Performance Garage Open House Jeanne Ruddy and co. invite you to a very unusual open house. A $10 donation entitles you to an evening of exciting experimental dance and music by six companies: Alchemy Dance Company, DDL Dance Works, Infatuation Dance Company, RenZoku Dance Works, Somatic Movers and Tangle Movement Arts. Jan. 13, Performance Garage, ruddydance.org.
Brian Sanders' Junk MOMIX, Koresh, Junk, Cirque du Soleil and Pilobolus will do their thing, but this Snowball event is as much party as performance. Everything Sanders does is inventive and fun. Jan. 21, Hamilton Hall, briansandersjunk.com.
Inbal Pinto & Co. Oyster, the master work of Israeli Inbal Pinto and the Avshalom Pollak Dance Company, turns the stage into a wonderland of wandering circus performers, poetry, ballet, modern dance, comedy and mime. Expect the surreal. Feb. 9-11, Annenberg Center, annenbergcenter.org.
Pennsylvania Ballet's Messiah Yes, Handel's glorious music has been made a ballet with choreography from Robert Weiss (former PAB artistic director, now with the Carolina Ballet). The music soars, the audience sings, and the dancers float on the music. March 8-17, Academy of Music, paballet.org.
BalletX More new work from one of the most intriguing experimental troupes in the city. Includes a world premiere by Jodie Gates (formerly of Penn Ballet, now doing experimental dance in Southern California), Largo by Edwaard Liang and The Last Glass from Matthew Neenan. April 18-22, Wilma Theater, balletx.org.
Pennsylvania Ballet's Peter Pan Featuring choreography (and spectacular flying sequences) by Trey McIntyre and music by Sir Edward Elgar. A ballet for young, old and in between. May 2-13, Academy of Music.
