14 Dance Performances to See in April
Catch New York City Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Martha Graham Dance Company and more
Dance is in full bloom this April with the return of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s legendary Firebird, the 100th anniversary of the Martha Graham Dance Company, New York City Ballet’s inspiring spring season and the annual La MaMa Moves! festival, which kicks off with Donald Byrd’s Spectrum Dance Theater.
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Ivy Baldwin Dance and Jeanine Durning: Rumen and Body Goes
NYU Skirball, 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South in the West Village
Runs April 3-4. If you’re a TDF Member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Ivy Baldwin and Jeanine Durning are known as two of New York’s gutsiest dance makers. Their Skirball split bill features Baldwin’s Rumen, a highly physical exploration of space and time, while Durning brings her celebrated experimentation of movement and language to Body Goes, a duet she performs with Molly Poerstel.
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Renversons Dance
New York Live Arts, 219 West 19th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in Chelsea
April 3-4. If you’re a TDF Member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
For its inaugural season, Renversons Dance premieres Origins, a collection of four new ballets created by artistic director Minnie Lane and guest choreographer Adriana Pierce, that push the boundaries of conventional storytelling and partnering. Thematically, the evening investigates how women find community, develop rituals and love one another.
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Elodie Dufroux: UN-spoken
Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street at Greenwich Street in Tribeca
Runs April 3-4. If you’re a TDF Member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
French dancemaker Elodie Dufroux premieres UN-spoken, a full-length contemporary dance piece examining the effects of bullying. Based on her own personal experience, the work delves into the trauma that lingers long after the initial taunts.
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Graham100: The Centennial Celebration
New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Midtown West
Runs April 8-12. If you’re a TDF Member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Martha Graham Dance Company celebrates its milestone birthday with four of the legendary choreographer’s most famous works: Night Journey, Graham’s spin on the Oedipus myth; Chronicle, a powerful display of antifascism, Appalachian Spring set to a glorious Aaron Copland score; and Diversion of Angels, an exhilarating exploration of love. The six-performance run also features works by former Alvin Ailey star Jamar Roberts and the duo Baye & Asa along with a commission by Hope Boykin set to recently unearthed music by the great Leonard Bernstein.
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La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival 2026
Multiple La MaMa venues on East 4th Street in the East Village.
Runs April 9-May10. If you’re a TDF Member, log in and search for La MaMa to see available offerings.
Marking its 21st anniversary, this expansive festival spotlights an eclectic lineup of modern-day choreographers. Its 15 programs fill multiple La MaMa spaces over four and a half weeks, including many shared bills featuring contrasting artists. The event kicks off with a must-see revival of Occurrence #14 by contemporary ballet great Donald Byrd and his Spectrum Dance Theater. Expect a set of physically astonishing acts with highly detailed virtuosity that mine the full possibilities of what ballet can—and cannot—do.
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STREB Extreme Action: Into Thin Air
SLAM (STREB Lab for Action Mechanics), 51 North 1st Street, between Kent and Wythe Avenues in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Runs April 10-May 3.
Legendary, daredevil, kinetic magic—these all apply to choreographer Elizabeth Streb and her company of death-defying “Action Heroes.” This spring, they’re remounting Into Thin Air, a gauntlet of physical challenges set on a trampoline anchored between two tall scaffolds, with retractable ramps and parallel bars. Originally commissioned for the 2006 Lincoln Center Festival, this revival promises to be harder, faster, and higher than ever.
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THE POLITICS OF MOVEMENT: When Dance Speaks Out
14Y Theater, 344 East 14th Street between First and Second Avenues in the East Village
Runs April 14-15.
Clark Center NYC and American Dance Guild team up for this program of contemporary choreographers using their talent to push back against political oppression and fearmongering. Eight diverse, NYC-based troupes are participating, including Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, H.T. Chen & Dancers, Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company and Arthur Avilés Typical Theater.
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Johnny Loves Johann
The Joyce Theatre, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street in Chelsea
Runs April 14-19.
Grammy Award-winning violinist Johnny Gandelsman puts a folky spin on Johann Bach’s cello suites in Johnny Loves Johann, a joyful collaboration with four of New York’s leading modern choreographers: John Heginbotham, Caili Quan, Jamar Roberts and Melissa Toogood. All four acclaimed dance makers return to the stage as performers in this New York premiere.
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Dance Theatre of Harlem
New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Midtown West
Runs April 16-19.
The revival of Firebird is the highlight of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s 57th season. Gateways Festival Orchestra plays live music for this version of the famed ballet, which is set in the Caribbean and features choreography by John Taras and costumes and sets by Geoffrey Holder. Works by William Forsythe, Jodie Gates and the company’s artistic director Robert Garland round out the program.
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Lighten Up!! Nothing to Analyze, Nothing to Ponder
Theatre at St. Jean’s, 150 East 76th Street near Lexington Avenue on the Upper East Side
Runs April 15-16. If you’re a TDF Member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Over the past few years, longtime theatre publicist Audrey Ross has begun producing notable dance performances. This evening showcases choreography meant to lift your spirits and includes whimsical works such as Beverly Blossom’s Shards, a duet with a mannequin; Margo Sappington’s For Ella set to songs crooned by Ella Fitzgerald; erstwhile Martha Graham Dance Company member Antonio Fini in his fitness-gone-too-far solo Gym-me; and former Bolshoi Ballet Valentina Kozlova in a Sappington pas de deux to “The Man I Love.”
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A.I.M by Kyle Abraham: Cassette Vol. 1
NYU Skirball, 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South in the West Village
Runs April 16-18. If you’re a TDF Member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Award-winning choreographer Kyle Abraham uses the pop, R&B and New Wave music of his youth to explore the kaleidoscopic experiences of Black American in Cassette Vol. 1, which fuses ballet, contemporary movement and nostalgia.
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Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana: QUINTO ELEMENTO (Fifth Element)
The Joyce Theatre, 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street in Chelsea
Runs April 21-26.
Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana presents Patricia Guerrero’s QUINTO ELEMENTO, a musing on the fifth element—the unseen force that connects all living things. This New York premiere is performed to Francis Gómez’s original score, which is performed live.
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New York City Ballet: Spring Season
David H. Koch Theater, 20 Lincoln Center Plaza at 63rd Street and Columbus Avenue in Lincoln Square
Runs April 21-May 31.
The venerable New York City Ballet opens its spring season with a strong all-Balanchine program featuring Symphony in C (the company’s calling card), Agon and his version of Firebird, complete with Marc Chagall’s fabulous sets and costumes. Other highlights include Jerome Robbins’ elegiac In Memory of…; Alexei Ratmansky’s Voices, featuring solos danced to speeches by famous women including Nina Simone and Seksuko Hara; and Diamonds, Balanchine’s ode to imperial Russia.
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Ballet Hispánico: MUJERES: Women in Motion
New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Midtown West
Runs April 23-26.
Ballet Hispánico presents a program featuring work by four women choreographers from across Latinidad sharing their perspectives on modern life. There are a pair of world premieres: Cassi Abranches’ Trança, a contemporary take on traditional Brazilian dance, and Marianela Boán’s Reactor Antígona, a riff on Antigone. Stephanie Martinez’s Otra Vez, Otra Vez, Otra Vez, inspired by Picasso’s painting Old Guitar, and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s geometrically scrumptiousLínea Recta complete the lineup.
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