This month’s calendar is filled with events and performances that revisit the history of dance, offer a mix of dance from different cultures and look toward the future. Now in its 11th year, Danspace Project’s Platform series returns (Oct. 6 –Nov. 19) with 80-plus artists in 28 events. Originated with Ishmael Houston-Jones’ rediscovery of writings by choreographer John Bernd, who died of AIDS in 1988, the series is curated by Houston-Jones and Will Rawls. Titled “Platform 2016: Lost & Found,” according to Houston-Jones, this iteration promises to “look back at the plague years of mass AIDS hysteria, specifically 1981-1996, [and] recover the loss of a generation of mentors, role models and muses.”
“Bernd was one of the earliest New York choreographers to represent gay sexuality and the disease explicitly in his work,” said Houston-Jones. The title of this series is taken from his 1981 trio of dances. “Lost and Found” will “place particular emphasis on countering the historical perception around HIV/AIDS as a disease that primarily impacted white gay communities.” Houston-Jones asked, “Are there young LGBTQ artists who are making work today unconsciously under the influence of John Bernd and all the others who died before they were born?”
With performances and events at Danspace and around New York, the lineup includes works, workshops, talks and other appearances by Bill T. Jones, Neil Greenberg, Archie Burnett, Raja Feather Kelly, Heidi Dorow, Muna Tseng, Lucy Sexton, Eva Yaa Asantewaa, Marýa Wethers and many others. For more information, visit www.danspaceproject.org.
ALSO THIS MONTH
Oct. 6—As part of BAAD’s BlakTinX Performance Series, featuring art and performance by Black, Latin and other artists of color, BAAD’s Arthur Avilés celebrates the 30-year anniversary of “Periodic Solution” (1986), a solo by Jean Churchill, one of his first dance teachers at Bard College. Avilés will dance the work, and then the movie, a reception and a Q&A will follow. For more information, visit www.BAADBronx.org.
Oct. 6-9—The ninth biennial BomPlenazo 2016 celebration of Afro-Puerto Rican Music & Dance comes to Hostos Center for Arts and Culture, with national, international and intergenerational bomberos and pleneros in performances, workshops, panels and a film. For more information, visit www.hostoscenter.org.
Oct. 8—For one evening only, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Savion Glover premieres “Chronology of a HooFer,” a solo performance that chronicles his lifework and pays tribute to his mentors. For more information, visit www.njpac.org.
Oct. 11—After a sold-out performance as part of Flamenco Festival NY, acclaimed flamenco dancer Nelida Tirado will present “Dime Quien Soy” at Joe’s Pub. For more information, visit www.publictheater.org.
Oct. 13-15—At Gibney Dance, Niall Jones will premiere “Splendor #3,” his “attempt to sublimate time, language and form,” notes the release. For more information, visit www.gibneydance.org.
Oct. 16—Sundays on Broadway, a free and intimate, ongoing series featuring performances, film screenings and discussions, presented by the Cathy Weis Projects at WeisAcres, continues with Patricia Hoffbauer and Yvonne Rainer on a shared program. For more information, visit www.cathyweis.org.
Oct. 25-30—At the Joyce Theater, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company premieres parts one and two of “Analogy/Trilogy.” The New York premiere of “Analogy/Dora: Tramontane,” based on an oral history Jones conducted with 95-year-old Dora Amelan, is part one and “Analogy/Lance: Pretty, aka The Escape Artist,” based on an oral history Jones conducted with his nephew, Lance T. Briggs and described as “A tragic yet humorous journey through the sex trade, drug use and excess during the 1980s,” is part two. Also part of this season is a conversation between Jones and visual artist Carrie Mae Weems (Oct. 29) and
director Moisés Kaufman (Nov. 5). For more information, visit www.joyce.org.
Oct. 28—As part of the 92nd Street Y’s Fridays at Noon series, tap dancer Kazu Kumagai and guests share poetry, singing and music in “Speak With Your Feet…” Guests include bassist Alex Blake, vocalist Sabrina Clery, guitarist Masa Shimizu and tapper Gabe Winn. For more information, visit www.92y.org
Oct. 21—The Palladium Mambo All-Stars, featuring artists from Colombia, Cuba and Japan, under the direction of Jose Madera and Johnny Rodriguez, take the stage in “¡VAYA! 63: Homemaje a la Guarachera del Mundo,” at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center. The evening will also include a celebration of the life and the legacy of Celia Cruz on what would have been the Queen of Salsa’s 91st birthday. For more information, visit www.LincolnCenter.org.
October 27-29—Under choreographer, executive/artistic director and co-founder, Abdel R. Salaam, The Forces of Nature Dance Theatre celebrates its 35th Anniversary at the Marion Anderson Theater, Aaron Davis Hall. Among the many works slated for the season, Eclipse: Visions of the Crescent and the Cross will feature soloist Jason Herbert, Natia Kesevadse, Petra Duskova, Imani Nzingah, Ryan Rankine, Nathan Trice, Jeffrey Freeze, Daniel Soto, Sarae Garcia, Charmian Wells and Melissa Padham. The season is titled, “Movement to Heal Our Planet.” For more information visit www.forcesofnature.org