Here are some of the dance performances you can’t miss in South Florida this season

Sean Erwin
·7 min read

From the most traditional classical ballet to the most deliciously anarchic avant-garde performance, Miami has it all. Here are the picks for the 2023-2024 season’s best dance events.

Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida

Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida dancers Itsumi Masaki and Keisuke Nishikawa in choreographer Vladimir Issaev’s, “The Four Seasons.”
Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida dancers Itsumi Masaki and Keisuke Nishikawa in choreographer Vladimir Issaev’s, “The Four Seasons.”

Fresh from earning the International Ballet Festival of Miami’s A Life for Dance Award, Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida Artistic Director Vladimir Issaev pairs his own take on Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” with South Florida choreographer Yanis Pikieris’ sensual and visually stunning “Danzón.”

The program rounds off with a world premiere of Issaev’s new work, “Inspired by Love,” based on love letters exchanged between Ecuadorian revolutionary Manuela Saenz and South American liberator Simon Bolivar, set to the music of Venezuelan composer Aldemaro Romero.

▪ Oct. 7, Amaturo Theater, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 954-462-0222 or www.browardcenter.org/events

▪ Oct. 14-15, Aventura Arts and Cultural Center, Aventura, 305-466-8002 or www.aventuracenter.org/

brigid baker wholeproject

brigid baker wholeproject dancer Meredith Barton in choreographer Brigid Baker’s “Abracadabra.”
brigid baker wholeproject dancer Meredith Barton in choreographer Brigid Baker’s “Abracadabra.”

Miami choreographer Brigid Baker and her company, brigid baker wholeproject, make love the remedy and nature a guide to healing in a world challenged by bad vibes and environmental catastrophe in their latest work, “Cloud 9.”

wholeproject’s latest work is the fifth installment of a multi-year exploration of the role human beings play in transforming the natural world (for good and bad) and follows on the heels of “Crown” (2021), “Operation Birdsong” (2021) “Numinous Land” (2022) and “Abracadabra” (2022).

▪ Nov. 16-19, The On.Stage Black Box Theatre, Miami-Dade County Auditorium, 305-547-5414 or www.miamidadecountyauditorium.org/

Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami

Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami dancers Chloe Freytag & Eduardo Pi Iglesias.
Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami dancers Chloe Freytag & Eduardo Pi Iglesias.

Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami mixes the technique and talent of neo-classical ballet with traditional Spanish dance in “Majismo” and then again in “Tangos del Cristal” – a no-nonsense tango performed to live music by Gabriel Mores (son of legendary tango pianist, composer and conductor Mariano Mores).

DDTM finishes off their season opener with a world premiere by one of South Florida’s most prolific up and coming young choreographers, Yanis Eric Pikieris.

▪ Nov. 11, Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center, 786-573-5300 or smdcac.org/

Men Who Dance

Men Who Dance Festival at the Broward Center’s Amaturo Theater.
Men Who Dance Festival at the Broward Center’s Amaturo Theater.

South Florida’s Men Who Dance Festival – now in its fourth year – sheds notions of toxic masculinity with a program cast with some of the top male talent in dance from across the globe. Styles range from classical to contemporary, modern to hip-hop, but the result is the same: superlative dancing.

▪ Nov. 25-26, Amaturo Theater, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 954-462-0222 or www.browardcenter.org/events

Peter London Global Dance Company

Peter London Global Dance Company dancer Leon Cobb in “Lament.”
Peter London Global Dance Company dancer Leon Cobb in “Lament.”

Martha Graham principal dancer Lloyd Knight dances in the new year with the Peter London Global Dance Company in “Edge of Tomorrow” – think the joyousness of Carnival washed in the tones of Trinidad and Tobago.

New works include world premieres by Richard Villaverde, Lloyd Knight, Justin Rapaport, Peter London and jazz composer Etienne Charles.

▪ Dec. 28-31, Carnival Studio Theater, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami; 305-949-6722 or arshtcenter.org

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo - 50th Anniversary

Dancer Parma Esmeralda of Ballet Trockaderos.
Dancer Parma Esmeralda of Ballet Trockaderos.

Celebrating their 50th anniversary, this all-male ballet company continues to show audiences that when men poke fun at classical dance they do this best (and most impressively) dancing en pointe (on their toes) and en travesti (as a member of the opposite gender).

Founded in 1974 by some comic-minded ballet enthusiasts, rave reviews from the New York Times and the Village Voice quickly established the “Trocks” as both an enduring popular and critical success.

▪ Jan. 11, 2024, Knight Concert Hall, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami; 305-949-6722 or arshtcenter.org

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Dancer Constance Stamatiou in Alvin Ailey’s “The Mooche.”
Dancer Constance Stamatiou in Alvin Ailey’s “The Mooche.”

From small beginnings in a legendary March 1958 performance at The 92nd Street Y in New York, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has changed forever the perception of American dance.

From an ensemble of seven dancers led by Ailey, AAADT has since performed for more than 25 million people at theaters in 48 states and 71 countries.

▪ Feb. 2-3, Ziff Ballet Opera House, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami; 305-949-6722 or arshtcenter.org

Miami City Ballet

Miami City Ballet principals Stanislav Olshanskyi and Yuliia Moskalenko in the ballet “Swan Lake.” Choreography by Alexei Ratmasky.
Miami City Ballet principals Stanislav Olshanskyi and Yuliia Moskalenko in the ballet “Swan Lake.” Choreography by Alexei Ratmasky.

In the spring, Miami City Ballet offers two programs for those who love fresh takes on traditional ballet.

When it debuted in 1957, New York City Ballet Artistic Director and choreographer George Balanchine’s “Agon” presented new takes on traditional French dances. In its “Spring Mix” program, MCB blends this Balanchine favorite with a company premiere of establishment-rocking work by contemporary San Francisco based choreographer Alonzo King Lines in “Following the Current Upstream” and a world premiere by Brazilian-born choreographer Ricardo Amarante.

▪ March 8-10, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami; 305-949-6722 or arshtcenter.org

And for those who love ballets that tell stories, MCB tells a gorgeous one in their season closer with former American Ballet Theatre Resident Choreographer Alexei Ratmansky’s 2022 restaging of the 1895 Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov original version of “Swan Lake.”

▪ April 18-21, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami; 305-949-6722 or arshtcenter.org

Paul Taylor Dance Company

Paul Taylor Company performing choreographer Paul Taylor’s “Promethean Fire.”
Paul Taylor Company performing choreographer Paul Taylor’s “Promethean Fire.”

Paul Taylor Dance Company celebrates its 70th anniversary with a March return to the Moss Center, where it performs “Promethean Fire” set to J.S. Bach’s “Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor.” Choreographed after 9/11, “Promethean Fire” is a heart grabber and monument to the spiritual power of movement.

Also on the program is “Somewhere in the Middle” – the adrenaline-soaked 2022 work by choreographer Amy Hall Garner. Set to music by Wynton Marsalis, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan and other big band favorites, “Somewhere in the Middle” bubbles with happiness.

▪ March 9-10, Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center, 786-573-5300 or smdcac.org/

Flamenco Festival Miami XV: Stars of Flamenco

Manuel Liñán and his dancers performing at the Flamenco Festival.
Manuel Liñán and his dancers performing at the Flamenco Festival.

Choreographer Manuel Liñán may be known for his revolutionary subversion of flamenco’s gender roles, but that only begins to describe this performer’s genius.

Expect electric dancing, gorgeous costuming and thoughtful reworkings of the codes and history of the Andalusian dance when Liñán teams up with Alfonso de Losa and El Yiyo to offer Miami audiences “Stars of Flamenco” to close this year’s Flamenco Festival Miami at the Arsht.

▪ March 14, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami; 305-949-6722 or arshtcenter.org

Dance Now! Miami

Company photo of Dance NOW! Miami performing choreographer Diego Salterini’s “Gli Altri/The Others.”
Company photo of Dance NOW! Miami performing choreographer Diego Salterini’s “Gli Altri/The Others.”

Dance NOW! Miami culminates its international partnership with Florentine company Opus Ballet with DNM choreographer and co-artistic director Diego Salterini’s work “Gli Altri/The Others,” inspired by the shaping power anonymous public spaces have on people’s behavior.

Also on the bill, DNM premieres “A Media Luz,” a dynamic contemporary ballet by choreographer and Artistic Director of Dance St. Louis Michael Uthoff, set to the tango-soaked classical music of Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla.

▪ March 17 at the Miami Theater Center, Miami Shores, 305-751-9550 or www.mtcmiami.org/

Karen Peterson Dance

Dancers Sun Young Park and Adam Eckstat of Karen Peterson Dance.
Dancers Sun Young Park and Adam Eckstat of Karen Peterson Dance.

Utilizing new and contemporary dance styles, physically integrated (PI) performance innovates new kinds of performative mobilities by integrating disabled and non-disabled dancers in groundbreaking choreographies.

This year Karen Peterson Dancers showcases the top in National and International PI dance and choreography in the Fifth Annual Forward Motion Dance Festival and Conference of Physically Integrated Dance featuring guest artists Julie Crothers (California), Pawel Karpinski (Poland), Dwayne Schuenemann (Tampa) and DeMarco Booker (Cleveland).

▪ March 23 at the Miami Dade County Auditorium, 305-547-5414 or miamidadecountyauditorium.org/

▪ March 24 at the Koubek Center, Miami Dade College, 305-237-7750 or koubekcenter.org/#dance

Ballet X

BalletX dancer Ashley Simpson performing choreographer Jennifer Archibald’s work, “Exalt.”
BalletX dancer Ashley Simpson performing choreographer Jennifer Archibald’s work, “Exalt.”

Founded in 2005 by Christine Cox and Matthew Neenan, “the best of the cutting edge” fitly describes this Philadelphia contemporary ballet company’s Moss Center April program. It features works like New York City principal dancer Tiler Peck’s “Umoja” (Swahili for “Unity”), New York City Ballet resident choreographer Justin Peck’s “Become a Mountain,” former Alvin Ailey resident choreographer Jamar Roberts’ “Honey” and up-and-comer Jennifer Archibald’s “Exalt.”

▪ April 6, Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center, 786-573-5300 or smdcac.org/