Dance

In the event you are postmoderned out on account of the Fringe Festival, you may be pleased to learn there are plenty of other types of dance heading our way in the coming months.

by Deni Kasrel

Checking in with Joan Myers Brown

Joan Myers Brown is buzzing with excitement as she talks about what her company, Philadanco, has planned for their season-in-residence at the Kimmel. Danco will present We Too Dance (African-American Men in Dance) in November. They also plan to remount a work created by Urban Bush Women Founding Artistic Director Jawole Zollar and premiere a tribute to the late Willard Rouse. Myers Brown is looking forward to one company coming to share the Kimmel’s stages with her this season:

"I’m happy to see [Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater] come back, because so many of my former dancers are in the company and I think it’s a world-class company that African Americans can really be proud of -- besides Philadanco, of course!"

La Máquina Del Tiempo

Sept. 26-27, Merián Soto, Conwell Dance Theater, Broad St. and Montgomery Ave., 215-204-1122. This work-in-progress deals with time via improvised dance, music and vintage video. Of course, since it's served up by Soto, there's an underpinning of salsa, albeit highly deconstructed and presented from a progressive perspective.

A Fancy 40th

Oct. 8-12, Pennsylvania Ballet, Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., 215-551-7000. PAB kicks off its 40th season by performing the first ballet it ever put on, "Concerto Barocco," plus perennial favorite "The Four Temperaments," both by Balanchine. On a lighter note, the cast gets footloose with Jerome Robbins' "Fancy Free" (the precursor to Broadway's On the Town).

The Suzanne Farrell Ballet

Oct. 9, Grand Opera House, 818 N. Market St., Wilmington, Del., 800-37-GRAND. In her prime, Farrell was one of George Balanchine's greatest muses. Decades later, she returns the favor: Mr. B's output dominates the repertoire of Farrell's troupe, which specializes in restaging 20th-century masterworks.

Testimony: An Evening of Afro-Modern Choreography

Oct. 17-18, Charles O. Anderson, Conwell Dance Theater. Anderson's background includes studies in modern and jazz dance along with stints in New York's club scene. His highly personal style pulls from all that and more. A canny theatrical performer, put this guy on your "one to watch" list.

Ballet Boyz

Oct. 23-25, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900. Ballet Boyz -- the brainchild of Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt, two blokes formerly with Britain's Royal Ballet -- revels in unconventional choreography firmly steeped in stellar technique. Watch the sparks fly when the dynamic duo presents Russell Maliphant's taut "Torsion."

Dracula

Oct. 30-Nov. 8, Pennsylvania Ballet, Academy of Music, Broad and Locust sts. You vant dark drama vith your ballet? Then come see the tale of the Count in toe shoes. Striking costumes, special effects, an intense score by Franz Liszt plus spine-tingling dance makes this a gloriously wild ride.

Roko Kawai and Sachiyo Ito

Oct. 31-Nov.1, Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St., 215-925-9914. For the past four years Roko Kawai has been studying with Japanese master dancer Sachiyo Ito. This program showcases the fruits of that endeavor with selections that bring classical Japanese gesture into the 21st century.

Winged Woman Dance Co./Zen One Dance Collective

Nov. 7-8, Christ Church, Second and Church sts., 215-634-1505. Modern dance mingles with hip-hop stylings in this program presented by two local up-and-coming companies. WWD, an all-female contemporary dance outfit, presents works by its various members, while Zen One hits the floor with "The Highest Paid Monkey," a multimedia piece featuring dance, music and video by Ron Wood, who ventures beyond his gig as an outstanding member of Rennie Harris Puremovement.

New York Dance Exchange

Nov. 15, Community Education Center, 3500 Lancaster Ave., 215-387-1911. Feel the love as a trio of movers and shakers from the Big Apple's downtown dance scene share the bill with two local independent choreographers.

From the Horse's Mouth

Nov. 20-22, Painted Bride Art Center. Horse's Mouth is a traveling "live documentary" concept that assembles beaucoup local dancers from various generations and genres for an evening of structured improvisation and personal anecdotes. The offbeat format has garnered accolades in New York, San Francisco and Chicago, to name a few spots, so we may expect a memorable event as well.

Philadanco

Nov. 20-22, Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce sts., 215-893-1999. Danco takes a break from its busy world-touring schedule to strut their very fine stuff on native ground.

Krasnoyarsk National Dance Company of Siberia

Nov. 23, Annenberg Center. The soul of Siberia transmitted through ebullient folkloric dance, replete with lavish costumes, live orchestra and fanciful movement.

Parsons Dance Company

Dec. 4-6, Annenberg Center. Parsons may be a serious dance-maker, but he still enjoys a fair dose of playfulness and more than a bit of visual trickery. Here he premieres a piece about the signing of the Louisiana Purchase. An odd theme, perhaps, but in Parson's hands, count on an inventive interpretation of this historical event.

ContempraDance Theater

Dec. 12-14, Painted Bride Art Center. If you're tired of the same old, same old, check out Contempra's "Philly-Nutt-Crak-up," a Philadelphia-centric spoof on The Nutcracker designed to offer holiday cheer in spades. Two more offbeat works round out the program by this company that rides the cutting edge.

The Nutcracker

Dec. 12-31, Pennsylvania Ballet, Academy of Music. The old chestnut, same as it ever was, and that's just the way we like it.

Group Motion

Dec. 20-21, Community Education Center. Philly's longest-running postmodern ensemble premieres a program of new works.