France’s Lyon Opera Ballet returned to the Joyce after 15 years with a wonderful program of works by Merce Cunningham, William Forsythe, and Maguy Marin, which runs through Mar 14. Even though none of these works were New York premieres, it was enormously gratifying to see them all together. Beach Birds (Cunningham) and Duo (Forsythe) [...]

Ballet Hispanico recently crossed a milestone this summer when Tina Ramirez, who founded the company in 1970, stepped down as artistic director. The current season at the Joyce Theater (through Dec 13) was put together by Eduardo Vilaro, who took over as AD, and the early signs are promising. The company’s repertory is surprisingly well-rounded [...]

Amazing how Bill T. Jones’ work looks and feels as fresh as ever in his company’s 25th year. Serenade/The Proposition, at the Joyce through last Sunday, takes inspiration from Abraham Lincoln, whose bicentennial approaches. The performance combines Jones’ elegant choreography, spoken text, and live chamber orchestra and singer in a rich, luminous hour-long work. At [...]

It’s hard to tell since we’re in the middle of it, but while the current dance scene may not be regarded as “golden,” it is undeniably rich. Part of the impressiveness of it all is the dazzling variety of styles and approaches. In a given week—say,  this one—you can choose from a tango musical (Tanguera), [...]

New York regularly plays host to ballet companies from smaller cities. It’s an oft brutal undertaking for the visitors. The old lyric/trope—“if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere”—holds some truth, although many a company manages just fine by avoiding New York City. Tulsa Ballet finally took the plunge after a 25 [...]

This year, on paper, Evening Stars looked a little sad. The lineup had been reduced to one company, albeit Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and just three shows. In past years, the dance series, co-presented by the River to River Festival and the Joyce Theater, has featured a number of notable companies over the course of [...]

It’s kismet that Stephen Petronio’s recent Joyce Theater run, which ended last weekend, coincided with that of Trisha Brown Dance Company’s BAM engagement, but it proved an interesting scheduling twist. Mentor and protégé dancing across the river from one another—in Petronio parlance, recalling his memorable dance City of Twist of a several years back—you might [...]

Choreographer Joe Goode, based in San Francisco, has been making work for his company for 23 years, and visits New York once in a blue moon. The two pieces at the Joyce (through this past weekend) showed Goode’s ability to forge narrative, camp, identity issues, humor, and oh yeah, dance, into an appealing theatrical style [...]

Many of the top dance companies have second troupes that serve as farm teams. They develop young talent, allowing time for technique to deepen and providing invaluable stage experience. This seems to be the New York season for the “twos,” what with runs by ABT II, Ailey II, and NDT II taking place within weeks [...]

Horse, the male troupe from Taiwan presented by Eliot Feld’s Mandance Project, performed two evenings at the Joyce Theater recently. Wedged among eleven shows of Feld repertory, the evenings have in common the dancers Wu-Kang Chen and Wei-Chia Su. The company performed the US premiere of Bones, an austere work that edges away from a [...]