory. Kammermusik No. 2 finds Balanchine meeting the challenges of the Hindemith score with lively choreography for two principal couples and, unusually, an all-male corps de ballet. Raymonda Variations features dances of “indescribable happiness” and “simple deftness,” as one critic wrote, and includes subtle nods to the choreography of the Marius Petipa story ballet of the title, although it is a plotless work.
After Arts, a community of diverse members who all share a passion for music, returns for its second annual Spring Showcase. The concert will feature ten chamber groups comprised of After Arts musicians. Opening remarks will be provided by nine-time Grammy award-winning artist, Wynton Marsalis.
Join us! The Annual Joe's Pub Gala is back and better than ever! Monday, March 6, 2023 6:00PM Cocktail Reception in The Library 7:00PM Dinner & Performance in Joe's Pub Gala Co-Chairs: Eric Ellenbogen & Dominic Ramos-Ruiz Benefit Committee: Kurt Chauviere & BJ Sullivan, Judy Collins, Bridget Everett, Taylor Mac, Kathleen Hanna, and Shaina Taub. Since 1998, Joe's Pub has been a home for artists at all levels of development—from early-career artists to those at a critical stage in their careers (like the members of the Joe's Pub Working Group) to international superstars like Alicia Keys and Adele. Join us to celebrate our beloved Joe's Pub on Monday, March 6 and enjoy performances from the next generation of Joe’s Pub artists throughout the evening. We are excited to also celebrate the life of Barbara Maier Gustern, this year’s posthumous Vanguard Honoree. Contact events@publictheater.org with any questions or to make an early reservation.
Miriam Elhajli will be presenting a performance of ballads and new compositions for Joe's Pub this winter featuring an ensemble of musicians from Brazil, Cuba, and the U.S. Based in New York City, Elhajli performs & works as a researcher at The Association for Cultural Equity founded by Alan Lomax. Moving at the intersection of the vibrant avant-garde and the folkloric communities of Brooklyn, she has worked with artists such as Bread & Puppet, Mali Obomsawin, Jen Shyu, Lau Noah, and Adam O'Farrill. Elhajli released her debut LP Observations in 2020 and her sophomore The Uncertainty of Signs (2022) on Numina Records, a label she founded to aid in the documentation of traditional women’s music in the Maghreb and beyond. Numina Records is set to release her upcoming record as well as Bnat El Houariyat's upcoming LP in the fall of this year. Header photo courtesy the artist Thumbnail photo credit: Alfred Coleman
The Precision Dance Collective was created out of an idea to fine-tune a dancer’s technique and attention to detail within their movement all the while building their confidence and expanding their skillset. The Cofounders, Katie Walker Henein and Sarah Hoge, elevate the dancer’s technical foundation by providing them with access to classes and choreography from elite industry professionals over the course of a week. Dancers are guided to feel empowered both in the studio, and on the stage while performing. The journey of a professional dancer includes countless hours spent working to develop their craft and find their unique voice within their movement. Whether dancers want to build their confidence for auditions or refine their technique and try a new style of dance, The Precision Dance Collective provides the guidance they need along every step of their journey! The one-hour performance brings together a week’s worth of hard work, training, and determination in the form of choreography from Katie and Sarah! The dancers have the opportunity to bring their own unique selves into the precision dance choreography and showcase themselves in a theater atmosphere with a live audience supporting them every step of the way. The performance is followed by a one-hour live panel and Q&A with industry professionals to discuss life and career opportunities within the performing arts industry!
One night only of Danielle Diniz’s original choreography focused on appealing to every theater-goer and melding styles in order to bring back classic musical theater in a big way. By revamping, refining and rediscovering the genre for a new generation, while honoring its historic brilliance and entertainment value, Diniz finds it imperative to highlight the power and quality of technical, athletic and energetic dance in this diverse program. * With Jenavieve Adams, Jamie Askey, Kai Atobe, Madison Burns, Mackenzie Burtt, Mariana Camarena, Emily Cardea, Monica Cioffi, Darian DalCortivo, Kylie Edwards, Hailey Fleming, Jill Gittleman, Samantha Grey, Mary Kate Hartung, Irene Hwang, Laura Kaufman, Bri Kim, Colby Lewis, Jacob Lill, Sam Lobel, Jonatan Lujan, Nick Nazzaro, Sophie Silnicki, Kristi Smith, Tyler Sparacio, Ai Toyoshima, Lauren Treat, Hannah Welsh, Matt Wiercinski, Kelli Youngman. Ms. Diniz is thrilled to have been selected for a CUNY Dance Initiative residency! She has been commissioned to create new works for Jacob’s Pillow, Performance Santa Fe, Avant Chamber Ballet, two ballets for Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Ballet Hartford, Woman in Motion and Central Utah Ballet. She was a featured choreographer for DanceBreak (musical theater’s leading platform for upcoming Broadway choreographers) and in the 22/23 season has commissions from Ballet Excel Ohio, the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning for their Making Moves Dance Festival and will present work at the Palm Desert Choreography Festival at the McCallum Theatre and Baryshnikov Arts Center via New York Theatre Barn’s Choreography Lab. She is a winner of the New York Dance Project Choreography Competition, a junior board member of Jazz Choreography Enterprises and her work has been shown in Stars of American Ballet rep, New York Choreographers’ Forum, the Steps Beyond Foundation performance lab, Jazz Choreography Enterprises, Nebula Dance Festival, and the Higher Ground Festival, among others. She also choreographed the AEA production of the Vaudevillian musical ‘On the Air,’ currently choreographs and assistant directs intermittent musical theater showcases at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy and has served as Associate Choreographer for Lorin Latarro. She made her Off-Broadway choreographic debut at the AMT Theatre with “An Unbalanced Mind,” is honored her dance-on-film work has been presented in film festivals domestically and abroad and was awarded a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts/City Artist Corps to present a full evening of her choreography in 2021. Photo credit: Steven Vandervelden. Covid Policy: Masks are optional. If you are feeling any COVID-related or flu-like symptoms on the day of the show, please stay home or seek medical attention, and be safe.