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Winter Arts Preview

10 delightful dance picks to carry you through to spring

Australian contemporary circus troupe Circa will present “Sacre.”PEDRO GREIG

RENNIE HARRIS PUREMOVEMENT The legendary company celebrates its 30th anniversary by restaging one of its landmark productions, the award-winning “Rome & Jewels.” A hip-hop retelling of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” this powerful reimagining takes the story to the streets of Philadelphia, mining themes of love, prejudice, and violence that resonate all too well with contemporary life. Part of Global Arts Live’s Winter Dance Fest 2023. Jan. 28, $48-$69. Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre. www.globalartslive.org

BalletX will perform as part of Global Arts Live's 2023 Winter Dance FestVandy Photography

BALLETX Over the past decade and a half, the Philadelphia-based contemporary ballet company has emerged as one of the country’s top repertory troupes, pairing skilled expressive dancers with new works by a range of outstanding choreographers. For this Global Arts Live engagement, the company brings the Boston premieres of “Credo” by Matthew Neenan, “Become a Mountain” by Justin Peck, and “Exalt” by Jennifer Archibald. Feb. 4, $48-$69. Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre. www.globalartslive.org

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DETRITUS DANCE Collaborators Claire Lane and Caroline Bradbury explore their personal religious upbringings in a new work titled “In the Ether.” The multimedia contemporary dance duet draws heavily from Roman Catholic iconography to highlight the limiting and empowering mythologies around womanhood. The post-performance participatory artist talk-back could be especially provocative. Feb. 4, $10-$50. Dance Complex, Cambridge. www.dancecomplex.org

CIRCA For its Celebrity Series Boston visit, the internationally renowned Australian contemporary circus troupe presents “Sacre.” Artistic director Yaron Lifschitz’s production reimagines Stravinsky’s landmark “The Rite of Spring” for the circus stage, with 10 of the company’s acrobats pulling out the work’s themes with virtuosic physicality, tense drama, and dark humor. Feb. 9-11, $49-$65. Boch Center Shubert Theatre. https://www.celebrityseries.org/productions/circa/

LADIES AT A GAY GIRLS’ BAR, 1938-1969 This solo dance/theatre performance by Femme Show founder Maggie Cee explores identity and her years as a teenage gay rights activist. Incorporating pre-recorded voices, oral histories, fictional characters, and music, Cee also aims to bring the history of 20th-century fem(me)/butch lesbian bars to life, illuminating some of the strong, determined women who helped pave the way for the gay rights movement. Feb.10-12, $5-$50. Dance Complex, Cambridge. www.dancecomplex.org

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Omayra Amaya Flamenco will perform at Boston Dance Theater.John Zhang

VELADA FLAMENCA Omayra Amaya Flamenco offers a distinctive vision of contemporary times through the lens of flamenco. The show features original music and choreography, as well as a cast of stellar performers, including Amaya, guitarist/composer Roberto Castellon, singer Curro Cueto and percussionist Gonzalo Grau. The program also includes a new work featuring Boston area dancers Sabrina Aviles, Laura Sanchez, and Yu Ling Hu. Feb. 18-19, $15-$100. Dance Complex, Cambridge. www.dancecomplex.org

BILL T. JONES/ARNIE ZANE DANCE COMPANY The internationally acclaimed troupe presents a new work that promises to have bearing on issues of today. Conceived and directed by the Tony-winning Jones and choreographed by him with Janet Wong and the company, “Curriculum II” references historical, political, and cultural theories to explore connections between history, race and technology, filtered through what Jones calls lifelong concerns — “love, mortality, and what it means to be human.” March 10-12, $30-$40. Institute for Contemporary Art/Boston. www.icaboston.org

BOSTON DANCE THEATER/KHAMBATTA DANCE COMPANY As part of the Dance Complex’s new BLOOM Residency and Platform-Raising Program, the Boston-based contemporary dance company shares a concert with Khambatta Dance Company from Seattle. Following a joint weeklong residency, the two companies will premiere a new work together and share additional work from their own repertories. March 11-12, $15-100. Dance Complex, Cambridge. www.dancecomplex.org

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BOSTON BALLET’S DON QUIXOTE In this production, originally choreographed by Rudolf Nureyev to a score by Ludwig Minkus and restored in 2003, Boston Ballet taps the charm and whimsical fancy of Miguel de Cervantes’s classic novel. As the hapless dreamer and his faithful sidekick Sancho wander the countryside, they get embroiled in the adventures of two young lovers, leading to a wedding scene with some of the most virtuosic ballet choreography in classical ballet. March 16-26, $39-$164. Citizens Bank Opera House. www.bostonballet.org

GIBNEY COMPANY Though it has been on the scene for more than three decades, the acclaimed New York-based performing arts/social justice organization’s contemporary dance company is just now making its Boston debut, courtesy of Global Arts Live. The collective of 13 performers brings a wide-ranging program of Boston premieres, including “Oh, Courage!” by Sonya Tayeh, “A Measurable Existence” by Yin Yue, and “Bliss” by Johan Inger. March 17-18, $54-58. Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. www.globalartslive.org



Karen Campbell can be reached at karencampbell4@rcn.com.