Broadway choreography has long been an amalgam of different social dances and forms like jazz, tap, and ballet. But today’s shows are increasingly using movement makers from genres outside the musical theater world altogether, like experimental dance (David Neumann, Annie-B Parson, Raja Feather Kelly), commercial dance (Sonya Tayeh, JaQuel Knight, Keone and Mari Madrid), modern dance (Camille A. Brown), and physical theater (Steven Hoggett).

After years accruing downtown accolades for his blazingly original movement pieces, choreographer David Neumann landed on Broadway in 2019 with Hadestown. Last fall he began preparing to choreograph an even more out-there musical: Swept Away.

While “subject to change” is a given these days, here’s what we’re most excited to catch if all goes as planned during the 2021–22 season. Who Was It For? Clarissa Dyas RJ Muna, Courtesy Joe Goode Performance Group Are you ready to revisit the Summer of Love? With Time of Change, the Joe Goode Performance […]

Hadestown is Afra Hines’ eighth Broadway musical, so she thought she knew what to expect—until she had a private rehearsal with the choreographer, David Neumann. Preparing her to be Amber Gray’s understudy, he said, “You don’t have to do exactly what Amber’s doing—I want it to feel comfortable on your body.” That was new. “A […]

The Tony Award nominations were announced yesterday morning, and, as always, they gave us a lot to talk about. Could Hadestown sweep the awards? Why didn’t John Heginbotham’s work on Oklahoma! garner him a Best Choreography nomination? What musical numbers will the nominated shows bring to the ceremony on June 9? To discuss, we gathered […]

There are more intriguing performances than one person could possibly see this month, so our editors’ picks run the gamut. The topics—Greek mythology and systemic racism, the Ballets Russes and secondary incarceration—are as varied as the styles—contemporary, bharatanatyam, aerial. The one through line: They’re bound to make you look at the world a little differently. […]

What do choreographers Mark Dendy, David Neumann and Edisa Weeks have in common? They all cut their dancing-and-talking teeth with Jane Comfort and Company. This month, they, along with 20 other former Comfort dancers, return for the company’s 40th Anniversary Retrospective. In excerpts from 12 works that draw on Comfort’s political and gender satire and […]

Showing choreography at a major venue in New York City is a goal and milestone for many dance artists. Yet when such an opportunity comes their way, choreographers frequently find themselves scrambling for time and technical resources to give their work that professional shine. What they end up performing may not have the polish they […]