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...

The venerable American Ballet Theatre celebrates its 85th birthday with six weeks of full-length ballets at the Met. The summer season begins and ends with the beloved Tchaikovsky bird calls of Swan Lake (June 10–14 and July 14–19) and also features the New York premiere of Christopher Wheeldon's The Winter's Tale (July 1–5), adapted from Shakespeare's bittersweet play and set to an original score by Joby Talbot. Also on the schedule are Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works (June 17–20)—a 2015 triptych inspired by the Virginia Woolf novels Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando and The Waves—and the time-honored classics Giselle (June 23–28) and Sylvia (July 8–12). The current roster of ABT principals comprises Joo Won Ahn, Aran Bell, Isabella Boylston, Skylar Brandt, Daniel Camargo, Misty Copeland, Herman Cornejo, Thomas Forster, Isaac Hernández, Catherine Hurlin, Chloe Misseldine, Gillian Murphy, Calvin Royal III, Hee Seo, Christine Shevchenko, Cory Stearns, Devon Teuscher, Cassandra Trenary, James Whiteside and Roman Zhurbin.