What's on this week

This week in dance features lectures galore, along with the usual happenings
at Dance Theater Workshop, The Joyce, and Danspace Project at St. Mark's
Church.

October 8
Works & Process: American Ballet Theatre—Season Preview
Excerpts from Benjamin Millepied's brand new work "From Here On Out" and Antony Tudor’s newly revived "The Leaves Are Fading" are previewed by ABT company dancers. ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie discusses the artistic process behind developing the 2007 New York City Center season, the internationally revered company’s diverse repertory, the intricate journey involved in mounting major revivals, and the commissioning of exciting world premieres. Benjamin Millepied participates in the panel discussion. At 7:30pm.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street
212-423-3500

October 8-10 (opened August 17)
Cloud Gate in Photographs
This photographic exhibition honors the Taiwanese experimental dance company on its fifth appearance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival. The images focus on major works by the innovative choreographer LIN Hwai-Min: "Nine Songs", "Songs of the Wanderers", "Moon Water", and the trilogy "Cursive".  Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday at 11am-6pm, Monday, Thursday at 12-8pm, Saturday at 10am-6pm.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
111 Amsterdam Avenue, at 65th Street
212-870-1630

October 8-13 (opened June 19)
Invention: Merce Cunningham & Collaborators
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is the repository of the John Cage Music Manuscript Collection and the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Additional artifacts will be pulled from the Merce Cunningham Archives, the John Cage Trust, and the Library’s Jerome Robbins Dance Division, Music Division, and Rodgers & Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound.  The exhibit will illustrate the four key discoveries that Cunningham pursued through decades of creativity, often in collaboration with John Cage: the separation of music and dance; the use of chance operations and indeterminacy in composition and choreography; the possibilities of film and video; and experimentation with computer technology. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday at 11am-6pm, Monday, Thursday at 12-8pm, Saturday at 10am-6pm.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
111 Amsterdam Avenue, at 65th Street
212-870-1630

October 9
Breaking Ground with Bill T. Jones
The first of a series of moderated discussions with a focus on the Harlem community, Bill T. Jones and special noted guests will engage in lively exchanges with each other and the audience on topics as culture, ethnicity, the role of the artist, political work, and Harlem’s place in the world as a cultural capital. At 7:30pm.
Harlem Stage at The Gatehouse
135th Street at Convent Avenue
Harlem
212-426-6655

October 9-13
Donna Uchizono Company
Donna Uchizono's striking visual worlds expose the extraordinary in the ordinary. An amalgam of metic-ulously structured, visceral movement and riveting imagery, the work posseses an intellectual fervor that brings into sharp focus the complexity and fragility of the human psyche. Her new evening-length work, "Thin Air", explores how our sense of reality is both shaped and obscured by our perceptions, emphasizing the intimate emotional power of ‘real' physical contact in a landscape that is both true and virtual. Thin Air is a collaboration with dancers Hristoula Harakas, Antonio Ramos, and Julie Alexander; composer Fred Frith; video artist Michael Casselli; and lighting designer Jane Shaw. At 7:30pm.
Dance Theater Workshop
219 West 19th Street
212-691-6500

October 9-14
Pamina Devi: A Cambodian Magic Flute
The brilliant classicism of imperial Vienna meets the mythic-poetic splendor of ancient Angkor in "Pamina Devi: A Cambodian Magic Flute." In this powerful work by Sophiline Cheam Shapiro performed by the acclaimed Khmer Arts Ensemble from Phnom Penh, Mozart's fantastical opera is transformed into the refined and elaborate movement language of Cambodian classical dance and music. Cultures meld as 32 dancers, musicians, and singers depict Pamina's arduous efforts to transcend the rivalries and betrayals from which she is born and seek out a middle path of justice, tolerance, and love. The piece was commissioned by Peter Sellars for his New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna. Tuesday-Wednesday at 7:30pm, Thursday-Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm and 8pm, Sunday at 2pm and 7:30pm.
Joyce Theater
8th Avenue at 19th Street
212-242-0800

October 10
Performing Arts of Asia and the Middle East
Pamina Devi: New Dimensions in Cambodian Dance
Choreographer Sophiline Cheam Shapiro and dance ethnologist Toni Shapiro Phim in conversation. At 3pm.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
111 Amsterdam Avenue, at 65th Street
212-870-1630

October 11
A Rose by Any Other Name: Adaptations of Shakespeare
This series continues with a showing of "West Side Story Suite," Jerome Robbins' ballet introduced with commentary by Amanda Vaill. Performed by the New York City Ballet and videotaped by the Library's Dance Division in 1995. At 6pm.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
111 Amsterdam Avenue, at 65th Street
212-870-1630

October 11-13
Yummy Dance
The Matsuyama, Japan-based quintet, Yummy Dance returns to New York for a shared evening with special guest artist Nami Yamamoto. The performers in Yummy Dance's "Bring Me a PPPeach" grapple with waiting and heightening states of impatience. Acclaimed New York-based Japanese choreographer Nami Yamamoto offers audiences a peek at her work-in-progress, "a howling flower", which will premiere at DTW in fall 2008. At 8:30pm.
Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church
131 10th Street
212-674-8112

October 11-13
Danskdanseteater
Danish Dance Theatre is renowned for its stunning, individual dancers and Artistic Director Tim Rushton's choreography, which is driven by articulate movements and thematic direction. The company will present "Bach Suites", a frivolous and delightful play with Bach's Cembalo Concertos, and excerpts from the US premiere of "Animal Park (2006)", a lonely-hearts meeting of individuals and an aggressive, physical statement to the sound scape of Norwegian ambient specialist Biosphere. At 8pm.
Joyce SoHo
155 Mercer Street
212-431-9233

October 11-13
Jessica Gaynor Dance
Jessica Gaynor Dance presents an evening of new work and live music in collaboration with composer Quentin Tolimieri and the rock band Lady Lucille. Performers include, Karen Carbonell, Sundara Duncan, Charis Haines, Ashlie Kittleson, Renee Kurz, Blythe Proffitt, Jin Ju Song, and Angel Vasquez. At 8pm.
Triskelion Arts
118 North 11th Street
Brooklyn
718-599-3577

October 11-14
Dzul Dance
Dzul Dance returns to Baruch Performing Arts Center for their fall season with "Reincarnations", an exploration of the human spirit and reincarnations of Mexican culture. Artistic Director Javier Dzul draws on pre-Hispanic mythology and Mexican cultural icons for inspiration with the choreography of this contemporary dance piece that fuses modern dance with aerial arts. Thursday-Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm.
Baruch Performing Arts Center
55 Lexington Avenue at 25th Street
212-352-3101

October 12
Fridays at Noon
David Capps, Parijat Desai, Mariko Tanabe take part in this free one-hour, mixed-bill event which focuses on the process of creating choreography. At noon.
92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center
Buttenwieser Hall, 2nd floor
1395 Lexington Avenue
212-415-5500

October 12-13
International Symposium of Russian Ballet
Scholars from Russia, England, the Netherlands, and Austria will join colleagues from the United States for the International Symposium of Russian Ballet. The Symposium will bring together senior and junior scholars working in the area of Russian ballet, broadly defined to include both ballet in Russia and Russian ballet elsewhere. Lynn Garafola, Professor of Dance at Barnard College, and Catharine Nepomnyashchy, the Chair of the Slavic Department at Barnard College and Director of the Harriman Institute, are the organizers. Go to harrimaninstitute.org for the schedule.
Columbia University
116th Street and Broadway

October 13
The Theater and Theatricality of Merce Cunningham
Lecture by New York Times dance critic Alastair Macaulay. At 3pm.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
111 Amsterdam Avenue, at 65th Street
212-870-1630

October 13
Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández
The work of Ballet Folklórico de México encompasses pre-Hispanic rituals, dramatic historical events, and colorful depictions of Mexico’s diverse cultures and folklore. Made up of more than 75 dancers and musicians, the company performs the rich and varied works of Amalia Hernández. At 8pm.
Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts
Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues
Brooklyn
718-951-4500

October 13-14
Stars of American Ballet
A selection of dancers from the New York City Ballet will perform excerpts from "Agon" by George Balanchine, "Swan Lake", "A Fool for You" by Peter Martins, and Martins' "Barber Violin Concerto." Saturday at 2pm and 8pm, Sunday at 3pm.
Queens Theatre in the Park
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park
718-760-0064

October 14
Sundays at Three...Dance Previews
Rebecca Lazier's "Serenade", set to Tchaikovsky's Serenade in C, breaks down and reassembles traditional expectations of Balanchine's musical interpretation and the relationship between audience and performer. Five dancers leap and fall initiated by twists and reaching counterbalances to explore group dynamics and individual relationships as a company journeys from rehearsal to performance. "Terminal", with a score entitled Canons for M.R. by Gregory Spears, seeks to find a balance between inventive movement and unconventional structures without sacrificing the tactility of human exchange. At 3pm.
92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center
Buttenwieser Hall, 2nd floor
1395 Lexington Avenue
212-415-5500

October 14-15
Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company: "New Beginnings"
At 34, Christopher Wheeldon is one of the youngest and most sought-after choreographers of classical/contemporary dance. In his new company Morphoses's first New York performance, dancers perform prior to the premiere season at City Center. Artistic Director Christopher Wheeldon and Executive Director Lourdes Lopez discuss the exhilarating and at times daunting process of starting a new company in this Works & Process event. Lynn Garafola moderates. At 7:30pm.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street
212-423-3500

- compiled from official sources