Debuts from choreographers Kyle Marshall and Hope Boykin, as well as a series of dance pieces to composer Philip Glass’s piano études, will be coming to the Joyce Theater during the fall/winter season, the theater announced Thursday.
This is the first full season programmed under Danni Gee, who succeeded Aaron Mattocks as program director last year, with themes of resistance and return, and featuring companies and dance performers from five continents.
“We’re about diversity, we’re about discovery, we’re about live music, and we’re about audience interaction,” said Gee. “This season really capitalizes on that.”
The season, which runs from September to March, kicks off with “Heart of Brick” (September 15-22), a theatrical dance work that follows the gentle love story of two men in a black gay nightclub, by choreographer Raja Feather Kelly, the R&B musician Serpentwithfeet and multimedia artist Wu Tsang.
International performances include Burkina Faso-born musician and choreographer Olivier Tarpaga’s “Once the dust settles, flowers bloom” (October 3-8), a full-length work celebrating the courage and resilience of refugees from his home country; the return of Tokyo-based company Sankai Juku (October 24 to November 5), which pays homage to Butoh’s Japanese dance theater style; and the French Compagnie Hervé Koubi (January 23-28), with ‘Sol Invictus’, a sun-worshipping mix of breakdance, acrobatics and capoeira set to music including a score by Mikael Karlsson.
As part of the Dance Reflections festival, “Dancing With Glass: The Piano Études” (December 12-17), six choreographers – including Chanon Judson of Urban Bush Women and Justin Peck – will comment on Glass’s 20 piano études played by Maki Namekawa.
Also on the lineup is the world premiere of Hope Boykin’s “States of Hope” (October 17-22), the movement language memoir of former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater dancer, featuring an original score by jazz drummer Ali Jackson. Kyle Marshall Choreography (November 8-12) makes his Joyce debut with three New York premieres: ‘Ruin’, an exploration of the human relationship with sound; “Alice”, a solo work about the spiritual journey to self-acceptance, with music by Alice Coltrane; and “Onyx,” a commemoration of the artists of color who revolutionized the Rock ‘n’ Roll genre, featuring music from Little Richard, James Brown, Tina Turner and more.
Other recurring assignments include appearances by Ronald K. Brown and his Brooklyn-based company Evidence (January 16-21); Philadanco, the Philadelphia dance company known for championing black dancers (February 6-10); and Twyla Tharp Dance (February 13-25), with two world premieres.
“If I can have a theme for my first season, it’s that I want everyone to feel welcome in my house, whether they’re on stage or in the audience,” said Gee, who played with Philadanco in 1990. danced in the Joyce. “To land here after all these years, I’m just in awe.”
