Free dance

Lincoln Center Out of Doors

River to River Festival
Within the sprawling (in terms of both geography and events) River to River Festival, you’ll find several top-notch dance performances. Merce Cunningham Dance Company showcases a new site-specific work, with live music by Merce Cunningham himself, in honor of his 90th birthday (August 1, 2). As part of the Sitelines festival, Jonah Bokaer and Judith Sanchez Ruiz team with visual artist Daniel Arsham for the premiere of Untitled Corner (July 20–23, 27–30). And then there’s American Ballroom Theater, a competition like a kids’ version of a Dancing with the Stars-like. Watch as director Pierre Dulaine, the inspiration for the film Take the Lead, oversees a ballroom contest with students from NYC public schools (June 20). Times and locations vary; rivertorivernyc.com.

Lincoln Center Out of Doors
The dance component of this diverse performance festival includes Hip-Hop Generation Next, a rowdy evening of B-boy culture featuring dancers and martial artists from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Seoul, as well as a rap group from Sierra Leone (August 6); works by Ben Munisteri Dance Project and Dendy Dancetheater (August 15); and a 25th-anniversary program from Urban Bush Women with Afro-Spanish flamenco vocalist Buika (Aug 20). Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center (lcoutofdoors.org, 212-875-5766).

SummerStage
It’s not all about bands at this annual crowd magnet: Christopher Wheeldon unveils his splendid company Morphoses, in a new ballet featuring music by Martha Wainwright. Central Park SummerStage (212-360-2777, cityparksfoundation.org). Aug 14, 15.

—Gia Kourlas

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