7 Dance Performances to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend

Our guide to dance performances happening this weekend and in the week ahead.

AMERICAN BALLET THEATER at the David H. Koch Theater (Oct. 18, 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 19, 2 and 8 p.m.; Oct. 20, 2 p.m.; Oct. 22-24, 7:30 p.m.; through Oct. 27). The “Balanchine, Bennett & the Beach Boys” program combines Balanchine’s “Apollo,” Jessica Lang’s jazzy new work to Tony Bennett songs and Twyla Tharp’s rollicking “Deuce Coupe” with a duet by Clark Tippet, a company member who died of AIDS in 1992 (Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and Oct. 24). For “The Masters” program, Balanchine’s “Theme and Variations” is grouped with Tharp’s new “A Gathering of Ghosts” and Alexei Ratmansky’s fresh, recent ballet, “The Seasons” (Saturday evening and Tuesday). Wednesday’s “The New Romantics” program includes another piece by Lang along with works by Ballet Theater’s Gemma Bond, a member of the corps, and James Whiteside, a principal dancer.
212-496-0600, abt.org

KAROLE ARMITAGE at New York Live Arts (Oct. 23, 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 24, 7 p.m.; through Oct. 26). The 15th-century Noh play “Nonomiya,” which tells of a ghost who returns to haunt her former lover, inspired Armitage’s “You Took a Part of Me,” which comes to New York Live Arts after a stint at Japan Society in April. Armitage is known for her sharp application of ballet technique; here, to music by Reiko Yamada, she also smooths and softens it, evoking Japanese calligraphy. Armitage draws from Noh conventions in her staging as well, including a traditional mirror room that connects to the stage through a small bridge.
212-691-6500, newyorklivearts.org

BALLETCOLLECTIVE at the Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center (Oct. 23, 7 p.m.; through Oct. 26). Troy Schumacher, a soloist with New York City Ballet, founded this company in 2010 to create contemporary ballets with a focus on collaboration. For “Faraway,” his latest production, the alliance includes the artists Zaria Forman and Trevor Paglen, the photojournalist George Steinmetz and the sci-fi author Ken Liu. Along with Preston Chamblee and Gabrielle Lamb, Schumacher contributes choreography that will be danced by members of City Ballet. The Knights orchestra will accompany with music that includes new compositions from Judd Greenstein and Paul Moravec.
balletcollective.com

MAYA BEISER, WENDY WHELAN AND LUCINDA CHILDS at the Joyce Theater (Oct. 22-23, 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 24, 8 p.m.; through Oct. 27). “The Day” is a somber work about memory and loss by a dream team of artists: Beiser, a celebrated cellist; Whelan, a beloved ballerina; and Childs, an acclaimed postmodern choreographer. In the work’s first part, set to “World to Come,” a 2003 piece by composer David Lang, mournful music meets a spoken text of profound and mundane memories as Whelan manipulates a collection of objects. Part 2 brings Whelan and Beiser in closer proximity against striking projections of ebbing waves, as Lang’s 2016 composition “The Day” allows Whelan, sans props, to indulge in its elegiac tones and Childs’s evocative gestures.
212-242-0800, joyce.org

[Read about the events that our other critics have chosen for the week ahead.]

CIRCA at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College (Oct. 23-25, 7:30 p.m.). “En Masse,” the work that this Australian dance-theater-circus troupe is bringing to Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival, is about nothing less than the end of this world and the start of the next one. Over nearly two hours (with an intermission), the company’s impressive acrobatics — often starkly lit like scenes in a gritty crime film — are used to entertain the audience, and scare it. Here, the physical tricks both thrill and chill. The apocalyptic drama unfolds to Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” a couple of selections from Franz Schubert and music by the Swedish composer Klara Lewis.
212-721-6500, lincolncenter.org/white-light-festival

HOUSTON BALLET at New York City Center (Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m.; through Oct. 26). This excellent company, one of the country’s best ballet troupes, makes a rare New York appearance with a contemporary program comprising works by Mark Morris, Aszure Barton and Justin Peck. “The Letter V” was created by Morris for the Houston Ballet in 2015 to music by Joseph Haydn; “Come In,” by Barton, features 14 male dancers and was originally made for Mikhail Baryshnikov; and “Reflections,” choreographed by Peck for the company in the spring, features a new piano score by his frequent collaborator Sufjan Stevens.
212-581-1212, nycitycenter.org

BEN MUNISTERI at the 92nd Street Y (Oct. 18-19, 8 p.m.; Oct. 20, 3 p.m.). Munisteri’s evening of dance, part of the Harkness Presents series, is called “Elemental Complexity,” and it earns the title in several ways. “Tin (50)” takes an element on the periodic table as its starting point, while “Permafrost” nods to the elements of nature and is set to piano pieces by Erik Satie. In “Petrichor,” which refers to the smell of rain, Munisteri quotes from Lar Lubovitch and Trisha Brown. The energetic ensemble piece, with music by Pogo, uses a few dance phrases and reshapes them to make a complex entity. A new work, “Plexus,” completes the program.
212-415-5500, 92y.org

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