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By Rachel Straus<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>March 29 – April 9<\/strong><\/p>\n Eiko & Koma<\/a><\/p>\n The Japanese avant-garde artists, whose home has been the U.S. since 1976, present the New York premiere of Naked<\/em> at the Baryshnikov Arts Center. They will be intermittently naked, but what will stand out are their glacially slow movement tableaus that change one\u2019s perception of time. Come with your patience, but know that you don\u2019t have to stay the whole evening. The duo is offering Naked<\/em> as an art installation. Audience members can come and go.<\/p>\n April 2<\/strong><\/p>\n Dance of the Enchantress<\/a><\/p>\n At the Peter Norton Symphony Space, the South Indian classical dancer Vijayalakshmi will present herself in the dance style Mohiniyattam, which translates as \u201cthe Dance of the Enchantress.\u201d According to ancient Indian legend, Vishnu the Preserver transformed himself into Mohini, an enchantress, in order to protect the universe from evil. Femininity and grace pervade the codified movements that alternate between pure dance and story telling. Performing along side Vijayalakshmi will be Palakal Rajagopalan (vocal), Muralee Krishnan (veena – lute), Sreekumar Kadampatt (edakka – hourglass-shaped drum), and Jayan Das (maddalam and mrdangam – double-headed tuned drums).<\/p>\n April 4<\/strong><\/p>\n Merce Cunningham<\/a><\/p>\n On a monthly basis, the the Baryshnikov Arts Center has been showing Charles Atlas’ films of Merce Cunningham\u2019s dances. Seeing Cunningham\u2019s out-of-repertory works on a big screen is a boon to dance lovers. The next BAC flicks is\u00a0eyeSpace<\/em> (2006), which features music by David Behrman, costumes and sets by Daniel Arsham, and performances by the Cunningham dancers. The event begins with the webcast series called Mondays with Merce<\/em>, which gives viewers deeper insight into Cunningham\u2019s choreographic process. Valda Setterfield, a Cunningham performer from 1964-1974, will narrate and comment.<\/p>\n April 5-10<\/strong><\/p>\n Stephen Petronio Dance Company<\/a><\/p>\n At the Joyce Theater, Stephen Petronio Company will present the New York premiere of Underland<\/em> (2003). The work premiered with the Sydney Dance Company. It’s set to 14 songs by Australian rocker Nick Cave. It features multi-media projections by Mike Daly, another Down Under artist. Petronio\u2019s evening-length work, now set on his 11 company members, is thick with movement and hipness.<\/p>\n April 8<\/strong><\/p>\n “Ballet with a Modern Sensibility”<\/a><\/p>\n The 92nd<\/sup> St. Y\u2019s \u201cFridays at Noon\u201d free performance series continues with \u201cBallet with a Modern Sensibility.\u201d Three choreographers\u2014Christopher Caines, Brian Carey Chung, and Helen Heineman\u2014will present excerpts of their new works, set to Italian Baroque music, and composers Meredith Monk, Arnold Schoenberg, Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Mompou, Debussy, Beethoven, and Lou Harrison.<\/p>\n April 6-17<\/strong><\/p>\n Ailey II<\/a><\/p>\n At The Ailey Citigroup Theater (the black box in the dance organization\u2019s west 55 St. home), the second company will hold a two-week season. Six works and two programs will be danced by the 14-member Ailey II troupe, which travels the world almost as much as the parent company. The premieres include\u00a0The Corner<\/em>, a full ensemble work by Kyle Abraham\u2014known for his fusion of popping, locking and post-modern dance\u2014Doscongio<\/em> by Robert Moses, set to two movements of Chopin\u2019s Sonata for cello and<\/em> piano <\/em>(op. 65), and Shards <\/em>by Donald Byrd, with music by Mio Morales.<\/p>\n April 14 \u2013 16<\/strong><\/p>\n Paradigm<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a>At St. Mark\u2019s Church, the pick-up troupe\u2014comprised of dancers whose stage careers span several decades\u2014will present two world premieres by its founding members, Carmen de Lavallade and Gus Solomons, Jr. The opening night performance will be followed by a celebration of Paradigm’s 15th anniversary and Carmen de Lavallade’s 80th birthday at Lautrec Bistro. You can join them, for a price, or just go to the show, which features a cast of eight veteran dancers, and a solo performance by Kyle Abraham, Solomon\u2019s former student.<\/p>\n April 11<\/strong><\/p>\n Dance Theatre of Harlem<\/a><\/p>\n At City Center Studio 5, Dance Theatre of Harlem\u2019s artistic director Virginia Johnson and former New York City Ballet principal dancer Damian Woetzel will host an informal evening, focusing on the history of the first American black ballet company, founded at the height of the Civil Rights movement by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook. The pared-down company of dancers will perform excerpts from the repertoire.<\/p>\n April 12-24<\/strong><\/p>\n DanceBrazil<\/a><\/p>\n DanceBrazil returns to The Joyce Theater with A Jornada<\/em> (The Path), the high-octane 2001 work by artistic director Jelon Vieira. The evening-length piece is said the chart the path of Africans to Brazil. The Afro-Brazilian martial arts form Capoeira is used to express the emergence of Afro-Brazilian culture.<\/p>\n April 13-16<\/strong><\/p>\n Juliette Mapp<\/a><\/p>\n At Dance Theater Workshop, Juliette Mapp will present her newest work, The Making of the Americans<\/em>. Based on Gertrude Stein\u2019s namesake novel about being from two worlds, Mapp\u2019s evening-length, multi-media piece will investigate her mother\u2019s family who emigrated from Albania to Gary, Indiana. The most famous citizen of Gary was Michael Jackson. He too will be part of Mapp\u2019s dance theater work performed by eight dancers. <\/span><\/p>\n April 13<\/strong><\/p>\n Ron Brown, Sean Curran, and Nelida Tirado<\/a><\/p>\n At the Museum of Art & Design\u2019s black box subterranean theater, Ron Brown, Sean Curran, and Nelida Tirado will present works of whose content remains unknown. Fear not. Brown choreographs delightful concoctions drawn from West African and modern dance. Sean Curran does the same with Irish step dancing and contemporary concert dance movement. Tirado approaches the Flamenco tradition through her wide-ranging, eclectic performing experience.<\/p>\n April 15<\/strong><\/p>\n Weidman, Maslow, Dudley, and Yuriko<\/a><\/p>\n At the 92nd<\/sup> St. Y, the free \u201cFridays at Noon\u201d performance series continues with \u201cLegacy Performance: Weidman, Maslow, Dudley, Yuriko.\u201d Performed by students and professionals, the event will offer four works by three choreographers, who represented American modern dance\u2019s second generation, interested in political activism. Weidman\u2019s masterwork Lynchtown<\/em> (1936) remains a powerful, seminal dance work. <\/span><\/p>\n April 15-30<\/strong><\/p>\n John Kelly<\/a><\/p>\n At P.S. 122, performance and visual artist John Kelly will present The Escape Artist <\/span><\/em>(2010), which \u201ctraces the story of a man who has a trapeze accident while rehearsing a theatre piece based on the life of Italian Baroque painter, Caravaggio. Stranded on a gurney with a broken neck in the hospital emergency room, he finds refuge in the images that flood his mind\u2014the sinners and saints, prostitutes and gods that populate Caravaggio\u2019s paintings. <\/span>The Escape Artist<\/em> contains seven original songs by John Kelly & Carol Lipnik, as well as covers of songs by Claudio Monteverdi and John Barry.\u201d <\/span>(from P.S. 122 website)<\/p>\n April 17<\/strong><\/p>\n Swan Lake<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a>At the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, the Russian National Ballet Theatre will present their version of Swan Lake<\/em>. The company was founded in Moscow in the 1980s, when many artists from Soviet Union’s ballet institutions were forming new companies. Former Bolshoi Ballet principal dancer Elena Radchenko helms the company, known for performing works from the full-length, late 19th<\/sup>-century ballet repertoire.<\/p>\n April 25<\/strong><\/p>\n Dance Against Cancer<\/a><\/p>\n At Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, the benefit performance \u201cDance Against Cancer\u201d will offer performances by New York City Ballet dancers Daniel Ulbricht, Robert Fairchild, Amar Ramasar, Tyler Angle, Craig Hall, Wendy Whelan, Maria Kowroski, and Sterling Hyltin, as well as appearances by other well-known New York-based dancers. There will be three world premieres, created by fledgling ballet choreographers, and six short dance works created by George Balanchine, Christopher Wheeldon, Benjamin Millepied, Larry Keigwin, Lar Lubovitch, and Earl Mosley.<\/p>\n April 26-May 8<\/strong><\/p>\n Armitage Gone! Dance<\/a><\/p>\n At The Joyce Theater, the company called Armitage Gone! Dance is back with a world premiere called GAGA-Gaku<\/span><\/em>. It inspired by Cambodian Court dance and includes performances by Dance Theater of Harlem dancers. The two-week season features two programs, the second of which is a full-evening length dance based on Einstein\u2019s theories of relativity and matter.<\/span><\/p>\n April 28\u201329<\/strong><\/p>\n Valley of the Dolls<\/a><\/p>\n At Joe\u2019s Pub, Nicole Wolcott and Vanessa Walters present their new cabaret piece, Alley of the Dolls<\/em> (This is not a sequel).<\/em> Inspired by the characters from Valley of the Dolls <\/em>and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls<\/em>, the dance ladies and their cohorts will likely spoof the B movies’ clich\u00e9s about femininity with their popular brand of athleticism and tongue-and-cheek vulgarity.<\/p>\n April 29<\/strong><\/p>\n