TWO TO NOTE LATER IN APRIL
- Atlanta Ballet will dance Stephen Mills' adaptation of Shakespeare's "Hamlet," April 11-13 at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, with the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra performing Philip Glass' score. The interpretation by Mills, artistic director of Ballet Austin in Texas, uses contemporary movement and staging to dramatize Hamlet's internal struggle over avenging his father's murder.
Tickets start at $20. 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. 404-892-3303, www.atlantaballet.com.
- The Trey McIntyre Project, the Idaho-based contemporary dance group, makes its final visit to the Rialto Center for the Arts at 8 p.m. April 26.
Final?
Choreographer McIntyre shocked the dance world in January by announcing he would disband the highly regarded troupe, for which he created 22 ballets over a decade, to concentrate on film production, photography and freelance choreography assignments.
The Rialto, which has presented the company three times, has co-commissioned a dance by McIntyre inspired by the life of illustrator-writer Edward Gorey, “The Vinegar Works: Four Dances of Moral Instruction.” It will be performed in the farewell program.
$34-$44 (half price for students, arts professionals). 80 Forsyth St., Atlanta. 404-413-9849, www.rialtocenter.org.
HOWARD POUSNER
Every spring, once time springs forward, Atlanta’s dance scene does much the same.
With Mouse King and other “Nutcracker” costumes settled in mothballed hibernation, local and visiting troupes leap toward more challenging fare.
This week offers especially diverse and intriguing choices, including a couple merging dance with theater, for audiences moved by movement. Plus, we note two other performances later in April to consider for your calendar.
Pilobolus at Ferst Center
Named for a farm fungi that spreads with alarming speed, Pilobolus continues to plow the fertile fields of contemporary dance more than four decades since the ensemble’s founding. The Connecticut-based company of shape-shifting artists will perform at 8 p.m. April 5 at Georgia Tech’s Ferst Center for the Arts.
The five-work program will include “Automaton” (2012), a collaboration with Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui that questions the difference between human and machine; and “Esc” (2013), created in collaboration with magicians Penn & Teller, which explores ideas of fantasy, athleticism and escape.
Tickets, $39-$49, $22 children. 349 Ferst Drive, Atlanta. 404-894-9600, www.ferstcenter.org.
Theater Emory and Emory Dance in ‘Free/Fall’
Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner’s 2012 jump from a 24-mile-high balloon capsule was the inspiration for “Free/Fall: Explorations of Inner and Outer Space,” a collaboration between Theater Emory and Emory Dance premiering April 3 on Emory University’s campus.
The production features a company of 16 professional and student dancers, actors, writers and risk-takers who explore the always-in-motion cosmos.
Theater Emory artistic director Janice Akers leads the project, along with choreographers and dance faculty Lori Teague and George Staib.
Through April 13. Tickets, $20. Mary Gray Munroe Theater in Dobbs University Center, 605 Asbury Circle, Atlanta. 404-727-5050, www.arts.emory.edu.
‘Maurice Hines Is Tappin’ Thru Life’ at Alliance Theatre
A man who would seem to the tap shoes born, Maurice Hines at 70 has a lifetime of stories to share about his life onstage, including memories of his talented late brother and dance partner Gregory. He shares many of them in this breezy show, opening April 2, which features more charming storytelling and Rat Pack-style crooning than slick moves by Hines.
“He’s an old-school entertainer, the life of the party,” the Washington Post said in its review of the show when it stopped at Arena Stage late last year. “He wants to make you smile, and he won’t take ‘no.’”
“Tappin’ Thru Life” nods to the future of tap by featuring the Manzari Brothers from Washington and 10-year-old Atlanta tapper Leilani Negron. The all-female Diva Jazz Orchestra supplies the music.
Through May 4. Tickets, $30-$75. 1280 Peachtree St., Atlanta. 404-733-5000, www.alliancetheatre.org.
Georgia Ballet premieres ‘Four Seasons’
After a year at the helm of this Marietta troupe, French-born Alexandre Proia has experienced personal changes amid Atlanta’s changing seasons.
Thus, the Georgia Ballet artistic director, who danced with Boston Ballet, New York City Ballet and the Martha Graham Dance Company, said “The Four Seasons” speaks to him.
“I have endured all of the physical changes of the seasons as well as personal changes, growth and struggles brought on by new adventures and challenges,” he said.
Set to Max Richter’s score, Proia’s interpretation will be performed at 8 p.m. April 4-5 and 2 p.m. April 6.
Tickets, $20-$30. Marietta Performing Arts Center at Marietta High School, 1171 Whitlock Ave., Marietta. 770-528-0881, www.georgiaballet.org.
GloATL visits Paradise Garden
In a fitting union of visionary artists, choreographer Lauri Stallings’ gloATL outfit will perform at the late Rev. Howard Finster’s northwest Georgia folk art environment Paradise Garden at 6:30 p.m. April 5.
The Atlanta dance/performance troupe has been creating works tailored to the communities hosting “Inspired Georgia,” a touring exhibit of 28 pieces from the State Art Collection.
In Summerville, gloATL will do “community mapping” (seek local inspiration) at Trade Days, an outdoor flea market boasting everything from live chickens to stuffed upholstery and rusty toys to Civil War relics. It takes place twice weekly along the short stretch between downtown Summerville and the creek-dissected 2.5-acre site in the Pennville community that Finster turned into a spirit-stoking roadside attraction.
Paradise Garden’s new visitor center is hosting “Inspired Georgia,” including works by Finster, Benny Andrews, Lucinda Bunnen and Nellie Mae Rowe, through April 17.
Under intensive restoration since 2012, the garden is inviting visitors to the performance and to tour the exhibit and art environment for free.
“It’s like free Museum Days,” said Jordan Poole, executive director of the nonprofit Paradise Garden Foundation. “We want the community to come and see that improvements have been made.”
In a related development, an outdoor mural by Nevada artist Erik Burke, curated by Atlanta’s Living Walls, will be going up across from Summerville’s downtown railroad station.
Free. Paradise Garden, Rena and North Lewis streets, Pennville. 706-808-0800, www.paradisegardenfoundation.org. GloATL is offering a round-trip bus trip departing at 3 p.m. (suggested donation: $12 to $75): gloatl.org.
