These are the dance performances you can’t miss in South Florida this season
Dance companies are gearing up for another season of packed theaters and enthusiastic audiences with offerings that run the gamut from the uber-traditional to the avant garde. Here are the picks for the 2022-2023 season’s Best Bets.
FLAMENCO
Miami continues to support the very best of Flamenco with programs appealing to both the duende newcomer and aficionado alike. Area venues have programmed world class companies for the 2022-2023 season.
FLAMENCO FESTIVAL MIAMI XIV: ALMA
This year’s “Flamenco Festival Miami XIV: Alma” showcases superstar flamenco dancer, director and choreographer, Sara Baras. Expect exquisite costuming and the electric timing of guitars to the thundercrack of heels in impressive group and individual choreographies.
Warm-up to Baras’ performance with two outdoor “Flamenco on the Plaza” events on March 15th-16th.
March 17-19, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami; 305-949-6722 or www.arshtcenter.org.
SIUDY FLAMENCO: A DOS
Just off her Arsht June Gala, South Florida flamenco darling Siudy Garrido presents “Siudy Flamenco: A Dos.” Garrido and guitar maestro Jose Luis de la Paz alternate duets with group numbers to classic flamenco rhythms, gorgeous costumes and a cinema feel for theatricality.
Oct. 8, Aventura Arts and Cultural Center, Aventura, 305-466-8002 or https://www.aventuracenter.org.
CONTEMPORARY DANCE
If Miami’s flamenco scene vies with Madrid for pride of place, Miami’s avant garde and contemporary dance companies give Berlin and New York a run for their money. The 2022-2023 season sees groups extending multi-part groundbreaking pandemic projects with new installments.
FEAR OF FREEDOM
Not to be missed is Bistoury Physical Theatre’s mind-altering mix of theater, multimedia and dance in chapter 3 of “The Commune.”
Inspired by the work of German psychoanalyst and Frankfurt School critical theorist, Erich Fromm, BPT’s “Fear of Freedom” promises to be consciousness shifting.
Oct. 6-7, The On.Stage Black Box Theatre, Miami-Dade County Auditorium, 305-547-5414 or www.miamidadecountyauditorium.org.
GATHERING OUR BELONGINGS (THE DINGLE WAY)
Miami choreographer Brigid Baker and her company, brigid baker wholeproject, tackles themes of climate change and the disappearance of the natural world with “Gathering Our Belongings (The Dingle Way)”.
wholeproject’s latest work forms the fourth installment of a multi-year exploration following on the heels of “Crown” (2021), “Operation Birdsong” (2021) and “Numinous Land” (2022).
Nov. 11-13, The On.Stage Black Box Theatre, Miami-Dade County Auditorium, 305-547-5414 or www.miamidadecountyauditorium.org.
BIRDS OF PARADISE
Following on its 2021 world premiere, Pioneer Winter Collective restages its groundbreaking “Birds of Paradise” in the Spring.
This gender-shattering new work by one of Miami’s most cutting edge companies combines eight dance solos with multimedia in performances by disabled, transgender and non-typical dance bodies for intensely vulnerable exploration of the isolation of queer identity.
March 23-25, Sandrell Rivers Theater, 305-284-8800 or www.sandrellriverstheater.com.
FORWARD MOTION DANCE FESTIVAL
Physically integrated dance unites disabled and non-disabled dancers in performances that question the divide of who can and cannot dance.
Karen Peterson Dancers continues its trailblazing work with the nation’s best PI dancers and choreographers in the Fourth Annual Forward Motion Dance Festival featuring an Alpert Award-winning choreographer, Victoria Marks, with Guest Dancer and Composer Carina Ho.
Oct. 27-28, The On.Stage Black Box Theatre, Miami Dade County Auditorium, 305-547-5414 or www.miamidadecountyauditorium.org.
MODERN DANCE
Miami’s modern dance companies present a slate of premieres with seasons that tackle issues like racism, homophobia and gender inequity as well as offering audiences glimpses at seminal choreographies from the greats of the early history of modern dance.
MASTERPIECE IN MOTION
Dance NOW!’s “Masterpiece in Motion” series presents a first-time reconstruction of the Joffrey Ballet’s: “The Relativity of Icarus”.
This 1974 Gerald Arpino work struggled for acceptance due to its latent homoerotic themes. The program also features works from DNM Directors Salterini and Baumgarten including “Sogni, the things my dreams are made of,” a surrealistic journey into one man’s mind, and “House on Fire,” a sexy romp through an evening of debauchery.
▪ May 11, Duncan Theatre, Palm Beach, 561-868-3309 or www.palmbeachstate.edu/theatre/duncan-theatre.
▪ May 12, Amaturo Theater, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 954-462-0222 or www.browardcenter.org/events.
▪ May 13, Aventura Arts and Cultural Center, Aventura, 305-466-8002 or www.aventuracenter.org.
ANCESTRAL GROUND
Peter London Global Dance Company celebrates the New Year with “Ancestral Ground.”
Now in its 11th year, this Miami jewel features electric performances by current and former students of New World School of the Arts Dance professor and former principal dancer with Martha Graham Dance, Peter London.
Packed with premieres, “Ancestral Ground” includes London’s own voluptuous “Unfold,” as well as award-winning choreographer Justin Rapaport’s world premiere duet “Around, Would You Turn.”
December 28-31, Carnival Studio Theater, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami; 305-949-6722 or www.arshtcenter.org.
BALLET
Miami’s classical and neo-classical dance scenes continue to evolve programming, re-envisioning traditional audience favorites while commissioning company and world premieres from the nation’s best up and coming choreographers.
MODERN MASTERS
Miami City Ballet expands its repertoire in “Modern Masters.”
Expect gorgeous and thought-provoking presentations of mature, erotic and adolescent love in the company premiere of Martha Graham’s, “Diversion of Angels.”
In the same program MCB premieres the José Limón masterpiece, “The Moor’s Pavane,” set to the exquisite baroque score of composer Henry Purcell. Finally the program rounds out with world premieres by cutting edge contemporary choreographers Pontus Lidberg and Amy Hall Garner.
Feb. 10-12, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami; 305-949-6722 or www.arshtcenter.org.
CLASSICAL AND NEOCLASSICAL BALLETS
Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida presents season opener, “Classical and Neoclassical Ballets.”
The program pairs ABTF Artistic Director Vladimir Issaev’s “Shostakovich Suites,” and Vicente Nebrada’s haunting and poignant, “Pentimento,” with Bolshoi choreographer Asaf Messerer’s 1959 work “Spring Waters” pas de deux set to music by Sergei Rachmaninov.
▪ Oct. 8-9, Amaturo Theater, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 954-462-0222 or www.browardcenter.org/events
▪ Oct. 15-16, Aventura Arts and Cultural Center, Aventura, 305-466-8002 or www.aventuracenter.org.
LATIN VOICES
Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami returns heats up the stage with Cuban nostalgia in “Latin Voices.”
The company reprises audience and critic favorite “Juanita y Alicia” by Washington Ballet choreographer Septime Webre with music played live by Alain Garcia & his Latin Power band.
The evening includes the South Florida premiere of New Albany Ballet principal choreographer, Jimmy Orrante’s entrancing work, “Balanced” and new work by choreographer in residence, Yanis Pikieris set to the music of Cuban pianist, Ernesto Lecuona.
Nov. 12, South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, 786-573-5300 or smdcac.org.
MEN WHO DANCE
South Florida’s “Men Who Dance” Festival — now in its third year — deconstructs and redefines notions of masculinity with a powered line-up of bailarinos and companies from across Florida and beyond.
The line-up includes dancers from Miami City Ballet, Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida, Tango Out, RTW Dance, Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami and Dance NOW! (among others) as well as top notch performers from Argentina and Chile.
Nov. 27, Amaturo Theater, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 954-462-0222 or www.browardcenter.org/events.
