Image of Jessica Lang Dance’s The Calling. Photos courtesy of the Carpenter Center.

Three internationally renowned dance companies are coming to Long Beach to perform at the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center at Cal State Long Beach during its 2017-2018 Dance Series.

The series kicks off Saturday, October 7 with the West Coast premier of Glow from Long Island City-based Jessica Lang Dance. A Juilliard graduate and former Twyla Tharp dancer, Lang’s artistic direction blends contemporary dance and traditional ballet, creating compelling visual experiences that have taken the company to The Music Center, Brooklyn Academy and the John F. Kennedy Center.

Glow, which premiered at the 2017 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, incorporates neon design elements into an uplifting performance. The engagement will also include Lang’s solo, The Calling, as well as Thousand Yard Stare, which was nominated for a 2017 Bessie Award for Outstanding Production.

Image from NW Dance Project.

Described as “one of the hottest dance companies” by WE Vancouver, next up is Portland-based NW Dance Project, with award-winning choreographer Sarah Slipper at the helm. Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway,” Woolf Papers transforms the writer’s words into a rich performance, bringing a “deeply theatrical” contemporary dance to the Carpenter stage on Saturday, November 11.

The series closes with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, “promising to be the funniest night of the ballet one may ever experience,” according to the release. On Sunday, January 21, 2018 the all-male ballet will delight viewers with its unique mix of grand comedy and technical prowess. Emerging out of the New York drag scene in the 70s, the “TROCKS” will return to the Carpenter Center following sold-out shows in 2016 and 2014.

For tickets and more information, visit the website here or call (562) 985-7000.

The Carpenter Performing Arts Center is located at 6200 Atherton Street.

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