MIAMI
Touch down in Florida with the rest of the art world (and the art world adjacent) for Art Basel Miami Beach (Dec. 3-6), a whirlwind week of off-shoot art fairs, outrageous parties, and timely exhibitions. For those not in on the invitation-only soirees, here's our shortlist: NADA, the cooler cousin of Art Basel (and the only nonprofit-run art fair) where younger galleries like NYC's Regina Rex and L.A.'s Night Gallery exhibit (Dec. 3–5); Design Miami, where you’ll find the most covetable, collectible design objects and walk under an entryway canopy of 200 pink foam architectural models commissioned from Harvard University Graduate School of Design students (Dec. 2–6); Untitled art fair, which will feature a series of chairs with a "signature poetic phrase" by conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner (Dec. 2–6); and ICA for an exhibition of seminal and new work by video and performance artist Alex Bag, whose critical but often humorous work lies at the intersection of high and low culture (Dec. 1–Jan. 31, 2016).
NEW YORK
The Alvin Ailey winter season in New York City Center kicks off with the world premiere of Awakening, an energetic new work from artistic director Robert Battle that will take the dancers on "a cathartic journey"; the work is Battle's first since he took leadership of the company in 2010. Also making its world premiere: Ronald K. Brown's Open Door, set to the music of Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. Dec. 2–Jan. 3, 2016
Hear all 30 of Bach's Goldberg Variations as you never have before in the Park Avenue Armory's newest commission, Goldberg, from revered performance artist Marina Abramović and pianist Igor Levit: be prepared to rid yourself of all electronics and wear noise-canceling headphones in the "permanent sunset" of the Armory's drill hall. Dec. 7–19
TEL AVIV
Israel’s premier dance company Batsheva Dance presents the otherworldly Bill. Nude unitards and milky contact lenses color this throbbing salute to contemporary movement by star choreographer Sharon Eyal, performed for the first time with former company member—and now director—of L.A.'s up-and-coming, experimental Ate9 Dance, Danielle Agami. Dec. 17–23
TOKYO
The legendary, Nijinsky Prize-winning ballerina Sylvie Guillem, known for becoming the Paris Opera Ballet's youngest-ever étoile in 1984 (she was 19 at the time), finishes out her final tour, Life in Progress, with two powerful new works by Akram Khan and Russell Maliphant. Dec. 16–20
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Grammy winners Steve Martin (music and book) and Edie Brickell (music and lyrics) collaborate on Bright Star, a bluegrass musical about love and redemption in the South, which makes its U.S. debut at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Dec. 2–Jan. 10, 2016
