WHEN:
June 12 - July 26, 2025
TICKETS:
For more information and tickets visit the American Dance Festival website.
A spokesperson describes the event as follows:
2025 Performance Schedule
Dancing with Bob: Rauschenberg, Brown and Cunningham Onstage with special guest
Paul Taylor Dance Company
June 12 at 7 pm and June 13* at 7:30 pm
Reynolds Industries Theater, Durham
Trisha Brown Dance Company will showcase the works of iconic 20th-century artists in an evening of dance featuring Rauschenberg's visual designs, including Brown's Set and Reset and Cunningham's Travelogue, a comedic masterpiece rarely seen since 1979. 3 Epitaphs by Paul Taylor features a parade of faceless, gray-leotarded dancers set to early New Orleans jazz, creating a humorous yet brilliant exploration of posture and gesture. In Tracer, Paul Taylor combines refined elegance with simplicity, while Rauschenberg’s spinning bicycle wheel adds an amusing touch of anti-utilitarian art. The piece is an austere, experimental work where movement unfolds independently of the wheel’s presence, showcasing a playful yet thoughtful blend of gesture and décor.
Passion Fruit Dance Company
June 14* at 7:30 pm and June 15 at 3 pm
Jones Auditorium at Meredith College, Raleigh
ADF-Commissioned World Premiere | ADF Debut
Co-Presented by Meredith College
Passion Fruit Dance Company invites you to experience an immersive and interactive art exhibition version of Dimensions. This multi-disciplinary theater work blends street/club dance, body casting, motion capture, projections, animation, live music, live painting, and photography. Centered around perception shifts, Dimensions stimulates critical conversations by exploring the physical, spiritual, and spatio-temporal intricacies of multiple dimensions. Through this multimedia-infused performance, the artists engage audiences in a dynamic exploration of complex and evolving perspectives.
Made in NC
June 18 at 7:30 pm
Reynolds Industries Theater, Durham
ADF-Commissioned World Premieres | ADF Debuts
Co-Presented by Cary, NC
The Made in NC program features the world premiere of four ADF-commissioned works by North Carolina artists. In 2022, Alejandro Cerrudo was appointed artistic director of Charlotte Ballet. Born in Madrid, Spain, his career includes work with Victor Ullate Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater 2, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Gerri Houlihan has been on the faculty of ADF since 1981 and currently teaches at ADF’s Samuel H. Scripps
Studios in Durham. She received ADF's Balasaraswati Joy Anne Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching and served as Co-Dean and Dean of the ADF School from 2010 to 2015. Norberto “Betto” Herrera, an Ecuadorian immigrant, founded the Mambo Dinamico Dance Company in 2002 and now teaches Afro-Latin dance at Carmen's Cuban Cafe in North Carolina. He has been recognized for his contributions to dance and culture, including
receiving the 2020 Arts and Culture Diamante Award and working with prestigious institutions like the Nasher Museum of Art and North Carolina Symphony. Tanu Sharma, a dance artist and choreographer from India, has taught dance to all ages and participated in various cultural outreach programs and lecture demonstrations. She has been involved in fundraising events, including Dancing with the Carolina Stars at the Carolina Theatre of Durham and supporting the Two Cents of Hope student organization at NCSU. An encore outdoor performance will take place at Downtown Cary Park on September 19.
Pilobolus
June 20* at 7:30 pm and June 21 at 3 pm
Page Auditorium, Durham
Immerse yourself in the dynamic universe of Pilobolus, where the human experience unfolds through breathtaking grace, acrobatic power, and unparalleled artistry. Experience visionary collaborations, the return of one of the most physically astounding works in the company’s canon, plus Pilobolus’s interpretation of Martha Graham’s Lamentation, created in celebration of Graham100 and the Lamentation Variations project. Since 1971, Pilobolus has captivated audiences worldwide with its innovative blend of athleticism, artistry, and imagination, pushing the limits of human physicality while leaving a lasting imprint on popular culture with over 120 pieces performed in 65 countries.
Tommy Noonan, Jassem Hindi, and Frank Mugisha/Culture Mill
June 21* & June 22 at 1 pm
von der Heyden Studio Theater, Durham
ADF-Commissioned World Premiere
How To Be A Visitor interweaves three simultaneous live performances on three continents into a transnational tapestry of sound, poetry, and movement. As six dancers, poets, and musicians grapple with how their different bodies move across various strange and familiar landscapes, their respective audiences are invited to consider all that they do and do not hold in common.
Anna Sperber
June 25* at 7:30 pm, June 26 at 5 pm & 7:30 pm
von der Heyden Studio Theater, Durham
ADF Commission | ADF Debut
We are beacons. Our dance is tenderness. It is the joy and complications of youth and aging. It is holding on. It is tethering. Traversing patterns that unfold over time, reaching exhaustion, and then resisting that limit. How do we simultaneously experience change and stay continuously present? Beacons, choreographed by Anna Sperber, is described by The New York Times as "immediately compelling" and "wonderfully strange," exploring themes of movement, connection, and endurance through both youth and aging. Performed by Tim Bendernagel, Owen Prum, Zo Williams, and Sperber, with music by Lea Bertucci and lighting by Madeline Best, it delves into change, support, and the complexities of being present.
Ballet Hispánico
June 27* at 7:30 pm and June 29 at 3 pm
Page Auditorium, Durham
CARMEN.maquia reimagines Bizet’s legendary opera through bold and contemporary movement exploring themes of identity, power, and rebellion. Directed by Eduardo Vilaro and choreographed by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, this production unveils Carmen as a complex, defiant figure—untamed and deeply human. Set on a minimalist stage inspired by Picasso’s love of Carmen, the dancers merge ballet, flamenco, and paso doble into fluid, striking forms. Costumes by Spanish designer David Delfin embrace understated whites, recalling flamenco’s origins while rejecting tradition. This is Carmen as you’ve never seen her before—timeless, bold, and fiercely relevant.
Forces of Nature Dance Theatre
July 1* & 2 at 7:30 pm
Reynolds Industries Theater, Durham
An evening with Forces of Nature Dance Theatre is a powerful journey through light and darkness, where ancient legacies come alive through rhythm and movement. It’s a celebration of the human struggle for balance, healing, and consciousness—expressed through the universal language of dance. In this kinetic space, past, present, and future collide in the now as passion, joy, sorrow, love, and desire move together. Divinity becomes one, and diverse dance, music, and rhythm forms unite to stir the soul. Featuring timeless repertoire, this is a night to remember—where the unseen and seen merge, lifting the spirit with hope and connection as dance and audience become one.
Luke Murphy’s Attic Projects
July 3 & 5 at 5 pm, and July 4 & 6 at 12 pm
von der Heyden Studio Theater, Durham
ADF Debut
Luke Murphy’s Attic Projects brings four-time Irish Times Theatre Award winner Volcano to ADF this summer. In a liminal space, a living room in disrepair, a room without a door, two exasperated characters recreate the greatest hits of old lives: a night at a rave, a favorite game
show, an 80s music video, passing the time or quietly clinging to distant memories of a life out of reach. As the narrative unfolds the deeper precarity of their circumstances comes to focus leading the audience through a fever dream of questions and upended assumptions. Presented across four, forty-five-minute episodes, Volcano blurs the lines of experimental theater, contemporary dance, and a sci-fi thriller in live performance made for the Netflix era.
Miguel Guiterrez
July 9*, 10*, & 11* at 7:30 pm
von der Heyden Studio Theater, Durham
ADF Commission
What can a dance do to confront the constant grief that we experience in our lives? Super Nothing presents four dancers whose explorations are analogs for how people support each other to survive. Interdependence takes multiple forms, as the performers move through representations of the past to create a blueprint for a new future. This piece extends Gutierrez’s interest over the past few years in creating “choreography for the end of the world.”
Footprints
July 12 at 7:30 pm and July 13 at 3 pm
Reynolds Industries Theater, Durham
ADF-Commissioned World Premieres
The Footprints program bridges ADF's performance and education series, featuring three ADF- commissioned world premieres by renowned choreographers and performed by ADF students. This year’s choreographers are Ravid Abarbanel, Michelle N. Gibson, and Tú Hoàng. Abarbanel, an Israeli/Portuguese dancer and choreographer, teaches dynamic floorwork and improvisational classes worldwide. Gibson, an ADF alum and 15-year faculty member, specializes in African Diaspora dance styles and her own New Orleans Second Line Aesthetic. Hoàng, the founder of Hangtho Creatives, blends ballet, modern dance, kung fu, tai chi, and Hip- hop, reflecting his Vietnamese heritage and European experiences in his choreography.
Alonzo King LINES Ballet
July 16* & 17 at 7:30 pm
Reynolds Industries Theater, Durham
ADF Debut
Deep River premiered May 13, 2022, as part of LINES Ballet’s 40th anniversary season. Over the first two years of the pandemic, Alonzo King and the artists of LINES worked in confined bubbles at their studios, in outside grassy areas of Golden Gate Park, on a farm in the isolated desert of Wickenburg Arizona, and in other locales to build work and not be halted or harmed by the pandemic. Deep River results from three years of working in designated time periods in unusual settings. Choreographer Alonzo King says that the work reminds us that “love is the ocean that we rose from, swim in, and will one day return to”—and that love can set us free.
Limón Dance Company
July 19* at 7:30 pm
Page Auditorium, Durham
ADF Commission
Limón Dance Company presents Scherzo, an energetic, athletic dance of four men and a drum tossed between them, a compelling exploration of rhythm and movement, and Two Ecstatic Themes, choreographed by Doris Humphrey. New commissions inspired by lost pieces include J o i n, choreographed by Aszure Barton, and The Quake That Held them All, choreographed by Kayla Farrish and commissioned by ADF. J o i n was inspired by José Limón’s description of Doris Humphrey’s lost piece, Orestes. Through intricate movement, virtuosic partnering, and innovative music, they reimagine Limón’s legacy while bridging eras of groundbreaking craftsmanship. The Quake That Held them All is inspired by Limón's lost 1951 piece created during his residency in Mexico City, which was re-choreographed and renamed in 1952. It reflects on traditions, rituals, and the stories of communities rooted in radical care and expression.
makegroup
July 22, 24, & 26 at 7:30 pm and July 23 & 25 at 5 pm
ADF’s Scripps Studios, Durham
ADF Debut
Step into the evocative world of Group Therapy, an immersive dance-theater experience where movement and language intertwine in a quest for understanding ourselves and one another. Guided by a former dance teacher turned self-certified Experimental Experiential Dance Therapy Theatre Therapist, you’ll join a session like no other—one where bodies speak louder than words, time-outs are transformative, and the act of naming unnamed feelings becomes an art form in itself. Using a DIY aesthetic and a hearty dose of humor, Group Therapy creates a world where we all attempt to get “better”—whatever that means. Leah Cox is the co-creator, co- producer, and performer of Group Therapy, as well as the co-founder of makegroup. In addition to her work in creating and performing, Cox is a nationally recognized educator and served as the Dean of the ADF School from 2015 to 2022.
Bulareyaung Dance Company
July 23* at 7:30 pm
Reynolds Industries Theater, Durham
ADF Debut
Luna explores the truest form of man. Choreographed by Bulareyaung Pagarlava, dancers trek and search in the mountain mist under the moonlight, singing soul-guiding chants while demonstrating a pure body gait of labor. Pagarlava and the dancers went deep into the mountains in central Taiwan, to learn how to survive in mountainous forests in the Luluna village of the Bunun tribe in Nantou County. They collaborated with the Luluna Bunun Choir and sang ancient Bunun chants, which have been listed as a Cultural Heritage in Taiwan. From daily chants to the “exploit-boasting” acts of traditional hunters, they incorporate dance arts into the Bunun culture to reflect the tradition, reflect the contemporary, and allow dancers to explore and return to their inner selves.
Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and Paul Taylor Dance Company
July 25* at 7:30 pm and July 26 at 5 pm
Page Auditorium, Durham
ADF-Commissioned World Premiere
The Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC) and Paul Taylor Dance Company will (PTDC) close out the ADF season with a shared program that marks a significant milestone, as both companies are stepping outside of their traditional repertory. DCDC will perform Paul Taylor’s 1975 masterpiece Esplanade, a vibrant exploration of human movement, takes pedestrian actions—walking, running, falling—and elevates them to virtuosic heights. Set to the soaring music of Bach’s violin concertos, Esplanade unfolds in five distinct sections, each a testament to Taylor's choreographic genius. From its deceptively simple beginnings to its breathtaking finale of dancers fearlessly careening across the stage, the work captures the essence of human experience with raw athleticism and emotional depth. PTDC will perform Ulysses Dove’s Vespers, a mesmerizing piece originally crafted for DCDC in 1986. Vespers celebrates sisterhood through the athleticism and grace of six female dancers, driven by Mikel Rouse's electronic score. Combining faith and abstract movement, the piece captivates with its precise, repetitive choreography and emotional intensity. The work has traditionally been performed by African American repertory companies. This cross-exchange highlights the companies' commitment to innovation and cultural exchange, making it a truly momentous performance. To conclude the evening, the festival has commissioned internationally acclaimed choreographer and ADF alum Amy Hall Garner to create a groundbreaking new work for both DCDC and PTDC—an unprecedented collaboration. Garner is known for creating innovative works across ballet, modern, and theatrical genres. She will develop the piece during residencies in Dayton and New York City, with a final creative week at ADF before its world premiere on
their shared program. The work will then be featured and toured in both companies' repertories.
