Emily Coates To Premiere TELL ME WHERE IT COMES FROM At The Guggenheim In November
The world premiere, commissioned by Works & Process, will explore the legacy of George Balanchine through movement, archives, and collaboration.
By: A.A. Cristi Oct. 14, 2025
Dancer, writer, and choreographer Emily Coates will present the world premiere of Tell Me Where It Comes From on Sunday, November 23, 2025, at 7 p.m. in the Peter B. Lewis Theater at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1071 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY). The performance is commissioned by Works & Process.
Inspired by George Balanchine’s brief but influential 1933 stay in Hartford, Connecticut, the project traces archival remnants of his presence throughout the northeastern United States. Drawing from her own experience as a former member of New York City Ballet, Coates collaborates with director Ain Gordon, performer and co-creator Derek Lucci, violinist and composer Charles Burnham, pianist Melvin Chen, lighting designer Krista Smith, and costume designers Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung to construct an interdisciplinary meditation on legacy, movement, and memory.
Blending choreography, text, and historical research, Tell Me Where It Comes From assembles lost ballets, letters, photographs, and fragments of music to examine the spark that drives artistic creation. A post-performance reception will follow in the Guggenheim rotunda.
About Emily Coates
Emily Coates is an acclaimed dancer and choreographer whose career spans New York City Ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project, Twyla Tharp, and Yvonne Rainer. Her choreography has been commissioned by Danspace Project, Performa, Ballet Memphis, and Baryshnikov Arts Center, among others. She is a professor at Yale University and co-author of Physics and Dance with physicist Sarah Demers.
Videos