Dance: fancy footwork for fall – Premieres, international festivals, and boundary-pushing performances

“If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” –Emma Goldman

Fortunately, dance in abundance fills the Bay Area’s fall arts season, so join the dance, dance revolution, with a mix of new works and returning favorites from both local and touring companies. From contemporary and experimental pieces to classic ballets reimagined for today’s stage, our expansive calendar reflects our diverse artistic voices and our appetite for movement innovation. For full arts and nightlife listings every week, see Going Out .
Smuin Contemporary Ballet
Smuin launches its 32nd season with a triple bill that includes Alejandro Cerrudo’s “Extremely Close,” which layers movement with stark visual design and music by Philip Glass and Dustin O’Halloran. Three-time Tony Award-winning choreographer Justin Peck’s “Partita,” set to Caroline Shaw’s Pulitzer Prize-winning score, arrives on the West Coast after its 2022 debut with New York City Ballet. Rounding out the program is Artistic Director Amy Seiwert’s “A Long Night,” a work that reimagines Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” through a contemporary and humorous lens.
Sept. 12–Oct. 5, $34–$119, Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts; Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek; Blue Shield of California Theater at YBCA, San Francisco. http://www.smuinballet.org

Alonzo King LINES Ballet
Following a highly successful international tour, Alonzo King’s masterwork “Deep River” returns to San Francisco, featuring a haunting score that blends Black spirituals and Jewish liturgical music. Named one of Pointe Magazine’s standout works of 2024, “Deep River” showcases LINES’ supremely gifted artists in a series of expansive, interwoven movement phrases that explore ideas of hope, resilience, and connection. Sept. 18–21, $42–$135, Blue Shield of California Theater at YBCA, 700 Howard St., San Francisco. http://www.linesballet.org

Deborah Slater Dance Theater
Deborah Slater Dance Theater presents the premiere of “Shout in the Dark: A Guide to Hope and Good Grief,” a work that examines how communities create hope during difficult times. The piece combines movement, text by playwright Eugenie Chan, music by Beth Custer, and collaborative contributions from the performers themselves, all shaped under Slater’s direction. Sept. 19–Oct. 5, $25–$50, Studio 210, 3435 Cesar Chavez St., San Francisco. http://www.deborahslater.org

 A Taste of Ireland
Following its West End debut, “A Taste of Ireland” brings a highly entertaining mix of Irish dance and live music to stages across the Bay Area. The production, praised for its athletic choreography and musical energy, includes traditional and contemporary Irish styles, along with percussive tap sequences, and vocal numbers. Sept. 25–Oct. 5, $62-$100, Fox Theatre, Redwood City; Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa; Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium.
http://www.atasteofirelandshow.com

   
Paris Opera Ballet
One of the world’s most revered dance companies, rarely seen in the U.S., Paris Opera Ballet presents the North American premiere of “Red Carpet,” a lavish new full-length work by choreographer Hofesh Shechter. The piece features an original score co-composed by Shechter and Yaron Engler, performed live, and costumes designed by Chanel. These performances mark the company’s only West Coast engagement on its U.S. tour. Oct. 2–4, $50–$175, Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley. http://www.calperformances.org

Flyaway Productions
Look up! “Down on the Corner” is a multidisciplinary aerial work presented outdoors near the site of the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, one of the first documented protests of police violence against queer people in the U.S. The piece incorporates aerial choreography, music by Melanie DeMore, and film by Leila Weefur, with a cast of nine queer, transgender, and female dancers. The project reflects on the history of transgender resistance while imagining future possibilities for the Tenderloin neighborhood. Oct. 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11, free/no reservation required, southeast corner of Turk and Taylor St., San Francisco. http://www.flyawayproductions.com

PUSH Dance Company
PUSHfest returns for its 20th anniversary with four diverse programs featuring new works by Raissa Simpson and Ashley Gayle and guest choreographers including Yayoi Kambara, Thomas F. DeFrantz, and PUSHLab. Performers include dancers from a variety of Bay Area companies including dazaun dance (Oakland), Xochipilli Dance Company (San Francisco), The Modern Natya Company (San Francisco), and others. Oct. 4–5, $20–$55 ($100 festival pass); CAST Black Box Theater, 447 Minna St., and 5M Park, 44 Mary St., San Francisco.
http://www.pushdance.org/festival

   
San Francisco Dance Film Festival
The San Francisco Dance Film Festival returns with 18 curated programs ranging from documentaries and screendance to performance captures and music videos. LGBTQ-themed films include “The Dancer,” which traces the extraordinary journey of gay artist Ahmad Joudeh, from a refugee camp in Damascus to the world’s most prestigious ballet stages; “Wicket,” a documentary about a global breakdancing icon who spent decades hiding his true identity; and the 7th Annual “Raising Voices” program, nine films blending movement with poetry, testimony, and activism to spotlight a spectrum of lived experiences. Oct. 24–Nov. 9; ticket prices vary, multiple San Francisco venues and online. http://www.sfdancefilmfest.org/festival

 
Dimensions Dance Theater
“The Reclaiming: Healing to Joy Part 2” is the centerpiece of Dimensions Dance Theater’s fall home season in Oakland. The program combines new choreography with excerpts from previous works, exploring joy as resistance and collective healing. The program includes Haitian drumming, live vocals, and a finale featuring David Elliot, aka DJ Fuze. Oct. 25–26, $15–$35, Valley Center for the Performing Arts, 3500 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. https://dimensionsdance.org

Giordano Dance Company
Chicago’s iconic Giordano Dance Company, known for its pivotal role in shaping and redefining American jazz dance since its founding in 1962, makes its San Francisco debut. The program includes “Gershwin in B: A Tribute to the Music of George Gershwin,” along with other works from the company’s repertory. Oct. 25, $55–$88, Presidio Theatre, 90 Moraga Ave., San Francisco. http://www.presidiotheatre.org

Alonzo King LINES Ballet: Origins
Directed by Drea Cooper, “Origins” is a spectacular new film that offers an inside look at the creative process of Alonzo King and his company as they work together to create King’s “Deep River” (on stage at YBCA Sept. 18-21). Filmed across striking locations including the Arizona desert and the SFMOMA galleries, the film weaves site-specific performance footage with interviews and personal reflections. Nov. 1, $22.50, Wattis Theater at SFMOMA, enter at 147 Minna St. http://www.linesballet.org

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Antony Gormley, Szymon Brzóska with the Monks of Shaolin Temple
Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui collaborates with sculptor Antony Gormley, composer Szymon Brzóska, and 20 Buddhist monks from China’s Shaolin Temple in “Sutra.” The work combines martial arts with contemporary dance and live music to create a series of visually striking, physically astonishing vignettes that has drawn raves around the world. Nov. 8 & 9, $43–$120, Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley. http://www.calperformances.org

Reyes Dance
The fifth edition of the company’s “Dance Thrill Fest” brings Halloween-themed short dance films by Bay Area artists to the Roxie Theater. The event, co-produced with the San Francisco Dance Film Festival, features newly commissioned works by 18 Bay Area artists. Attendees ages 18 and up are encouraged to dress in costume. Oct. 31, $18–$70, Roxie Theater, 3125 16th St.
http://www.dancethrillfest.com

 
San Francisco International Hip Hop DanceFest
One of the Bay Area’s most anticipated annual events, the International Hip Hop DanceFest, curated by Micaya, returns with companies and artists from the U.S. and abroad, showcasing styles such as hip hop, krumping, waacking, and threading. This year’s lineup includes groups from Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, North Carolina, Oakland, and San Francisco. Nov. 8 & 9, $60.95–75.45, Palace of Fine Arts, 3601 Lyon St. http://www.sfhiphopdancefest.com

   
MOMIX
MOMIX, internationally known for its unique brand of visual theater that fuses dance, illusion, and acrobatics, returns to Zellerbach Hall with “Alice,” a hallucinatory spin on the classic tale by Lewis Carroll. Created by MOMIX founder Moses Pendleton, “Alice” transforms Carroll’s characters into a series of surreal, shape-shifting tableaus that blur the line between reality and dream. Nov. 29–30, $35–$92, Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley. http://www.calperformances.org