Brooklyn Academy of Music festival to show ‘Next Wave’ of talent

On Tuesday, Sept. 13, the Next Wave Festival crashes onto to the New York art scene at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (30 Lafayette Ave., between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street). The festival, which continues through Dec. 15, is an annual showcase of numerous groundbreaking artists’ works in dance, theater, music, film, visual art, and storytelling.

The program of dance presented at this year’s Next Wave Festival aims to make a splash in the world of dance with its diverse, original works. The festival will feature a number of United States and New York premieres as well as performances by celebrated foreign and national companies. Among the international companies, Compagnie Thor, a contemporary company based in Belgium, will perform founder Thierry Smits’ “To the Ones I Love,” from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1. It is a widely acclaimed dance piece about the male body. Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan will perform “Water Stains on the Wall,” from Oct. 12 to 15, an exploration of calligraphy choreographed by the company’s artistic director, Lin Hwai-min. Bejing Dance Theater will perform “Haze,” from Oct. 19 to 22, a piece by one of China’s most eminent contemporary choreographers, Wang Yuanyuan.

Of particular note are performances of “I don’t believe in outer space” (Oct. 26 to 29), a work by prolific choreographer William Forsythe, and “Canyon” (Nov. 16 to 19), a new piece by John Jasperse. Both choreographers have made significant contributions to the development of the dance forms with which they work—Forsythe has stretched the boundaries of ballet vocabulary, while Jasperse continues to test and experiment within the postmodern field. Though stylistically very different, their pieces, both of which are New York premieres, promise to be aesthetically, kinesthetically, and intellectually provocative.

“Supernatural Wife” will be shown from Nov. 29 to Dec. 3 by Big Dance Theatre—a company that has won both Bessie and Obie awards. The company presents works by its founders, Paul Lazar and Annie-B Parson, which fuse various art forms to create unique contemporary “total art” works.

Also, Merce Cunningham Dance Company will perform six different works by Merce Cunningham, one of the most legendary avant-garde American artists of the 20th century. The company’s performance at BAM is one of the last stops of its Legacy Tour, a two-year event that commenced after the death of Cunningham in 2009. Anyone interested in seeing the company before the tour concludes should not pass up on attending one of their BAM performances.

For those with extra time and cash to spare, artist talks with some of the choreographers will undoubtedly shed light upon one’s viewing experience.

These talks, in which artists discuss their theories and processes, will feature choreographers Hwai-min, Forsythe, and Parson and Lazar.

Additionally, Trevor Carlson, the Executive Director of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, will participate in a talk about Cunningham’s legacy on Dec. 8 at 6 p.m., and Jasperse will partake in a free post-show discussion.