Bring on spring with dance performances all over New York! Topping the calendar is Nigerian-born Mufutau Yusuf in the New York City and world premiere of the evening-length work, “Òwe” at the Irish Arts Center, April 21-24. With “…Òwe—“proverb” in the Yoruba language—Yusuf seeks to decode his personal identity through the lens of the ancestral, in an evocative confluence of personal, ritual, and digital archives. And through a charged amalgam of traditional and contemporary movement, with music and soundscape, video projection, sculptural set elements, and text, the stage teems with symbolic and literal representations of traditions and histories foundational to, and blurred within, Yusuf’s sense of identity,” according to the release. For more information visit www.irishartscenter.org
ALSO THIS MONTH:
April 14, 20 & 29—At the ISSUE Project Room, Artists-in-Residence Dion TYGAPAW McKenzie, Sydney Spann and Tatyana Tenenbaum will present new works. McKenzie will present the first part of “Devil Woman (Obeah Woman),” an opera in three parts (April 14); “Spann, Cow, Cow, Cow, Rabbit, Recalcitrance, Bunny, Dog, Dog, Dog,” a performance-activated sound installation (April 20); and Tenenbaum’s “For Selma,” a solo for voice, movement, microphone, memory, and textile (April 29). For more information visit www.issueprojectroom.org
April 14-May 1—La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival, curated by Nicky Paraiso, returns for the 17th edition featuring new works by nine dance artists/companies including Tiffany Mills Company, Johnnie Cruise Mercer, Gerald Casel Dance and many more. For more information visit www.lamama.org
April 21-22—The dance series E-Moves at Harlem Stage returns in-person with performances by Dormeshia, Sydnie Mosely, Du’Bois A’Keen, Vinson Fraley, and Leslie Cuyjet. For more information visit www.harlemstage.org
April 19-May 1—Celebrating its 75th anniversary, the Limón Dance Company returns to The Joyce Theater with two programs of classic and premier works. Program A: Doris Humphrey’s “Air for the G String” (1928), Limón’s “Psalm” (1967) and “Chaconne” (1942), and Olivier Tarpaga’s “Only One Will Rise” (2022). Program B: Limón’s “Waldstein Sonata” (1971/1975) completed by Dr. Daniel Lewis, Limón’s “Danzas Mexicanas” (1939/2022) and Raúl Tamez’s “Migrant Mother” (2022). For more information visit www.joyce.org
April 23—Join Danspace Project’s catalogue launch at Conversation Without Wall facilitated by Christopher “Unpezverde” Núñez and conversation between Judy Hussie-Taylor, mayfield brooks, Rashaun Mitchell, iele paloumpis, Silas Riener, and Ogemdi Ude, focusing on the Dancespace Project upcoming Platform. For more information visit www.danspaceproject.org
April 28-30—Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener will present RETROFIT: a new age, a four-hour performance installation at Danspace Project. For more information www.danspaceproject.org
April 29-30—Crossroads, curated by Pioneers Go East Collective’s Gian Marco Lo Forte Riccardo, Anabella Lenzu, and Philip Treviño offers two evenings of performances featuring emerging artists Nattie Trogdon + Hollis Bartlett and Same As Sister (April 29), Angela Schöpke Gonzalez, Jenny Pommiss, and Aya Soatome (April 30), and films by BAIRA, Anabella Lenzu, and Pioneers Go East Collective. For more information visit www.pioneersgoeast.org
April-May 1—The WestFest Dance Festival returns and will feature works by ZCO/DANCEPROJECT, Graham 2, The Bang Group, Capoeira Luanda lead by Mestre Jelon Vieira, The Echos of Africa Dance Collective, BOiNK! Dance & Film, The DynamitExperience, Rachel Lieblein-Jurbala, The Jamal Jackson Dance Company and more. For more information visit www.westfestdance.com