FLAMENCO FESTIVAL 2010 WITH NOCHE FLAMENCA AND GALA FLAMENCA TODO CAMBIA | Opera House | February 5-6 | Two great back-to-back flamenco events warm the winter, with Noche Flamenca starring Soledad Barrio — the iconoclastic diva who simply tore down the house last season — on Friday night and a mix-it-up gala, "Everything Changes," on Sunday to introduce a new generation of exciting innovators from Spain's flamenco scene headlined by dancers Pastora Galván, Manuel Liñán, Belén López, and Rocío Molina.
539 Washington St, Boston | $40-65 | 617.876.4275 or www.worldmusic.org
BLACK GRACE DANCE COMPANY | Paramount Theatre | March 12-14 | Neil Ieremia returns with his hypnotic, Samoan-and-Maori-inspired postmodern dance troupe in a retrospective of 15 years of Black Grace's muscular, explosive work, with excerpts of dances inspired by traditions from Samoan tattooing and the folklore of New Zealand's indigenous peoples. The performance takes place in the newly restored Paramount Theatre.
560 Washington St, Boston | $44-$54 | 617.482.6661 or www.celebrityseries.org
AFRICAN CROSSROADS | Springstep | March 13 | Visiting Ghanaian dancer Nani Agbeli joins traditional and contemporary musicians Cornell "Sugarfoot" Coley and the Sugarfoot Band, musical poet Regie Gibson with Neon Juju, and surprise guests in this celebration of African diaspora and Afro-Caribbean culture. Stay afterward for the Afro-Latin dance party.
98 George P. Hassett Drive, Medford | $22 advance; $25 doors | 781.395.0402 or www.Springstep.org
DANIEL MCCUSKER DANCE PROJECTS | Green Street Studios | March 12-13 | This Boston choreographer's quietly crafted work reveals the emotional undertow shimmering just beneath the surface of abstraction — with movement material that ranges from the "highly organized to the seemingly random." McCusker's new sextet for a troupe that includes some of Boston's best freelancers shares a program with Roundelay, the duet he created for Audra Carabetta and Brian Crabtree.
185 Green St, Cambridge | $15-$20 | 617.864.3191 or www.greenstreetstudios.org
STEPHEN PETRONIO COMPANY | Institute of Contemporary Art | March 19-21 | The sweeping storms of extreme weather, both emotional and atmospheric, give a special impetus to the velocity behind the dancing in downtown New York dancemaker Stephen Petronio's I Drink the Air Before Me. A-list art-world collaborators for this 25th-anniversary-season engagement fit right into the ICA's mission statement, given that the costumes are by ironic, disguise-mad photographer Cindy Sherman and Adam Kimmel and there's a commissioned score by young Philip Glass collaborator Nico Muhly. The articulate choreographer will be on hand for an informative public interview 45 minutes before each performance.
100 Northern Ave, Boston | $40 | 617.876.4275 or www.worldmusic.org
