Legends & Visionaries
Company:
NEW YORK THEATRE BALLET
NEW YORK THEATRE BALLET “LEGENDS & VISIONARIES”
TO FEATURE COMPANY PREMIERE OF
MERCE CUNNINGHAM’S HOW TO PASS, KICK, FALL AND RUN,
AND NEW WORKS BY JULIAN DONAHUE AND KEVIN IEGA JEFF
THREE SHOWS AT HISTORIC JUDSON MEMORIAL CHURCH,
APRIL 10-11, 2026
ALL SEATS $30
World Premieres by choreographers Julian Donahue and Kevin Iega Jeff, along with masterworks by Merce Cunningham and Antony Tudor, will highlight New York Theatre Ballet’s (NYTB) “Legends & Visionaries” program for three shows, Friday, April 10 at 7:00 PM and Saturday, April 11 at 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM at Judson Memorial Church. Seats for all performances are priced at $30.
Julian Donahue’s All the Flowers Are Behind Us will be given its World Premiere on Friday, April 10 at 7:00 PM as part of NYTB’s “Legends & Visionaries” program. A former NYTB dancer and choreographer, Donahue’s work for seven dancers is set to Piano 2 by Julius Eastman, features scenery by Lily Guerin. Donahue’s work delves into the uncertainties regarding authenticity and inauthenticity in a world dominated by technology and AI. All the Flowers Are Behind Us is Donahue’s second work for NYTB.
Noi-Tar-Gim, an abstract meditation on the forces that shape a life choreographed by Kevin Iega Jeff, will receive its World Premiere on Friday, April 10 at 7:00 PM. With original music by Darryl J. Hoffman commissioned by NYTB, Noi-Tar-Gim is part of NYTB’s “Letters to My Father” project, a multi-year, multi-disciplinary commission of dance works, all on the theme of male artists writing letters to their fathers. “Noi-Tar-Gim, migration spelled backward, draws inspiration from the journey of my father, a man who grew up in the Jim Crow south, whose stories linger in my memory like fragments of a larger map,” said Iega.“It reflects the unseen energies of departure, striving, belonging, and the lingering question of what might have been possible in a less constrained world.” Noi-Tar-Gim is Iega’s first work for NYTB.
New York Theatre Ballet’s “Legends & Visionaries” program at Judson Church will also feature Antony Tudor’s Little Improvisations and the New York Theatre Ballet company premiere of Merce Cunningham’s How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run.
Set to music by John Cage and stories from Cage’s Silence and A Year from Monday, How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run received its World Premiere by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in 1965. Theater director Paul Lazar (winner of the 2026 John Cage Award for his work in theater) and actor b (Shakespeare in the Park and CBS’s Elsbeth) will narrate How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run.
Antony Tudor’s 1953 dance arrangement Little Improvisations is a delightful portrayal of two children playing in an attic on a rainy day. The ballet is set to Robert Schumann’s Kinderszenen, Op. 15 and is staged for NYTB by Diana Byer. Costume adaptation for Little Improvisations is by Sylvia Taalsohn Nolan. Little Improvisations received its NYTB company premiere in 1981.
“Legends & Visionaries” at Judson Church, planned by Steven Melendez, follows NYTB’s 47-year commitment to presenting both legacy works and new commissions that speak beautifully to classical and contemporary audiences,” said Antonia Franceschi, NYTB interim artistic director.
All tickets for NYTB’s “Legends & Visionaries” are $30 (plus fees). A pre-show cocktail party at 5:30 PM on Friday, April 10 at Judson Church, hosted by NYTB’s Young Professional Committee, benefits New York Theatre Ballet and its programs. Cocktail party tickets, which include the 7:00 PM performance, are available at $60.
For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit: NYTB Judson Church Tickets. Judson Memorial Church is located at 55 Washington Square South in New York City.
Share Your Audience Review. Your Words Are Valuable to Dance.
Are you going to see this show, or have you seen it? Share "your" review here on The Dance Enthusiast. Your words are valuable. They help artists, educate audiences, and support the dance field in general. There is no need to be a professional critic. Just click through to our Audience Review Section and you will have the option to write free-form, or answer our helpful Enthusiast Review Questionnaire, or if you feel creative, even write a haiku review. So join the conversation.
