FALL 2026
FALL 2026 CALENDAR SEPT 10 & 12-13 7:30PM
Bill T. Jones: Curriculum IV: Spin and Spin! Turn! Turn! Turn!
SEPT 16 5:30PM OCT 2 7PM
Hank Willis Thomas Opening Reception
OCT 8-10 7:30PM
Benjamin Akio Kimitch: Allegra
OCT 23-24 7:30PM
Dorothée Munyaneza: Toi, moi, Tituba...
NOV 6-7 & 11-14 7:30PM
Joanna Kotze: this is the beginning, this is the end
DEC 2 4:30PM
Emily Johnson / Catalyst: Activating the Decolonization Rider
DEC 10-12 7:30PM
Ain Gordon: CONDOLENCE Or A Rug & An Elf
Presented by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in partnership with New York Live Arts and Battery Park City Authority
Ford Foundation Live Gallery
Bill Chats
Bill T. Jones, Joanna Kotze, and special guests
WORLD PREMIERE
In association with BAM, L’Alliance New York’s Crossing The Line, and Villa Albertine 2025-2026 Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist WORLD PREMIERE
WORLD PREMIERE
Our 2026-2027 Season Ticketing Options!
All Live Arts season presentation tickets on sale now at www.newyorklivearts.org / 212-924-0077. Live Arts is proud to offer a flexible ticketing model designed to make performances accessible to a wide range of audiences. Onsite full evening tickets start at a standard price of $30. Limited Pay-What-You-Wish and new $20 Artist Tickets are available for every performance. Live Core Artist Members, Students, and Seniors receive 20% off Standard tickets. Supporter Tickets starting at $50 help sustain artists and expand access to various programs. Standard prices may increase based on demand. $10 Student Rush tickets are available for any onsite show that is not sold-out.
VIEW SEASON ONLINE: 2 Cover: Joanna Kotze, photo by Maria Baranova
DEAR FRIENDS,
This era of spellbinding acceleration, degradation of values, new definitions of intelligence and humanity, gives the lie to what Samuel Beckett declares in his masterpiece Waiting for Godot, “the more things change, the more things stay the same…” I prefer “the only constant is change!” Our fall season investigates both of these claims, exploring the tension between constant change and repeating history through an ambitious lineup of commissioned artists, conversations, and encounters. Anticipated season highlights include world premieres by the rigorous and experimental Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist Joanna Kotze, the imaginative and longtime friend to Live Arts Benjamin Akio Kimitch, and the playful and poignant Ain Gordon. The great Dorothée Munyaneza and ever-focused Emily Johnson return to share their knowledge with our community, and a Bill Chats conversation with Joanna Kotze and special guests from disciplines outside the world of dance, as part of Fall of Freedom 2026. Starting in September, audiences will be greeted by the striking artwork of Hank Willis Thomas in the Ford Foundation Gallery. To kick things off, a season-opening collaboration between myself and Samora Pinderhughes, featuring Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, will be free and open to the public in Wagner Park to commemorate the 25th anniversary of 9/11. The world premiere of Curriculum IV: Spin and Spin! Turn! Turn! Turn! is commissioned by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. These essential gatherings turn the challenge of constant change into an exciting season of hope-driven forward momentum. Please, join us. To our moment! Bill T. Jones, Artistic Director We acknowledge and pay respect to Lenape people past, present, and coming in the future. We acknowledge and offer deep gratitude to Lenapehoking where our theater sits - the land, the waters of the Lenape homeland. Bill T. Jones, photo by Walter Wlodarczyk 3
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BILL T. JONES
with music by Samora Pinderhughes featuring Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company CURRICULUM IV: SPIN AND SPIN! TURN! TURN! TURN! SEPT 10 & 12-13, 7:30PM WORLD PREMIERE
Presented by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in partnership with New York Live Arts and Battery Park City Authority Join us for the world premiere of a new work by visionary artist Bill T. Jones. This piece responds to a collaboration between the company and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council that was originally scheduled to premiere on September 12, 2001, on a stage set between the Twin Towers. Commemorating the 25th anniversary of that suspended moment—and all that has unfolded since—this premiere brings dance back to Lower Manhattan, shaped by resilience and the passage of time. The creation of new work by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company is made possible in part by the company’s Partners in Creation: Anonymous, Anne Delaney, Zoe Eskin, Eleanor Friedman, Ruth & Stephen Hendel, Suzanne Karpas, Ellen Poss, Jane Bovingdon Semel, Rachel Shapiro in memory of Linda G. Shapiro, Slobodan Randjelović & Jon Stryker. Funding for the River To River Festival is provided by The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Howard Gilman Foundation, Lily Auchincloss Foundation, and The Robert Lehman Foundation. River To River is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional funding for the Bill T. Jones project is provided by Battery Park City Authority, The National Endowment for the Arts, and Harkness Foundation for Dance.
Bill T. Jones & Samora Pinderhughes, photo by Monique Carboni 5
FORD FOUNDATION LIVE GALLERY HANK WILLIS THOMAS ON VIEW SEPT 16 - JAN 2027 OPENING RECEPTION SEPT 16, 5:30PM
New York Live Arts is honored to welcome visionary Hank Willis Thomas back to the Ford Foundation Live Gallery! A special selection of works will greet audiences to 219 West 19th Street for our Fall 2026 season. Hank Willis Thomas (b. 1976, Plainfield, NJ) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, and is a conceptual artist whose work examines themes of identity, perspective, commodity, media, and popular culture. Thomas’ interdisciplinary practice spans sculpture, photography, retroreflectives, quilt-based works, film, and more, often challenging the viewer to critically engage with the complexities of contemporary culture. His work is included in numerous public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Brooklyn Museum, New York; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., among others. Please visit newyorklivearts.org for Hanks’ complete bio and more information about the exhibition.
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Photo by Jai Lennard 7
8 Bill T. Jones by Stephanie Crousillat; Joanna Kotze by Maria Baranova
BILL CHATS BILL T. JONES, JOANNA KOTZE & SPECIAL GUESTS OCT 2, 7PM
As part of Fall of Freedom 2026, Live Arts continues the Bill Chats series with a conversation inspired by Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist Joanna Kotze’s interrogation of the phenomenon of history repeating itself and what that reveals about our present moment. The conversation will feature Bill T. Jones and Joanna Kotze, alongside special guests to be announced.
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BENJAMIN AKIO KIMITCH ALLEGRA
OCT 8-10, 7:30PM WORLD PREMIERE | Oct. 9 Pre Show Talk Choreographer Benjamin Akio Kimitch conjures a fantasy Japanese American court dance where history presses against memory, and memory against imagination. Ballet stages give way to temple grounds, barren foothills, army barracks, and the stench of empty horse stables. Benjamin’s Allegra turns to Bugaku, an ancient dance form that became central to postwar U.S.-Japan relations and inspired George Balanchine’s own Bugaku ballet. These histories converge through a Japanese American lens anchored by the aftermath of the camps in World War II. Dancers Jessica Cook, Lai Yi Ohlsen, Glenn Potter-Takata, Nami Yamamoto, and Benjamin bring these collective memories to life. Allegra was commissioned by New York Live Arts’ Live Feed Residency program, supported in part by Partners for New Performance. This production is made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation; Creative Capital; Café Royal Cultural Foundation; and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Development has been made possible by the Asian Cultural Council; MacDowell; Yaddo; Mercury Store; the Mertz Gilmore Foundation Dancer Award in partnership with The New York Foundation for the Arts; and residency support from the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).
10 Photo by Alexander Coggin
“A transfixing experiment” - The Brooklyn Rail
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“...Dorothée Munyaneza’s performance possesses an almost superhuman power, and this tour de force resonates with the ghosts with whom she dialogues.” - Hannah Walti
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DOROTHÉE MUNYANEZA / KADIDI COMPANY TOI, MOI, TITUBA...
OCT 23 & 24, 7:30PM U.S. PREMIERE
Presented by New York Live Arts, in association with BAM, L’Alliance New York’s Crossing The Line, and Villa Albertine Toi, moi, Tituba… is based on French philosopher Elsa Dorlin’s essay on Maryse Condé’s heroine Tituba. As a black woman and so-called witch, Tituba gives a voice to those who are silenced by force. Those erased from history. Inspired by this story, Dorothée Munyaneza uses her own body as a danced archive. With composer Khyam Allami, she makes suppressed voices audible, visible and tangible once more. Toi, moi, Tituba… is a striking “collective solo” presenting a multiplicity of voices and perspectives converging in a single body, so no one is forgotten. Coproduction Chaillot - Théâtre National de la Danse Paris I Maison de la Danse Lyon – Pôle Européen de création I deSingel Anvers I Tanz im August - HAU Hebbel am Ufer Berlin I Pavillon ADC Genève I Fonds Transfabrik – Fonds franco-allemand pour le spectacle vivant Studio residency CCN - Ballet National de Marseille I Friche Belle de mai I Centre d’art Montévidéo Marseille I deSingel Anvers With support from The Fondation Camargo, Cassis Montévidéo Art Centre - festival Actoral Marseille DRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Premiered on August 10, 2023 at the Tanz im August Festival, Berlin.
Photo by Elodie Paul 13
JOANNA KOTZE
THIS IS THE BEGINNING, THIS IS THE END NOV 6-7 & 11-14, 7:30PM
WORLD PREMIERE | Nov. 12 Stay Late Conversation
2025-2026 Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist (RCA) this is the beginning, this is the end interrogates the phenomenon of history repeating itself through an interdisciplinary work that scrutinizes leadership, agency, and the thresholds we encounter individually and collectively. Performed by an ensemble of six dancers and two musicians, the piece examines how individual bodies carry the residue of political and social systems, and how the act of tearing down and rebuilding becomes both an artistic and human imperative. Cascading waves of intricate, rigorous, layered movement and sound engage the current socio-political challenges and reflect on two divergent forces: the need for collectivism to accomplish change and, its most dangerous manifestation, unthinking conformity. this is the beginning, this is the end is being created in collaboration with dancers Lena Engelstein, Wendell Gray II, Molly Heller, Symara Sarai, and Hsiao-Jou Tang and musicians Maralie Armstrong-Rial and Ryan Seaton; with lighting design by Kathy Kaufmann, costume design by Christian Joy, and set design by 212box. this is the beginning, this is the end is being commissioned, produced, and will be premiered by New York Live Arts as part of the Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist Program (RCA), at Live Arts in New York City in Fall 2026, with lead funding from Rockefeller Brothers Fund. this is the beginning, this is the end is co-commissioned by The American Dance Festival (ADF) with support from the Doris Duke/SHS Foundations Award for New Works, and has been supported in part through residencies at Marble House Project, Milvus Artistic Research Center, LMCC’s RehearsalWeek, the Pillow Lab at Jacob’s Pillow, The Chocolate Factory Theater, The Pocantico Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and Loghaven Artist Residency, and is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Joanna is a recipient of a 2024 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award, a 2025 NDP Finalist Grant Award, and is a 2026 NYSCA Support for the Artists grantee (Choreography Commissions) with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, all of which are contributing to the making of this is the beginning, this is the end.
14 Photo by Maria Baranova
“Joanna has been quietly making work that speaks loudly to the times we live in” - Bill T. Jones
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“Merging art and activism, Johnson’s expansive work [draws] our attention to the land beneath and around us — to what has been here before and what could be in the future.” - The New York Times
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EMILY JOHNSON / CATALYST
ACTIVATING THE DECOLONIZATION RIDER DEC 2, 4:30PM
The Decolonization Rider is a tool designed to advance decolonization within cultural institutions while protecting artists, their work, and collaborators. Author Emily Johnson and Decolonization Rider Analyst & Strategist Leomary Rodriguez share ways artists and scholars can utilize the Decol Rider for self and collective advocacy while institutions can use it to create safer, justice-centered engagements, sharing research from their Decolonization Assessments. Presented with New York Live Arts, Movement Research’s Studies Project program. Part 1 is for artists and scholars on Thursday, November 19th, 6 to 8pm at Abrons Arts Center . Part 2 is for artists, institutional representatives, funders, and scholars on Wednesday, December 2nd, 4:30pm at Live Arts.
T to B: Emily Johnson, Leomary Rodriguez; photos courtesy of the artists
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AIN GORDON WITH JOSH QUILLEN CONDOLENCE OR A RUG & AN ELF DEC 10-12, 7:30PM
WORLD PREMIERE | Dec. 10 Stay Late Conversation 2023: crematorium ashes arrive in a Ziplock bag, inside a plastic box, inside a cardboard box, all in a non-compostable tote emblazoned with an eternal flame. Eternal like the tote’s forever-synthetics or eternal like maybe grief? Via little songs & tales of a thrift shop rug, a garden elf, Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay, small-town England, 3 wedding rings, a single cufflink, and a glimpse of the stars, Ain and Josh mourn familial absences with bracing candor and silly detail. CONDOLENCE marks Gordon and Quillen’s 3rd collaboration, their first was a New York Times Critic’s Pick, their second continues touring nationally. Together, this pair, born of different generations and rooted in different disciplines forge a highly personal, nearly fraternal, brand of sonic storytelling. Joining the development of this project is astrophysicist Dr. Amy Secunda. A Pick Up Performance Co. Production. Supported by a 2023 Creative Capital Award, Howard Gilman Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and New York State Council on the Arts. This work is supported in part by a commission from New York Live Arts’ Live Feed Residency program supported in part by Partners for New Performance, and by the Simons Foundation as part of its “Infinite Sums” initiative. For more information, visit infinitesums.simonsfoundation.org.
18 T to B: Ain Gordon, photo by Maria Baranova; Josh Quillen, photo courtesy of the Pick Up
“[Gordon] haunts the margins of history… conjuring the sort of distant lives that don’t make it into textbooks…” - The New York Times
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VALENTINA BACHÉ
IME SOUL
KIMIKO TANABE
SHAMAR WATT
FRESH TRACKS 2026-2027
Please join us in welcoming this season’s Fresh Tracks artists: Valentina Baché, Ime Soul, Kimiko Tanabe, and Shamar Watt. New York Live Arts’ Fresh Tracks Residency & Performance Program supports early-career movement-based artists through a season-long residency focused on new work creation and professional development. Selected artists receive a $5,000 fee, a 60-hour studio residency, guidance from Artistic Advisor Martita Abril, and professional development support, culminating in a shared evening of new work in the theater to be announced as part of our spring season. The program originated at Dance Theater Workshop in 1965 to bring new choreographic artistry to the forefront. Funding Fresh Tracks is supported in part by the Jerome Foundation, Alice Lawrence Foundation, and Partners for New Performance.
Valentina Baché, photo by Carrie Brautigam. Ime Soul, photo by Carolyne Loreé Teston. Kimiko Tanabe, photo by Olga-Rabetskaya. Shamar Watt, photo by Marie Staggat.
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22 Photo courtesy of the feath3r theory
LIVE ARTERY 2027 JAN 12-23
The Live Artery Festival is New York Live Arts’ signature festival for contemporary dance and performance, a dynamic hub where new work, bold ideas, and the people shaping the field converge. Through premieres, works-in-progress, and artist-led conversations, Live Artery creates pathways for connection, discovery, and the relationships that sustain artists and move performance forward. Earlier this year, Live Arts named 2019-2020 Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist Raja Feather Kelly the 2027 Live Artery Festival Guest Curator. Kelly’s programming, developed in partnership with Bill T. Jones, will be announced soon.
Raja Feather Kelly, photo by Quinn Wharton 23
LIVE CORE
Are you an artist working to connect with larger audiences and raise funds to support your work? Enrollment in Live Core is $100 for a full year of unlimited access to the program’s offerings, including the Fiscal Sponsorship Program, discounts on tickets and workshops, professional development services, and more! For more information on joining Live Core, please visit newyorklivearts.org/about/opportunities.
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DONATE
Your contribution, no matter the size, is essential in ensuring artists are supported, seen, and heard. With your generosity, we provide vital resources—commissioning funds, residencies, studio space, and professional services—that empower artists at every stage of their careers. Live Arts thrives on your generosity, and we thank our Trustees, Partners in Creation, Partners for New Performance, Patrons Circle, and Donors for their vital support. To learn how you can contribute to our mission and the artists we serve, please visit newyorklivearts.org/support. Photos above from the 2026 New York Live Arts Gala, by Walter Wlodarczyk: (L to R) Samira Nasr, Yashua Simmons, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, *Amy Newman and *Alan Marks, Mickalene Thomas * denotes Board of Directors 25
SUPPORT
Support for New York Live Arts is provided by the Alex Katz Foundation, Alice Lawrence Foundation, Albertine Foundation, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Booth Ferris Foundation, Dance/NYC, Ed Bradley Family Foundation, Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Ford Foundation, Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Howard Gilman Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Jerome Robbins Foundation, Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, Lambent Foundation, Marta Heflin Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Muriel Pollia Foundation, National Performance Network, New England Foundation for the Arts, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, San Francisco Foundation, Scherman Foundation, Simons Foundation, Studio Institute, The Poss Family Foundation, The Semel Charitable Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Tides Foundation, Wege Foundation, and Wolf Kahn Foundation. Public support for New York Live Arts is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council with special thanks to Manhattan Borough President Hoylman-Sigal and City Councilmember of District #3 Carl Wilson, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. Dance/NYC’s New York City Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program that supports Live Arts subsidizing our studio spaces, is made possible by the Mellon Foundation. Corporate support for New York Live Arts is provided by Google and Tito’s Handmade Vodka.
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SUPPORT
The creation of new work by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company is made possible in part by the company’s Partners in Creation: Anne Delaney, Zoe Eskin, Eleanor Friedman, Ruth & Stephen Hendel, Suzanne Karpas, Ellen M. Poss, Jane Bovingdon Semel, in memory of Linda G. Shapiro, and Slobodan Randjelovic & Jon Stryker. We thank our Partners for New Performance for supporting the Live Feed, Fresh Tracks and engagement programs: Alexes Hazen, Linda Hirschson, Julie Orlando, Andrea Rosen, and John Robinson. For a full list, please see newyorklivearts.org/support/contributors
VISIT US
Tickets can be purchased at newyorklivearts.org or by calling the box office at 212.924.0077 Hours: Monday–Friday: 3pm–9pm
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newyorklivearts.org
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