Marianne Adams

“Vuela”
Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras
Flamenco Festival
New York City Center
New York, NY
March 5, 2026

With truly great artists, it is often impossible to pinpoint the precise source of their magic. Is it the way Sara Baras's fingers slow as they curl into floreo – that signature hand flourish of flamenco – the way she fires off rhythms with machine-gun precision, or the way she suspends motion entirely, lifting her skirt in breathless anticipation before the movement arrives? Whatever it

“Romeo & Juliet Suite”
L.A. Dance Project
Festival: Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
Park Avenue Armory
New York, NY
March 2, 2026

You could see what Benjamin Millepied was going for with his version of “Romeo and Juliet.” An immersive, hybrid-medium reimagining of the greatest love story ever told – Sergei Prokofiev’s score abridged, every corner of Park Avenue Armory's Gothic grandeur weaponized, plot trimmed to its central characters and live performance spliced with real-time cinematography beamed

Gala Flamenca
Flamenco Festival
New York City Center
New York, NY
February 26, 2026

The Flamenco Festival opened its 25th year at City Center with a gala featuring four of the dance form's greats – Eva Yerbabuena, Manuel Liñán, El Farru, and the young Juan Tomás de la Molía – painting a story of rich traditions and deep passions over a series of individual vignettes.  Running at over two hours with no intermission, it was a formidable tale poignantly punctuated by

“Ebony Magazine: to a Village,” “Clear As Tear Water,” “Gatekeepers,” “Upside Down”
Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
February 25, 2026

Program A of Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE's weeklong run at The Joyce Theater was, at its heart, a celebration – of collaboration, of community, and of Wunmi Olaiya (who goes by Wunmi), the London-born, Lagos-raised musician and designer whose music, costumes, and creative vision have been woven into the EVIDENCE aesthetic for decades. The evening honored

“BIPED,” “Mycelium”
Lyon Opera Ballet
Festival: Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
New York City Center
New York, NY
February 21, 2026

In a three-night engagement at New York City Center, Lyon Opera Ballet presented two substantially contrasting works that nonetheless formed an unexpectedly coherent program: Merce Cunningham's landmark "BIPED" paired with Christos Papadopoulos's "Mycelium" – works opposite in structure, atmosphere, and era, yet united by a shared exposition of what happens to the human body when it is asked

Trinity Irish Dance Company
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
February 17, 2026

The Riverdance phenomenon may have faded from public consciousness, but Trinity Irish Dance Company wasted no time at The Joyce Theater in proving that Irish dancing is not only alive and well — it is more of the present moment than ever. In a program of nine works including two world and one New York premiere, the company tapped, twisted, and slapped infectious rhythms with an energy that

“When the Water Breaks,” “Monarcas,” “Floes,” “Symbiotic Twins,” “Network,” “After the Rain,” “Asylum,” “Moss Anthology: Variation #5b (2025)”
vildwerk.
New York Live Arts
New York, NY
December 17, 2025

Dance lovers are drawn to dance because of its inherent beauty: visual, musical, and in story ballets, narrative. And it’s no coincidence. Humans are creatures captivated by beauty, whether born of nature or shaped by human effort. And so, when vildwerk., a three-year-old nonprofit with an urgent mission, married an

“Beethoven Concerto,” “Deeply,” “I Got U,” “Love Rocks”
Complexions Contemporary Ballet
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
November 25, 2025

Founded in 1994, Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s endurance is to be applauded, and its two-week run at The Joyce Theater is testament to the weight of commitment.  The company bills itself as an innovator, yet Program B, which I saw on this night, revealed that steadfast dedication to creation was more of its forte than innovation itself.  Two