NEW YORK THEATRE BALLET TO PRESENT FIRST PERFORMANCES AT

HISTORIC JUDSON CHURCH WITH

LEGENDS & VISIONARIES: POSTMODERN DANCE AT JUDSON CHURCH

April 25 & 26, 2025

WORKS BY TRISHA BROWN, DAVID GORDON, AND JAMES WARING 

PAY TRIBUTE TO JUDSON CHURCH POSTMODERNISM

ALL SEATS $30

Paying tribute to the groundbreaking Judson Church choreographers who radically pushed the boundaries of what dance could be, New York Theatre Ballet (NYTB) presents Legends & Visionaries: Postmodern Dance at Judson Church, Friday, April 25 at 7:00PM and Saturday, April 26 at 3:00PM. New York City’s Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village saw the birth of postmodern dance in the early 1960’s. Nearly 60 years later, New York Theatre Ballet brings postmodern dance home in two performances.

In its first performances at the historic Judson Church, NYTB will present infrequently performed works by David Gordon, Trisha Brown, and James Waring whose experimental work served as a precursor to Judson Church performances. NYTB’s program will feature the Company Premiere of Trisha Brown’s Spanish Dance, David Gordon’s A Plain Romance Explained/Keith’s Solo and Beethoven/1999, and a revival of James Waring’s An Eccentric Beauty, Revisited. Douglas Dunn’s Roses (1990) and Amanda Treiber’s Sideslip complete the program.

“Revisiting the choreography of the Judson Church legends is not simply an artistic endeavor—it is a nudge to remember a time when choreography was more than a radical shift in dance, it was an act of artistic rebellion that paralleled political and social upheavals of the moment,” said NYTB Artistic Director Steven Melendez. “Our nudge is a small, but necessary call for resistance to today’s increasingly perilous political climate. These are important works in the dance canon, and I’m excited to share them with audiences.”

All tickets for NYTB’s Legends & Visionaries: Postmodern Dance at Judson Church are $30 (plus fees). A pre-show cocktail party at 1:30pm on Saturday, April 26, hosted by NYTB’s Young Professional Committee, benefits New York Theatre Ballet and its programs. Cocktail party tickets, which include the 3pm performance, are available at $60.

About New York Theatre Ballet

New York Theatre Ballet performs small classic masterpieces and new contemporary works for adults and innovative hour-long ballets for young children, all at affordable prices. The mission is carried out in the work of the Professional Company, its New York Theatre Ballet School, and its LIFT Community Service Program. Together, these divisions reach adults and family audiences across the country, building a love for dance and diverse audiences for the future. Since 1978, NYTB has produced, for adult and family audiences, dozens of classic masterpieces, and contemporary ballets. Its roster includes dances by Frederick Ashton, Merce Cunningham, Agnes de Mille, José Limón, and Antony Tudor. NYTB has appeared with The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall to sold out audiences and has performed at dance venues such as Danspace Project, Jacob’s Pillow, Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, and New York’s City Center. Founded by Artistic Director Emerita Diana Byer, NYTB has earned national acclaim for its restoration and revival of small masterworks by great choreographers and for its innovative hour-long ballets based on children’s literature. In August of 2022, NYTB veteran company member Steven Melendez succeeded Byer as Artistic Director.