Armitage Gone! Dance: A Pandemic Notebook

Karole Armitage's 1970s grounding in the work of George Balanchine and Merce Cunningham has let her take off in multiple directions since, from her "punk ballerina" phase in the 1980s to the video for Madonna's "Vogue" and the 2009 Broadway revival of Hair. This engagement, part of what is to be her company's final season of new works by Armitage, explores a look at her creative endeavors during the pandemic period. Its first section, Beautiful Monster and Louis, is a diptych about celebrity, fashion and power. Its second section, which makes connections between filmed and live dance, includes the world premieres of Head to Heel and Andy, as well as Time/Times, in which Armitage herself performs—for the first time since 1989—with former City Ballet principal Jock Soto. Dancers are tricked out with devices that trigger sound through motion in the experimental 6 Ft. Apart. A nod to designer Marc Jacobs's 2021 fall collection concludes the program in style.