Dance in New York: Critics' picks

[Note: Queen of Hearts returns in February for an encore run, with Lindsay Rose in the title role.] Lewis Carroll's trippy Alice in Wonderland books have inspired many theatrical spectacles, but Company XIV's seductive Queen of Hearts is a singular sexcess: a transporting fusion of haute burlesque, circus, dance and song. Your fall down the glamorous rabbit hole begins upon entering the troupe's louche Bushwick lair, where scantily clad server-performers slink about in flattering red lighting. A cursory knowledge of the source material will help you make sense of the show’s three-act cavalcade of Alice-inspired routines, as our blue-haired heroine embarks on an NC-17 coming-of-age journey under the guidance of the White Rabbit. As usual, Company XIV impresario Austin McCormick has assembled an array of alluring and highly skilled artists, who look smashing in Zane Pihlstrom's lace-and-crystal-encrusted costumes. A contortionist emerges in an S/M-vinyl cocoon and transforms into a beauteous butterfly; mustachioed twins, as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, perform a cheeky spin on the Marx Brothers' mirror trick. As the title royal, voluptuous vocalist Storm Marrero rules over all in her stunning 11-o'clock number. With its soundtrack of pop songs, attractive ensemble cast and immersive aesthetics—plus chocolate and specialty cocktails—Queen of Hearts feels like Moulin Rouge! for actual bohemians. Hell, it even has a cancan. Like Alice, you may resist returning to reality when...

Rockaway Beach's annual outdoor dance festival returns for its 11th year with another free outdoor offering. In this year's edition, mounted at Beach 112 Street, choreographer Kim Brandt takes cues from the coastline and the horizon line to explore the ways in which our notions of boundaries are built on sand.

The forbidden love between a poor scholar and an aristocratic girl—who dresses up as a boy, Yentl–style, to study at an all-male academy—is the subject of this original full-length work, inspired by Chinese folklore and choreographed by Hong Kong Ballet choreographer-in-residence Hu Song Wei Ricky. The music is by Tian Mi, and the libretto is by associate choreographer Mai Jingwen. Audiences can expect a physically impressive staging along with beautiful dancing: The sets and costumes are by Tim Yip, who won an Oscar for designing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.