Onstage This Week: Joyce Ballet Festival, "Don Q" Debuts and Charlotte Ballet in Chautauqua

June 24, 2018

Wonder what’s going on in ballet this week? We’ve pulled together some highlights.

The Joyce Ballet Festival Is Back

New York City’s Joyce Theater kicks off its five-company Ballet Festival June 26-July 7. Showcasing a variety of styles including neoclassical and contemporary dance, the festival prides itself on featuring smaller companies. Below, check out the three companies opening this week. (Feeling festive? Enter our giveaway to win tickets to the Ashley Bouder Project at the Joyce on July 5.)

Dimensions Ballet Theatre of Miami Makes Its Joyce Debut

Looking to bring a new and varied perspective on ballet to Miami, longtime Miami City Ballet stars Jennifer Kronenberg and Carlos Guerra founded Dimensions Ballet Theatre of Miami in 2016. June 26-27, the company makes its Joyce debut with an exciting triple bill including a world premiere by MCB dancer Ariel Rose titled Esferas, Gerald Arpino’s Light Rain and Septime Webre’s Juanita y Alicia, which draws inspiration from the choreographer’s childhood dancing to Cuban folk music in his family’s living room.


J
oshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY Does Edgar Allan Poe

Based in New York City and Vancouver, Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY presents the world premiere of The Masque of the Red Death June 28–29. If the title sounds familiar, it’s because this ballet is based on the famous Edgar Allan Poe short story of the same name. The piece plays on the themes and images of the gothic tale in which a prince and his friends attempt to hide from a deadly plague by locking themselves in an abbey and holding a masquerade.

BalletX Gets Soulful

BalletX
, a Philadelphia-based company with a focus on athleticism and innovation, takes the Joyce stage June 30–July 1. The company will dance the New York premieres of The Boogeyman by Trey McIntyre, a tribute to the 1970s Soul Train Gang with music by the likes of Marvin Gaye and Earth, Wind & Fire, and Vivir by Darrell Grand Moultrie, a ballet inspired by Spanish Harlem. BalletX will also perform company co-founder Matthew Neenan’s Increasing.

Dancers Debut as Kitri and Mercedes in ABT’s Don Quixote

Six weeks down and only two left to go—we can’t believe that ABT’s annual Met season is almost over. The company’s penultimate ballet is Don Quixote. The June 25–30 run features a number of dancer debuts: Principals Hee Seo and Sarah Lane will dance Kitri, and principal Christine Shevchenko and corps dancer Zhong-Jing Fang will make their debuts as Mercedes. Next week, Alexei Ratmansky’s fantastical Whipped Cream returns to the stage.

Charlotte Ballet Returns to Its Summer Home

June 24 marks the beginning of Charlotte Ballet‘s annual residency at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York. Throughout the month-long stay, the company will present a series of lectures and open rehearsals as well as three programs: Charlotte Ballet with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, International Series and Made in Charlotte. This year’s stay is extra special as it celebrates Charlotte Ballet’s new artistic director Hope Muir‘s first season with the company. Enter our giveaway now to win tickets to the July 5 performance. The International Series program will feature Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16; catch a glimpse below.