Upcoming dance season in Miami will offer adventure and risk

Has Miami become a national destination for dance? The 2019-2020 dance season puts South Florida on the map for the tops in flamenco, classical dance and the avant-garde. Here are 10 of the year’s must-see performances. 

1. Los Angeles-based Diavolo presents “Architecture in Motion,” the company’s eye-popping slant on dance athleticism as urban landscapes crash around them. Think Cirque du Soleil meets the movie “Inception” with lots of split-second escapes — bring the teens. Oct. 12 at the Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. 

2. Long heralded as the best-kept dance secret in Miami, Brigid Baker’s choreographies have shifted their fair share of audience life paths. Her company Wholeproject will perform “Remain in Light,” from the 1980 David Byrne-Brian Eno album of the same name. Oct. 31-Nov. 3 at Miami-Dade County Auditorium’s On.Stage Black.Box theater. 

3. Miami and Madrid currently vie for the title of best in international flamenco. Discover why with “Flamencas en la Luz” when master flamenco artist Clarita Filgueras and company Flamenco Puro tap out machine-gun rhythms only an arm’s length away. Nov. 9-10 in South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center’s Black Box Theater. 

Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami will opens its season Nov. 16. Photo courtesy Simon Soong.

4. In just three years, Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami has carved out a trajectory best described as “meteoric,” with multiple appearances at Jacob’s Pillow dance festival, a debut at New York’s Joyce Theater and South Florida shows that have charmed audiences and critics alike. The company’s season opener, “Ballet Sculpture & Serenity,” boasts a not-to-be-missed lineup of premieres. Nov. 16 at South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center. 

Alonzo King Lines Ballet will appear Jan. 18 in Cutler Bay. Photo courtesy South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center.

5. South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center has grown into a mecca for the best in avant-garde dance. With the gorgeously diverse Alonzo King Lines Ballet, expect expressive, cutting-edge choreography blended with finely honed classical lines. Jan. 18 on the center’s main stage. 

6. For more than a decade, February has meant Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at the Arsht Center. This year, the company’s younger version — Ailey II, under the direction of Troy Powell — will demonstrate the company’s depth. Feb. 8 at the Knight Concert Hall.

Lil Buck and Jon Boogz’s “Love Heals All Wounds” will play the Arsht Center in February. Photo courtesy of the artists.

7. Memphis meets Miami as performers Lil Buck and Jon Boogz meld social commentary with street dance, spoken word, original music and virtual projections in their latest work, “Love Heals All Wounds.” Feb. 8-9 at the Arsht Center’s Carnival Studio Theater. 

8. Miami City Ballet’s 2019-2020 season shines with highlights, but with two company premieres — Justin Peck’s “Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes” and the George Balanchine-Jerome Robbins collaboration “Firebird” — Program III will be the ticket that thrills ballet newcomers and satisfies classical-dance insiders. Feb. 14-16 at the Arsht Center. 

Dance Now! Miami will perform March 21 in Aventura. Photo courtesy Simon Soong.

9. Astonishing audiences with its appetite for risk, Dance Now! Miami celebrates the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment with historic work from modern-dance founder Isadora Duncan and contributions from Italy’s Opus Ballet. March 21 at the Aventura Arts and Cultural Center. 

10. Flamenco greats such as Miguel Poveda, Maria Pagés and Manuel Liñan will sweep audiences from the cantinas of Cadiz to the cutting edge of the avant-garde during the 13th annual Flamenco Festival Miami. Four programs will shift from the snap of red fabric and the traditional laments of la busqueda del duende to all-male dances that explode the categories of gender identity embedded in the flamenco tradition, March 21 and March 26-28 at the Arsht Center. 

Top photo: Diavolo will perform “Architecture in Motion” Oct. 12 at the Arsht Center. Photo courtesy Sharen Bradford.

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