COVER STORY .

Dance


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Published: Jan 14, 2009

Informance: Bird Brain

The Philadelphia Dance Projects open with Jennifer Monson discussing Bird Brain, her multiyear project about bird migration, navigation and conservation.

Jan. 31, Performance Garage, 1515 Brandywine St., 215-546-2552, danceboxoffice.com.

Batsheva Dance Co.

We've seen artistic director Ohad Naharin's work, but not his hot Israeli troupe Batsheva. Martha Graham helped this outfit get going; their work incorporates a lot of her high drama and emotional wallop.

Feb. 3, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900, pennpresents.org.

Subcircle

Choreographer Niki Cousineau and composer-designer Jorge Cousineau continue their intense exploration of theatrical space, always inventive, artistically challenging and occasionally perplexing.

Feb. 6, Annenberg Center.

Headlong Dance Theater & Keely Garfield

Headlong invites us to The Future of the Future — actually snippets of things past — as part of the Philadelphia Dance Projects. They'll perform with Keely Garfield, whose Limerance tackles risk, repercussions, wisdom and pain.

Feb. 6-7, Performance Garage.

Pennsylvania Ballet: Love and Longing

Peter Martins' Fearful Symmetries is a ferocious high-speed movement assault, while European Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Requiem for a Rose provides a more interior style. Twyla Tharp's Nine Sinatra Songs is a lingering nightcap.

Feb. 11-15, Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., 215-551-7000, paballet.org.

Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal

These Canadians, who know how to mix ballet, modern, jazz and pure whimsy, make a welcome return. The troupe is clever without being silly, and they're not afraid to try anything.

Feb. 19-21, Annenberg Center.

Rennie Harris Puremovement

Philly's king of hip-hop dance explores 100NakedLocks, asking whether today's woes might eliminate human beings — except for 100 hip-hop survivors.

Feb. 20-21, Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999, kimmelcenter.org.

Pennsylvania Ballet: Cinderella

Grimm, it's not: These wicked stepsisters are danced by guys in drag in this comedy set to Prokoviev.

March 13-21, Academy of Music, 1420 Locust St., 215-551-7000, paballet.org.

Ballet Boyz

Two former Royal Ballet principal dancers, who branched out to form their own company in 2001, fiddle around with classical technique and anything that strikes their fancy.

March 17-18, Annenberg Center.

Ballet X

Chris Cox's The Striped Hat combines Seuss with Mozart; Matt Neenan contributes Wonder Why; plus something fresh from New York City Ballet guest Edward Liang.

April 4-11, Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St., 215-546-7824, balletx.com.

Jeanne Ruddy Dance

Working with avant garde guest choreographer Martha Clarke, Ruddy continues building a rep filled with outstanding collaborative dance gems created worldwide.

April 15-19 and 22-26, Performance Garage, 215-569-4060, ruddydance.org.

Miro Dance Theatre: Spooky Action

This fascinating troupe of experimenters is creating a work that's an "exploration of quantum entanglement and the invisible connection between objects." Spooky? You bet!

May 9-10, Kimmel Center, mirodancetheatre.org.

National Dance Company of Spain 2

Sister company to Nacho Duato's huge National Dance Company of Spain, it's as spunky, way out and technically demanding as its big brother. It's ballet-based, but they don't shy away from anything.

May 14-16, Annenberg Center.

Pennsylvania Ballet: La Sylphide

Arguably the oldest ballet still in active rep, La Sylphide created the image of the ethereal white-tutu-clad ballerina — with Scottish lad and Highland dancing.

June 5-13, Academy of Music.

(j_anderson@citypaper.net)