7 Dance Performances to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend

Our guide to dance performances happening this weekend and in the week ahead.

BOY BLUE at Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College (Nov. 16-17, 7:30 p.m.). As part of the White Light Festival, this East London company presents “Blak Whyte Gray,” a dance-theater production rooted in hip-hop with creative direction and music by Michael Asante (a.k.a. Mikey J) and choreography by Kenrick Sandy (a.k.a. H2O). The 90-minute work illuminates ideas concerning oppression and identity and leads to transcendence; hip-hop music and dance is its language. As Asante is quoted as saying on the festival’s website, hip-hop “requires your experience, your energy … the art form doesn’t discriminate.”
212-721-6500, whitelightfestival.org

COLUMBIA BALLET COLLABORATIVE at Ailey Citigroup Theater (Nov. 17, 8 p.m.; Nov. 18, 3 p.m.). Made up of students from Columbia’s undergraduate colleges and affiliates, this group presents its fall showcase, which includes new works by the American Ballet Theater soloist Zhong-Jing Fang and the New York City Ballet corps member Silas Farley. Other choreographers unveiling ballets are Kosta Karakashyan, Stefano Nappi, Emily Schoen and Eryn Renee Young. For her piece, Schoen collaborates with Simon Broucke, a fourth-year student in Columbia’s music composition program, who has created an original score.
212-851-0419, columbiaballetcollaborative.com

COMPANY XIV at Theater XIV (Nov. 16-17 and 22, 8 p.m.; Nov. 18, 6 p.m.; through Jan. 13). The official opening of “Nutcracker Rouge,” this group’s risqué version of a holiday classic, is slated for Sunday, but it’s in previews now. With choreography by Austin McCormick, this burlesque transformation of “The Nutcracker” features its main character, Marie-Claire — a Francophile hybrid of the more traditional Marie and Clara — losing her inhibitions in a world of sweets and sexual pleasure.
companyxiv.com

DANCE HEGINBOTHAM at N.Y.U. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts (Nov. 17, 3 and 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 18, 3 p.m.). The New York City premiere of “Fantasque” is a team effort: The choreographer John Heginbotham and the puppeteer Amy Trompetter create a world of large and tiny puppets alongside dancers to explore issues of morality. Fantastic characters, including giant babies, blue angels and heroic rats, come to life in a series of vignettes. The production, originally commissioned by Bard SummerScape, is set to live music composed by Ottorino Respighi and adapted from piano pieces by Gioachino Rossini.
212-998-4941, nyuskirball.org

EIKO at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (Nov. 20, 7 p.m.). In “The Duet Project: Distance Is Malleable,” this Japanese dancer and choreographer explores interdisciplinary collaborations, which are prompted by the following questions: How can two artists collide and return changed but whole? How can two individuals encounter each other and discuss their differences with or without words? For this iteration, Eiko works with the filmmaker Alexis Moh, the poet and artist Mark McCloughan and the rapper and painter DonChristian Jones. Projections will also allow Eiko to perform with her deceased grandfather, the Japanese painter Chikuha Otake. For her, a duet can appear in many forms. Open rehearsals will be held on Monday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
212-316-7490, stjohndivine.org/visit/calendar/events

GIBNEY DANCE COMPANY at Gibney Dance (Nov. 16, 8 p.m.; Nov. 17, 4 and 8 p.m.; Nov. 18, 2 p.m.). The notion of home is both personal and expansive; for some, it can evoke safety, while for others, it brings up trauma and pain. Gibney Dance’s latest program, “Home,” features two premieres by the guest choreographers Adam Barruch and Shamel Pitts, who is working with the visual artist and director Deville Cohen. In “Imprint Ghosts,” Barruch considers the emotional reverberations of a physical space, while Pitts and Cohen offer “Menagerie.” Here, the artists, inspired in part by Tennessee Williams’s “The Glass Menagerie,” respond to the individuality of six dancers.
646-837-6809, gibneydance.org

‘VELOCITY’ at the New Victory Theater (Nov. 16, 7 p.m.; Nov. 17, 2 and 7 p.m.; Nov. 18, noon and 4 p.m.; through Nov. 25). In this high-energy production, the much-lauded champion dancers James Devine and David Geaney look at the past, present and future of Irish dance. Featuring live music by a Celtic band, along with a D.J., “Velocity” — performed by Geaney, AnneMarie Keaney and Gabriella Wood — is a celebratory jam session and suitable for all ages.
646-223-3010, newvictory.org

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