Garth Fagan Dance, the Rochester company of the Tony-winning choreographer behind Broadway's The Lion King, brings its 55th season to the Joyce Theater on Eighth Avenue for six performances, Wednesday, November 4 through Sunday, November 8. The program pairs two works by Garth Fagan, including one that has not been seen in New York City since 2001, with two pieces getting their New York premieres.

The company's style mixes modern and post-modern dance with Afro-Caribbean movement and ballet. This season honors Fagan, now the company's Distinguished Artistic Director Emeritus, who received the 2025 Bessie Award for Lifetime Achievement and won a Tony Award for his choreography for Disney's The Lion King.

What is on the program

  • Prelude: Discipline is Freedom, one of Fagan's foundational works for the company.
  • Never Top 40, also by Fagan, returning to a New York stage for the first time since 2001.
  • Priestess Hill, a New York premiere by Norwood (PJ) Pennewell, the company's artistic director.
  • Messages To The Storm, a New York premiere by Natalie Rogers-Cropper, the company's executive director. The Joyce notes that this piece uses strobe lights.

The evening runs 1 hour and 40 minutes, including an intermission.

The schedule, and two special performances

  • Wednesday, November 4 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Thursday, November 5 at 7:30 p.m., followed by a Curtain Chat, a free conversation after the show with the company's artistic leaders or dancers.
  • Friday, November 6 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, November 7 at 2 p.m., the Family Matinee, and again at 7:30 p.m.
  • Sunday, November 8 at 2 p.m.

The Saturday afternoon Family Matinee is the Joyce's program for young audiences. Children's tickets are discounted when bought with and accompanied by an adult paying full price, and kids receive their own program, called a KidsBill, with a word search. After the show, families can meet the dancers, ask for autographs and take photos. All ages are welcome at family matinees, and every person entering the theater needs a ticket, including small children sitting on a lap.

Tickets

The Joyce prices its seats in four tiers, and tickets start at $17. A limited number of $17 and $27 seats are set aside for each performance in the first two rows of the house, where the view is partial. Members of the dance community who sign up for the Harkness JoycePass program can buy $10 tickets. Anyone buying tickets to four or more different companies at the same time can save 25 percent through the Joyce's Choose Your Own Subscription.

Tickets are sold on the Garth Fagan Dance performance page and through the Joyce box office at 212-242-0800.

What comes next at the Joyce

The fall season continues after the Fagan company leaves. GALLIM, the company founded by Andrea Miller, follows November 11 to 15 with new works by Miller and its first commissioned piece by another choreographer, former company member Sean Howe. Complexions Contemporary Ballet, directed by Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, comes next, with its own Curtain Chat on November 18 and a family matinee on November 28.

Getting there

The Joyce Theater is at 175 Eighth Avenue, at the corner of West 19th Street. The closest subway stops are the C and E at 23rd Street, the 1 at 18th Street, and the A, C, E and L at 14th Street and Eighth Avenue. The Joyce asks theatergoers to arrive early, since all bags are searched at the door.

Garth Fagan Dance performs November 4 to 8: weeknights at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. The Curtain Chat follows the Thursday, November 5 show, and the Family Matinee is Saturday, November 7 at 2 p.m.

Sources