9 Shows You’ll Want to Catch This March and April

March 19, 2026

Our performance picks for March and April cover an intriguing couple of months in the concert dance scene—including the debut of one company, the final shows of another, and over half a dozen highly-anticipated premieres.

On Faith

Five dancers hover midair facing the side, opposite arms and legs raised as though frozen mid-run. A DJ works upstage.
Rennie Harris Puremovement in Rome & Jewels. Photo by JHsu Media, courtesy Rennie Harris Puremovement.

PHILADELPHIA  Rennie Harris Puremovement concludes its residency at Penn Live Arts with the premiere of Losing My Religion, using Harris’ signature street-dance style to examine how lived experiences can challenge and change belief systems. March 19–21. pennlivearts.org.

In His Ballet Era

In a rehearsal studio, Kameron N. Saunders adjusts the arm of a dancer as it is raised forward. The dancer sits into his back hip, back arching.
Kameron N. Saunders with English National Ballet’s Rhys Antoni Yeomans. Photo by Isabella Turolla, courtesy ENB.

LONDON  After amassing a huge online following as a standout dancer for Taylor Swift and Chappell Roan, Kameron N. Saunders leaps back to the concert-dance stage following his participation in The Joffrey Ballet’s Winning Works competition in 2023. Proper Conduct, his first commission for English National Ballet, is set to an original score by Brandon Finklea and Harold Walker III and plays with questions of authenticity and social expectations. It debuts at Sadler’s Wells March 19–28, on a program with the UK premiere of Crystal Pite’s Body and Soul (Part 1), before touring to Theatre Royal Plymouth April 30–May 2. ballet.org.uk.

Seeing Red

Two dancers costumed in red embrace. Another dancer embraces each from behind as they sink to the floor, where they connect and intertwine with two more dancers.
Shamel Pitts’ Marks of RED. Photo by Alex Apt, courtesy TRIBE.

MINNEAPOLIS  Acclaimed choreographer Shamel Pitts premieres Marks of RED, a continuation of his RED Series and the final installment in a three-year residency partnership with Walker Art Center and Northrop. The work centers the viewpoints of its all-femme cast—Ashley Pierre-Louis, Marcella Lewis, Imani Gaudin, Dominica Greene, Ke’ron J. Wilson, and Kris Lee—turning an Afrofuturist lens on memory and its effects on identity, reality, and imagination. March 20–21. walkerart.org.

The Phoenix

Three dancers costumed in red unitards with colorful yellow and orange skirts jump straight up, gesturing as though they are birds in mid-flight.
Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers. Photo by RobLi Photography, courtesy Michelle Tabnick Public Relations.

PHILADELPHIA  Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers goes out with a bang, premiering two new works alongside existing repertory spanning two decades for its final home season before the company shuts down. Fire Ritual Dance/Fenghuang In Us celebrates healing and collective renewal, centered on the mythical Chinese phoenix. The solo 17 Moves/In Memory of Gus is based on 17 tasks the late Gus Solomons jr would assign in his composition classes and will be performed by a different dancer at each performance during the run, including by Kun-Yang Lin himself at the final show. March 27–28. kyld.org.

Seeded in History

Amidst an array of billowing white fabric, Jodi Melnick twists through a turn, arms working in opposition, while just behind her Sara Mearns sits with her knees folded beneath her, folding forward over her front leg with her arms curving up behind her.
Sara Mearns and Jodi Melnick performing at Carvalho Park. Photo by Jennifer Carvalho, courtesy 92NY/Michelle Tabnick Public Relations.

NEW YORK CITY  Postmodern choreographer Jodi Melnick and ballet star Sara Mearns have proved an unconventional but illuminating pairing since they were first thrown together at Danspace Project in 2015. Their artistic partnership continues with the premiere of Superbloom (Dancing Into Choreographic Forms) at 92NY. Part of the presenter’s women-focused dance season, the new work reimagines the archives of female choreographers who have a history with 92NY and who have directly and indirectly influenced Melnick—Anna Sokolow, Doris Humphrey, Sara Rudner, Trisha Brown. The duo are joined by Tamisha Guy, Catherine Kirk, and Amanda Kmett’Pendry for in-person performances March 27–28. A livestream will be available on March 29. 92ny.org.

New Ballet in BC

A dancer in pointe shoes balances in an off-kilter side extension, supported by a dancer with an arm around their waist.
Ballet Vancouver’s Patrick Frenette and Stephanie Petersen. Photo by David Cooper, courtesy Murray Paterson Marketing Group.

VANCOUVER  Ballet Vancouver makes its debut in April. In addition to the premiere of a work by founder Joshua Beamish, created in collaboration with Indigenous designer Yolonda Skelton, the Vancouver Playhouse program includes the local premieres of Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Redemption, as well as Wen Wei Wang’s Swan. April 23–25. balletvancouver.com.

Diasporic Dilemma

Two dancers throw themselves forward, one slamming a hand to the ground and the other raising his arms just shy of the crumpled white backdrop. Both are barefoot and bare-chested, and wear black pants.
Mufutau Yusuf and Lucas Katangila in Impasse. Photo by Luca Truffarelli, courtesy SFIAF.

NEW YORK CITY AND SAN FRANCISCO  Nigerian-born, Ireland-based choreographer Mufutau Yusuf brings his duet Impasse stateside. The work confronts the identity politics surrounding the Black body in Western society to a sound score blending the choreographer’s Yoruba roots with Bach and hip hop. Impasse receives its U.S. premiere at New York City’s Irish Arts Center April 23–25 before heading to San Francisco International Arts Festival April 30 and May 2. irishartscenter.org and sfiaf.org.

UPDATE (April 8, 2026): Mufutau Yusuf’s U.S. performances have been canceled due to the impact of recent changes to U.S. immigration policies on visas.

Mujeres in Motion

A line of dancers in second position plié stretches upstage. Their arms curve overhead, fingers splayed, as they lean back and twist toward the center; alternating dancers lean left or right. The backdrop is lit red to match the dancers' costumes.
Ballet Hispánico in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Línea Recta. Photo by Erin Baiano, courtesy Michelle Tabnick Public Relations.

NEW YORK CITY  Ballet Hispánico brings a program entirely choreographed by women to New York City Center. Cassi Abranches and Marianela Boán each contribute a premiere—the former offering Trança (Braid), a contemporary take on Brazilian dance, and the latter Reactor Antígona (Reactingto Antigone)—which appear alongside Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s popular Línea Recta and Stephanie Martinez’s Picasso-inspired Otra Vez, Otra Vez, Otra Vez. April 23–26. ballethispanico.org.

Out, Damned Spot

A dancer in a formal blue dress crosses her arms at the elbow to bring her palms to her face. Her hair is loose down her back as her chin tips up.
Royal Danish Ballet’s Astrid Elbo as Lady Macbeth. Photo by Maria Albrechtsen, courtesy Royal Danish Ballet.

COPENHAGEN  Akram Khan adapts one of Shakespeare’s tragedies for a new evening-length for Royal Danish Ballet. Lady Macbeth turns its focus to the wife of the play’s titular nobleman, a character rife with psychological complexity. Featuring original music by Vincenzo Lamagna and scenic and costume design by Tim Yip, both of whom were collaborators on Khan’s Giselle for English National Ballet, the ballet premieres April 24 and plays multiple dates through June 4. kglteater.dk.