In most cultures, dance doesn’t exist as a creative realm separate from music. Rather, synchronizing movement and sound is an inextricably linked endeavor that’s experienced as an indivisible creation. While various modern and post-modern Western dance practices sundered the connection (see: Cunningham, Merce) or did away with music entirely (Judson Dance Theater, I’m looking at you), contemporary choreographers seem more eager than ever to work directly with composers and musicians.
The fall dance season is rife with major productions that hinge on musicians and dancers sharing the same space in real time, created by choreographers and players devoted to expanding opportunities for these synergistic collaborations. Jazz, chamber music and pop are all grist for dancemakers looking for the frisson of live interaction on stage. Three of the following programs will offer that thrill.
Smuin Contemporary Ballet “Dance Series 01”: With the news that Smuin just purchased an old Potrero Hill ballroom as a permanent home, the company is kicking off its 25th season on a note of confidence that’s amplified by this program. Set to music by R&B great Etta James, the acclaimed choreographer Trey McIntyre’s “Blue Until June” is the centerpiece of “01,” surrounded by two Michael Smuin favorites (“Schubert Scherzo” and “Eternal Idol”) and new works by company dancers Nicole Haskins, Ben Needham-Wood and Rex Wheeler developed in Smuin’s Choreography Showcase.
Details: Sept. 21-22 at Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek; $25-$81; 925-943-7469, www.smuinballet.org; Sept. 28-Oct. 6 at Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco; $25-$81; 415-912-1899, www.smuinballet.org. The program also comes to Sunset Center in Carmel and Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts in February.
Mark Morris Dance Group “Pepperland — Sgt. Pepper at 50”: Co-commissioned last year by Cal Performances to mark the golden anniversary of the Beatles album, “Pepperland” uses the psychedelic masterpiece as a point of departure. Morris, a choreographer with nonpareil musical instincts, worked with longtime collaborator Ethan Iverson, formerly of the influential jazz trio The Bad Plus, to weave together the pianist’s original compositions and arrangements of the Beatles songs. Morris’ highly versatile dancers perform to the live score delivered by Iverson and a singular cast of musicians, including trombonist/arranger Jacob Garchik.
Details: Sept. 28-30; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $36-$135; 510-642-9988, www.calperformances.org.
Alonzo King LINES Ballet: No Bay Area choreographer has communed more deeply with the musical masters in our midst than Alonzo King, an artist who was forged in a crucible of music as an altar boy in Columbus, Ohio. Over the years, he’s created new works with Zakir Hussain, Pharoah Sanders, Lisa Fischer, Charles Lloyd and Jason Moran. It was only a matter of time before he teamed up with Kronos Quartet, the new music juggernaut that is always game to tackle new frontiers. In celebrating the company’s 35th season, this untitled world premiere is paired with a revival of King’s 2005 Baroque ballet, “Handel.”
Details: Oct. 5-14; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; $39.50-$104.50; 415-978-2787, www.ybca.org.
Nitin Sawhney and Wang Ramirez, “Dystopian Dream”: Stanford Live presents the U.S. premiere of polymathic British composer Nitin Sawhney’s collaboration with the kinetic hip-hop duo of Honji Wang and Sébastien Ramirez, “Dystopian Dream.” Exploring themes of loss, surrender and isolation, it’s a dance theater sojourn through parallel universes and unsettling dreamscapes featuring a vocalist, animated projections, aerial dance and intricately detailed set design.
Details: Oct. 4-5; Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University; $32-$68; 650-724-2464, stanfordlive@stanford.edu.
Sasha Waltz & Guests, “Körper”: On the cusp of starting her co-directorship of the Berlin State Ballet next year, renowned German choreographer Sasha Waltz has revived 2000’s “Körper,” the first piece she created as director of the prestigious Berlin theater Schaubühne. It’s an arresting work, a kaleidoscopic series of tableaux featuring 13 male and female dancers in various stages of undress that use the human body as a pulsing architectural building block.
Details: Oct. 20–21; Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley; $30-$78; 510-642-9988, www.calperformances.org.
Contact Andrew Gilbert at jazzscribe@aol.com.