Bring Your Curiosity: Introducing the 2017–18 Season of MetLiveArts

«This morning we announced the 2017–18 season of MetLiveArts. This will be my sixth season as general manager of the program, and usually by this time, for most performance series, programming a season becomes much easier because artists have come to know what to expect and there's a steady stream of proposals arriving daily. Fortunately for our audience at The Met, this is not the case with our MetLiveArts series since we practically reinvent ourselves each year. Because we embrace all the performing arts—dance, theater, opera, music, and a thousand years of global performance making—it is hard to pin us down.»

Left: Faustin Linyekula. Photo by Agathe Poupeney

Over the past few years we have laid the groundwork for singular, site-specific dance performances: Nrityagram in the Temple of Dendur, Dance Heginbotham in The Charles Engelhard Court, and Monica Bill Barnes & Company's The Museum Workout just about everywhere else. This year, however, we turn to dance as the main focus of our season.

We have just announced that the daring choreographer Andrea Miller and her company, Gallim Dance, will be in residence this season. Her first performance will be on October 27 when she performs the world premiere of Stone Skipping created for the Temple of Dendur in The Sackler Wing. Her residency will continue throughout the year with pop-up performances, workshops, and open rehearsals.

Gallim Dance. Photo by Ani Collier

The new season opens in September with Congolese dancer and choreographer Faustin Linyekula, who will premiere a revelatory new work created specifically for the Vélez Blanco Patio. Linyekula's choreography always "packs a powerful punch" (Time Out New York), so his commanding presence will make for an inspired exploration of The Met's collection of art from the Kingdom of Kongo and the tumultuous history of his homeland.

Eiko Otake. Photo by Varga Matyas

Then, in conjunction with the seminal city-wide biennial Performa, we present three world premieres by the legendary choreographer Eiko Otake, who will create new pieces of her ongoing work, A Body in Places, for all three of The Met's locations: The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters.

Edgy, unexpected dance continues through December with encore presentations of the audacious and wildly popular Museum Workout by Monica Bill Barnes & Company and Maira Kalman. This inspired romp through the Museum's galleries has developed a cult following, and even sold out multiple performances that had been added to the schedule.

Aizuri Quartet. Photo by Erica Lyn

The 2017–18 Quartet in Residence—the all-female, quick-fire string ensemble Aizuri Quartet—will perform a series of thought-provoking programs that will illuminate the composers featured and provide compelling context for each piece they perform.

Exhibitions continue to spark dynamic programming, and this season chef, author, and restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi returns with Feast of India, inspired by the exhibition Modernism on the Ganges: Raghubir Singh Photographs, which will open at The Met Breuer in October 2017. Ottolenghi will be joined by chef Floyd Cardoz (Tabla, Paowalla) and Madhur Jaffrey, the global authority on Indian cuisine.

Shanghai Peking Opera. Photo by Liu Haifa

For two weekends in September, Shanghai Peking Opera will take over the Astor Chinese Garden Court for a site-specific masterpiece. They will perform their dramatic one-hour production of Farewell My Concubine starring the Chinese opera superstar Shi Yihong.

We hope you join us for the upcoming season of MetLiveArts and explore the full season on our online calendar. See you soon at The Met—and be sure to bring your curiosity.

To purchase tickets to any MetLiveArts event, visit www.metmuseum.org/tickets; call 212-570-3949; or stop by the Great Hall Box Office, open Monday–Saturday, 11 am–3:30 pm.