The best Philadelphia dance shows coming to Philadelphia this fall (and winter)

After the summer, when most dancers are off (although many perform in festivals and special events), the dance season returns to Philadelphia in full swing in the fall.

It opens with the Mark Morris Dance Group at the Annenberg, bringing a program of work set to American music, and moves into a mostly ballet-focused season. Philadelphia Ballet is transporting us from the United States to artistic director Angel Corella’s native Spain for a program featuring two of his ballets, Carmen and Boleró.

Then it moves on to the most intriguing program of the season, an “Evening of Horror,” as we get closer to Halloween. This includes a Lizzy Borden ballet and a world premiere about a psychological nightmare.

BalletX is marking its 20th anniversary with a look back at the many works it commissioned, as well as a new ballet. Philadanco is also working on the theme of old and new with two favorite works and two new ones.

The season wraps up with some fun: MOMIX is bringing back its inventive Alice in Wonderland-inspired piece, and Philadelphia Ballet is returning to the classic George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.

Mark Morris has performed at the Annenberg many times over the years. This time, he is kicking off Penn Live Arts’ season theme of “American Unfinished,” marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The company is bringing a series of dances that celebrate American music. The program includes two Philadelphia premieres: Pizzica and You’ve Got to Be Modernistic, as well as Three Preludes and Dancing Honeymoon.

$59-$119, 215-898-3900 or pennlivearts.org

Philadelphia Ballet artistic director Angel Corella leaned into his Spanish heritage in the past two years, choreographing Carmen in 2023 and following that up with Boleró in 2024. Creating these pieces from scratch, Corella said, made him realize that he was a choreographer and not just a director who wanted more from existing works. For the season opener, Corella opted to pair up these works, which should bring a program of drama and familiar music from Bizet (Carmen) and Ravel (Boleró).

$20-$276, 215-893-1999 or ensembleartsphilly.org

Just days after Philadelphia Ballet’s Spanish program closes, the company will mark the spooky season with another dramatic program. Its “Evening of Horror” includes Agnes de Mille’s 1948 Fall River Legend, based on the story of Lizzie Borden. It will also feature the world premiere of Valley of Death, by the company’s resident choreographer, Juliano Nunes. Set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Sergei Rachmaninoff, the ballet describes Valley of Death as a masked ball that turns into a psychological nightmare.

$20-$271, 215-893-1999 or ensembleartsphilly.org

BalletX is turning 20 this year and is celebrating with two programs featuring a retrospective of its works. It specializes in commissioning new work, so the Oct. 29-Nov. 2 program will include pieces from its first decade, while Nov. 2-9 will feature work choreographed in its second decade. The second program will also include a new piece, a world premiere by Keelan Whitmore.

$65-$90, 215-225-5389 x250 or boxoffice@balletx.org

Shadow Cities is a world premiere and co-commission among the Annenberg’s Penn Live Arts and several other organizations. Set to the original music by Grammy-winning jazz pianist Arturo O’Farrill, it will feature Ephrat Asherie Dance’s mix of street and club dance styles and focus on cultures, identities, and generations, and how we are both fixed and in flux.

$51-$101, 215-898-3900 or pennlivearts.org

The Metropolitan Ballet Academy is celebrating 30 years of training dancers, many of whom wind up with ballet careers. To open its season, its affiliated Metropolitan Ballet Company will be performing its take on the classic fairytale ballet Cinderella at Abington Friends School. Part of its family concert series, this performance is appropriate to all ages.

$25 adults, $20 children, 215-663-1665, metropolitanballetacademy.com

Philadanco has been bringing Black dance to audiences in Philadelphia and around the world for more than 55 years. For its winter residency at the Kimmel Center, it is performing a program called “Then & Now.” It will feature two existing works: Donald Byrd’s Everybody (from 1996) and Tommie Waheed-Evans’ With(in)verse (from 2018). The program will also include two new works, a company premiere by Ronald K. Brown and a world premiere by Juel D. Lane.

$43-$63, 215-893-1999 or ensembleartsphilly.org

MOMIX always has a quirky, fun take on whatever they perform, and its 2022 Alice, based on Alice in Wonderland, was especially popular. The company is bringing it back to the Annenberg to close out 2025.

$51-$101, 215-898-3900 or pennlivearts.org

No December would be complete without the Nutcracker, and few ballet companies let the season pass without performing it. Philadelphia Ballet is bringing back the George Balanchine classic for nearly a month’s worth of performances.

$28-$282, 215-893-1999 or ensembleartsphilly.org