February is packed full of performances, with festivals, premieres, and U.S. debuts spanning styles and coasts. Here are a few we’re penciling in.
Countdown
Austin Telenko and the cast of 11 to Midnight. Photo by John Dolan, courtesy Boneau/Bryan-Brown.
NEW YORK CITY Austin and Marideth Telenko, better known as viral social media dance duo Cost n’ Mayorstar in 11 to Midnight, a new theatrical dance production created by the couple that follows seven friends through a single hour of a New Year’s Eve party. Produced by Hideaway Circus, which teamed up with Keone and Mari Madrid to bring their first evening-length production (2018’s Beyond Babel) to life, and directed by Lyndsay Magid Aviner, the work has its official opening Feb. 11 at the Orpheum Theatre and runs through March 1. 11tomidnight.com.
Light in the Dark
Sweat Variant’s my tongue is a blade. Photo by Luca Truffarelli, courtesy Janet Stapleton PR.
HUDSON AND CHATHAM, NY Sweat Variant’s my tongue is a blade, a durational work performed by Okwui Okpokwasili, Bria Bacon, Kris Lee, and AJ Wilmore that probes the limits of attention and questions how we perceive, construct, and remember one another, receives its U.S. premiere at Hudson Hall Feb. 21–22. It appears as part of PS21: Center for Contemporary Performance’s The Dark festival (Feb. 16–22), which will also feature Trisha Brown Dance Company, performing In Plain Site at The Masonic (Feb. 18–19), and the premiere of LaJuné McMillian’s Constellations at the PS21 Ice Skating Rink (Feb. 19–22), both in Chatham, NY. ps21chatham.org.
Feminine Ferocity
Compagnie Virginie Brunelle’s Chi Long and Nicholas Bellefleur in Fables. Photo by David Wong, courtesy Penn Live Arts.
PHILADELPHIA Montreal’s Compagnie Virginie Brunelle brings the U.S. premiere of Fables to Penn Live Arts for the company’s Philadelphia debut. The dance-theater work tips into the fantastical and nightmarish in its examination of women’s ongoing struggle against the patriarchy and celebration of the resilience of those paving the way forward. Feb. 20–21. pennlivearts.org.
Love Is All
Shruti Parthasarathy. Photo by courtesy JAC Communications.
CHICAGO Śiva Bhāva: Love, Care, and the Cosmos brings together bharatanatyam, kathak, and Odissi to explore how the deity Shiva embodies love and its various expressions. Created and performed by Anindita Anaam, Shruti Parthasarathy, and Misha Talapatra, the work premieres under the auspices of Mandala South Asian Performing Arts at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts. Feb. 20–22. mandalaarts.org.
Like a River Runs
Dormeshia and Rachna Nivas in SPEAK. Photo by Margo Moritz, courtesy 92NY.
NEW YORK CITY Kathak artists Rachna Nivas and Rukhmani Mehta join forces with tap stars Michelle Dorrance and Dormeshia in SPEAK, making its New York City premiere at 92NY Feb. 21. The performance will close the first-ever What Flows Between Us festival celebrating Indian classical dance and music, curated by Nivas and featuring a full day of music and dance performances (including Kuchipudi dancer Yamini Kalluri), talkbacks, an artisanal marketplace, and more. Feb. 21. 92ny.org.
Festival Fresh
Dazaun Soleyn (center). Photo by Alan Kimara Dixon, courtesy John Hill PR.
SAN FRANCISCO Two weekends of performances at Dance Mission Theater, titled New Voices/New Works, kick off this year’s Black Choreographers Festival: Here and Now. New short works, local premieres, and excerpts from works in progress in an array of genres will be presented by artists including Olutola Afolayan, Styles Alexander, Alaja Badalich, Gabriele Christian, Isha Tobis Clarke, Gregory Dawson, Clarissa Dyas, William Brewton Fowler Jr., Marianna Hester, Ja’Moon Jones, dominique lesleyann, William L. Miller, Aja Randall and Patricia West, Natalya Janay Shoaf, Raissa Simpson, and Dazaun Soleyn. Feb. 21–22 and Feb. 28–March 1. bcfhereandnow.com.
Glitter and Grit
Grupo Corpo performing with the L.A. Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. Photo by Farah Sosa, courtesy Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.
LOS ANGELES Brazil’s Grupo Corpo joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic in concert, animating composer Gabriela Ortiz’s Revolución diamantina—a response to Mexico’s 2019 feminist uprising that protested violence against women—with choreography by Cassi Abranches and Rodrigo Pederneiras. Feb. 26–March 1. laphil.com.
Dressing Up, Dressing Down
Leïla Ka’s Maldonne. Photo by Duy-Laurent Tran, courtesy Leïla Ka/New York Live Arts.
NEW YORK CITY French choreographer Leïla Ka’s breakout 2023 work Maldonne receives its North American debut at New York Live Arts this month. It takes femininity as its subject as five dancers cycle through 40 dresses—nightgowns, wedding dresses, ballroom costumes—in the course of the evening-length work. The work’s presentation is part of the second New York City edition of the Van Cleef & Arpels Dance Reflections festival. Feb. 27–28. newyorklivearts.org.
Taking Flight
The Royal Ballet in Crystal Pite’s Flight Pattern. Photo by Tristram Kenton, courtesy The Royal Ballet/NBoC.
TORONTO Created for The Royal Ballet as a response to the refugee crisis, Crystal Pite’s Flight Pattern has only increased in relevance and resonance since its 2017 premiere. The Olivier Award–winning work, set to a movement from Henryk Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, has its North American premiere at the National Ballet of Canada, paired with Serge Lifar’s 1943 Suite en Blanc, which the company added to its repertory in 2024. Feb. 27–March 6. national.ballet.ca.
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