2025 New York Season

Dance Theatre of Harlem and our visionary artistic director Robert Garland invite you to The Cookout, a bold, new work in his signature postmodern, urban, neo-classical style. Blending classical ballet with the rhythms of Black social dance, Mr. Garland explores resilience in four movements. From the dignity of work and culture to the sorrow that impacts all of humanity, The Cookout ultimately culminates in a celebration of joy. 

Set to a soul-stirring playlist featuring music from Jill Scott, Cymande, Caron Wheeler, and Brass Construction, The Cookout channels the dignity and passion of Harlem’s legacy. The Cookout is a vibrant work that speaks to our shared struggles and triumphs, offering a timely reflection of our strength and capacity to carry on. Don’t miss this electrifying centerpiece of DTH’s New York season—a celebration of community, culture, and boundless spirit. 

Fall into the passage of time in Jodie Gates’ new ballet, Passage of Being, an exploration of life’s fleeting moments set on Dance Theatre of Harlem’s extraordinary dancers. This circular, and physical work unfolds in three cinematic movements set to the evocative music of Oscar-nominated composer Ryan Lott (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”). Shifting perspectives and the bittersweet beauty of time’s swift journey are brought to life through Gates’ expressive choreography and inventive lighting by Michael Korsch with elegant costumes by Martha Chamberlain. At its heart of this elliptic ballet is the majestic and haunting Son Lux song, “Don’t Say It’s Too Late.” Gates weaves these elements into a poignant reflection on love, connection, and the power of the present. Don’t miss this visually deeply moving new work.  

Music: Cherry Blossom by Ryan Lott.  Don’t Say It’s Too Late by Son Lux, performed by Ryan Lott and Rob Moose.  Eleven by Rylan Lott, performed by yMusic.

Set to the final movement from Franz Schubert’s “Symphony No.9”, The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude is an affectionate homage to both Petipa and Balanchine in its courtly partnering conventions, compositional structure (solo variations set amongst pas de deux, pas de trois, and ensemble sections), and speedy, precise allegro work. The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude nonetheless belongs utterly to our time in its overt celebration of the dancers’ ability to make technical difficulty into a triumph of physical mastery and in its self-aware embodiment of a whole tradition of dance.

George Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations is a lively, effervescent series of dances set to Donizetti’s Don Sebastian opera. While the tone is bright and cheery, the technical demands on the dancers are anything but, showcasing two bravura performers in a masterclass of elegance and endurance.

Return was choreographed for Dance Theatre of Harlem’s 30th anniversary. Choreographer Robert Garland calls the ballet’s style “post-modern urban neoclassicism – an attempt to fuse an urban physical sensibility and a neoclassical one.” Staged for 12 dancers to songs performed by James Brown and Aretha Franklin, Return is “… a witty fusion of ballet technique and street gait whose irony toward rhythm-and- blues had the audience in stitches.” (The New York Times)