Spring Arts - Dance is on the move this spring

The arts axis shifted a few degrees, from Avenue of the Arts toward the Delaware riverfront, where the old municipal pump house opened last fall as FringeArts headquarters and year-round performance space. Because producing director Nick Stuccio is a former dancer, it's no surprise that programming is big on dance. But he doesn't hold all the dance cards. Randy Swartz has a winning hand with Dance Celebration at Penn's Annenberg Center. And South Broad hosts Philadanco, BalletX, Koresh Dance, and Pennsylvania Ballet with its new artistic director, incurable charmer Ángel Corella. Despite funding cuts, stalwarts like the Painted Bride and the Community Education Center hang in. And look forward to two major outdoor events in May and June.

- Merilyn Jackson reviews dance for The Inquirer

Pennsylvania Ballet. As Ángel Corella's tenure continues, the winsome workaholic is concentrating on honing his dancers' acting skills: "I want them to feel their characters from within. If they don't convince themselves, they don't convince the audience." The ballet's 51st season opens with Balanchine's The Prodigal Son, Christopher Wheeldon's Polyphonia, and a Matthew Neenan premiere, Shift to Minor (Feb. 5-8). Next, Wheeldon's refreshing 2004 Swan Lake (March 5-15, Academy of Music) followed by A Tribute to Jerome Robbins (May 7-10). June brings company premieres of Larry Keigwin's Canvas and William Forsythe's The second detail, and a world premiere by Nicolo Fonte (June 11-14). tickets.paballet.org

Koresh Dance Company. The often-touring company has a full local schedule. You'll bowl your Valentine over with "Love at the Barnes," six love duets plus champagne, chocolate, and a stroll through the galleries (Feb. 14). www.barnesfoundation.org/programs/february-2015/love. Then the premier of Aftershock at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre (March 26-28). And in midsummer, it produces the Come Together Festival (July 22-26). philadelphiatheatrecompany.org/tickets/buy-tickets.

BalletX. The company scours the world for dance from seasoned choreographers and from hot newcomers - whatever shows off the company's crisp style. Val Caniparoli's Triptych deals with the realities of war; Filipino American Norbert De La Cruz III, 26, creates a world premiere; Spaniard Cayetano Soto's Malasangre gets its U.S. premiere; and Amy Seiwert's 2009 It's Not a Cry is reprised (Feb 18-20). www.balletx.org.

David Dorfman Dance: Prophets of Funk. The socially conscious band Sly and the Family Stone outfunked all the competition. Highly regarded New York choreographer Dorfman focuses on the band for his paean to funk. It's one night only, and Swarthmore offers these events free, without reservations, so be early. Lang Performing Arts Center (Feb. 20). lpacevents@swarthmore.edu.  

FringeArts. You'll see the most innovative dance here. Get ringside seats for Rocco, by ICKamsterdam's - Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten (Feb. 27-28), and Chelsea & Magda's The Vulgar Early Works (Feb. 19-21). Philly choreographer/dancer Megan Bridge collaborates with interactive designer and musicologist Peter Price in the premiere of a staging for five dancers of Dust, the late Robert Ashley's 90-minute experimental opera. (April 16-18). fringearts.com.

Philadanco. It roars back from a monthlong German/Swiss tour with "Having Our Say," a tribute to choreographers Dianne McIntyre, Bebe Miller, Jawolle Willa Jo Zollar, and Camille A. Brown. Artistic director Joan Myers Brown will include a tribute to her friend Mary Hinkson, who died in November. She had been an exquisite channeler of the Graham style (April 17-19). www.kimmelcenter.org

Dance Celebration at Annenberg. Two companies make their Philly debuts: New Zealand's aboriginal Black Grace, which blends traditional movement with contemporary vocabulary and music (Feb. 12-14). Delaware Valley native Jessica Lang's dances are seen on companies worldwide; now Jessica Lang Dance shows them off (March 19-21). From Montreal, RUBBERBANDance Group's mix of hip-hop and ballet rocks Philly every time (April 16-18). Last, the shape-shifting Pilobolus Dance Theater, (May 7-10). www.annenbergcenter.org/tickets/

Turbine. Site-specific virtuoso choreographer Leah Stein and composer Byron Au Yong create an experience with performers and audience moving throughout the entire site at the Fairmount Water Works. The Mendelssohn Club Chorus collaborates with Stein and her eight dancers in artistic director Alan Harler's final performance before retiring. (May 16-17). www.mcchorus.org.

Supper, People on the Move. Five dancers perform choreographer/director Silvana Cardell's large-scale "dinner dance" inside a photo exhibit at the Ice Box Project Space, curated by artist Jennifer Baker: exhibition first, dance second, then supper and conversation about the effects of immigration. One performance will be broadcast on Independence Mall (June 25-28). http://supperdance.com

Temple on Dance. Author of many books on dance, Mark Franko came from the Interdisciplinary Center for Visual and Performance Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is now professor and coordinator of graduate programs in dance at Temple. His colloquia have hosted Marion Kant, author of Hitler's Dancers. This season opens Jan. 27 with Tulane University's Felicia McCarren. Full schedule: www.temple.edu/boyer/dance/RR.

Pasión y Arte Flamenco's "Cosas de Mujeres (Things of Women)." This innovative company is Philly-based and world-class. It modernizes traditional flamenco, often incorporating a narrative (April 10-12), Leonard Pearlstein Gallery at Drexel University. www.pasionyarteflamenco.org.