January is filled with dance showcases all over New York. Topping the list is the fourth Works & Process Underground Uptown Dance Festival, Jan. 9–13 at the Guggenheim Theater and rotunda. Audiences are invited to one-night-only events that bring together street, social, and club traditions with ballet, contemporary, and modern dance, plus conversations. As part of JanArtsNYC, featured will be works presented or danced by Courtney “Balenciaga” Washington, MasterZ, Parsons Dance, Xin Ying, Roderick George, Chrybaby Cozie, Harlem Lite Feet, Adesola Osakalumi, Omari Wiles, Baye & Asa, Sun Kim Dance Theatre, Sekou McMiller & Friends, John Heginbotham, Caili Quan, Jamar Roberts, Melissa Toogood, and Omar Román de Jesús.
Beyond offerings in New York City, Works & Process will also present Dance Out East on Long Island, in partnership with the Church in Sag Harbor, Guild Hall of East Hampton, and Watermill Center. Also returning are two evenings, co-presented with 92NY and Dormeshia’s Ladies in the Shoe Tap Conference, featuring Naomi Funaki, Kukai Dantza, and Xianix Barrera. For more information, visit worksandprocess.org.
Jan. 3–11: For Pioneers Go East Collective’s fourth edition of the Out-FRONT! Festival, centering LGBTQ+ and feminist voices, and curated by Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte, Remi Harris, Philip Treviño, and Joyce Isabelle. Featured will be world premieres by Ian Andrew Askew, Alexa Grae, Dominica Greene, Johnnie Cruise Mercer, Suzzanne Ponomarenko, Owen Prum, Sugar Vendil, and Jo Warren, and a U.S. premiere by Norway-based artist Corentin JPM Leven. The festival will also include dance and experimental short films as part of the Out-FRONT! Film Series. The 2026 festival is presented by Pioneers Go East Collective in partnership with Judson Church. For more information, visit pioneersgoeast.org.
Jan. 6–11: Compagnie Hervé KOUBI returns to the Joyce with “What the Day Owes to the Night,” inspired by Algerian author Yasmina Khadra’s novel of the same name, blending capoeira, martial arts, and contemporary dance . It unfolds as a “… mesmerizing meditation on identity and belonging,” notes the release. For more information, visit joyce.org.
Jan. 7–17: New York Live Arts’ Live Artery festival with 22 events over 11 days, featuring 28 artists, including Ogemdi Ude, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Kashia Kancey, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, Brandon Kazen-Maddox, Raja Feather Kelly/the feath3r theory, Samar Haddad King, Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre, Sweat Variant|Okwui Okpokwasili & Peter Born, Dean Moss, Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener, and many more. For more information, visit newyorklivearts.org.
Jan. 7 – 25: The Under the Radar (UTR) festival returns with a huge roster of artists, including Mario Banushi, j. bouey, Modesto “Flako” Jimenez, Autumn Knight, Cole Lewis, Cherish Menzo, Narcissister, Kaneza Schaal, Pamela Sneed, the Wooster Group, and many more. For more information, visit utrfest.org.
Jan. 8–10: At Danspace Project, “OO-GA-LA Reimagined” (the Fred Holland and Ishmael Houston-Jones 1983 Duet Danced into the 21st Century) returns, reimagined by three young dancers of color: Stephanie Hewett, Kris Lee, and AJ Wilmore. Considering themselves to be the Black Punks of Contact Improv, Holland and Houston-Jones decided to perform their improvised duet by doing everything wrong. For more information, visit danspaceproject.org.
Jan. 8–13: Association of Performing Arts Professional (APAP) festival. For more information, visit apap365.org.
Jan. 10–11: The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, with the Asian American Arts Alliance, will present the AAPI Dance Festival, the annual celebration of dance and choreography that highlights the artistry and innovation of choreographers of Asian descent. The festival is part of the Dance Managers Collective’s APAP showcase at City Center and the Ailey Citigroup Theatre. For more information, visit aaartsalliance.org.
Jan. 10–11: Yin Mei Dance comes to the Asia Society with “Half the Sky,” Mei’s latest evening-length dance and visual work, “… rooted in the language of the body, responding to enduring mythologies surrounding women across generations,” notes the release. For more information, visit asiasociety.org.
Jan. 12: As part of Movement Research at Judson Church, see NAKA Dance Theater, Jody Oberfeler Projects, and Symara Sarai. For more information. visit movementresearch.org.
Jan. 17: TANDEM, an evening of four works by co-founders of DynamitExperience, Latra Ann Wilson & Winston Dynamite Brown, will offer “…pockets of the human experience…where every audience member will see themselves in someone…” at A.R.T./New York Theatres, according to the release. For more information visit humanitix.com.
Jan. 18: The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company will present “Red Firecracker: The Legend of the Lunar New Year” to welcome the Year of the Horse, bringing the history and traditions of the Chinese Lunar New Year to life at Jersey City Theatre Center. For more information, visit eventim.us.
Jan. 20: The Bessies, the New York Dance and Performance Awards honoring outstanding creative work in the field, return with the announcement of nominees for 2024 and 2025. Dyane Harvey-Salaam will receive the 2024 Bessie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance, and Garth Fagan will receive the 2025 Bessie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance. The Bessie Awards will be held at Dixon Place Theater. For more information, visit dixonplace.org.
Jan. 27– Feb. 8: Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca return to The Joyce with “Irrationalities,” “… drawing connections to Sophocles’s Women of Trachis and to the films of Federico Fellini — the work creates a bridge between Romantic-era Spanish horror and Italian cinematic surrealism,” according to the release. For more information, visit joyce.org.
Jan. 30–Feb. 1: H.T. Chen & Dancers will present their Teahouse Performances, a celebration of and reflection on the Chinese in the Americas, featuring excerpts from H.T. Chen’s Heart of Grace, Hidden Voices, and Big Brother. They will also celebrate the 2026 Lunar New Year and ring in the Year of the Horse at LaMaMa’s Ellen Stewart at LaMama. For more information, visit lamama.org.