Steps in the Right Direction
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

There are annual engagements aplenty this autumn, but the big news in dance is the debut of City Center’s Fall for Dance Festival. The six nights of this dance festival – September 28 to October 3 – feature five different companies performing works selected to give new audiences an accessible and varied introduction to the art form. To entice those who rarely or never see dance, the ticket prices are set at entry level: $10 for every seat in the house.
Prior to the festival, Wendy Perron, editor of Dance magazine, will moderate a free discussion – with the very important sounding title of “The Artist’s Role in Today’s World” – at Hunter College on September 26th. (Lang Recital Hall, Room 424, 68th Street and Lexington Avenue)
A bit later in the month, City Center will host American Ballet Theatre’s annual season from October 20 to November 7. Among the highlights are two major premieres. Christopher Wheeldon’s “VIII”- set to “Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge” by Benjamin Britten – is based on the life King Henry VIII and his first two wives. Most unusually, Mr. Wheeldon has re-choreographed portions of the ballet since its premiere at the Hamburg Ballet and given it new sets and costumes by Jean-Marc Puissant. The other new work (as yet unnamed) is by Trey McIntyre, former member of the Houston Ballet and the recipient of two choreographic fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The season also includes revivals of Michel Fokine’s “Le Spectre de la Rose” and “Les Sylphides,” as well as Jiri Kylian’s “Sinfonietta,” which was last performed by ABT in 1998. From the repertory there will be two Balanchine classics – “Mozartiana” and “Theme and Variations” – as well as Kirk Peterson’s “Amazed in Burning Dreams” and Antony Tudor’s “Pillar of Fire.”
For cutting-edge work, the place to be is Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival. French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj will bring “Near Life Experience” to the United States for the first time. Set to music by Air (which also did the music for Sofia Coppola’s “The Virgin Suicides”), the work explores delicious moments of abandon (November 3 to 6). Also this year, BAM welcomes Pina Bausch, the darling of European dance theater. Her company will present “Fur die Kinder von Gestern, Heute und Morgen” (“For the Children of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”) on November 16, 18, 19, and 20.
From Australia to Brooklyn comes the Bangarra Dance Theatre with “Bush,” a combination of contemporary dance, storytelling, and indigenous dance (October 19, 21, 22 & 23). For a look at the home front, there is Ralph Lemon’s “Come Home Charley Patton,” which picks up themes of the Civil Rights movement and life in the South. The work is the third in his “Geography Trilogy.”(October 26 & 28-30)
Across town, the Joyce Theater will offer a vast array of choices that can appeal to all audiences. The Limon Company – a repository of historic modern dance -starts off the fall season with the all-female ballet by Susanne Linke, “Extreme Beauty,” and the company premiere of Lar Lubovitch’s “Concerto Six Twenty-Two.” The two-week season will also feature works by Limon and Kylian.
Ballet Tech returns to the Joyce for a three-week engagement (October 21 to November 7) that includes new works by Eliot Feld for his “Mandance Project.” The works were created for and will be performed by New York City Ballet’s Damien Woetzel. Also pitching in from that ballet company will be Sean Suozzi, who will dance Mr. Feld’s “Proverb.”
In mid-December, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company takes the stage with a weeklong series of performances titled only “Event.” Each show will feature different live, improvised music and decor by committee. The music and dance will not be rehearsed together – the dancers will only be introduced to the music on the day of the performance. So good luck to those involved.
For dance that is rehearsed beforehand – and brings a little fun and frolic to the stage – Garth Fagan Dance is always a sure thing. Mr. Fagan will present his works “Dance Collage for Romie,” “Griot New York,” and “Trips and Trysts” – as well as a new work set to Brahms (November 16 to 21).
At Dance Theater Workshop, the mission is to find and encourage emerging dance artists. That continues apace this fall. On tap is “Plan B” by Big Dance Theater, which includes material ranging from the Nixon tapes to a biography of the 19th-century German mystery man Kaspar Hauser (September 23 to October 9). In advance of the work, the Guggenheim’s Work & Progress series will feature a discussion with choreographer Annie-B Parson and co-director Paul Lazar (September 18 & 19). Merian Soto Dance and Performance will present “La Maquina del Tiempo,” which blends salsa with every dance style under the sun (October 20 to 30). For a new version of “The Nutcracker,” check out David Parker’s “Nut/cracked,” billed as “a 21st-century vaudevillian take on the 19thcentury classic.”
Still, there ain’t nothin’ like the real thing: New York City Ballet dances “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker” from November 26 to January 2. Before that run, the company will host its season kick-off gala on Tuesday, November 23 – unfortunately, the program was not set by press time.