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By Rush Johnston
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Published on May 8, 2026
*AXIS Dance Company;Photo:Sachyn Mital©Lincoln Center
* Photo Description of Cover Photo: A group of six performers fills the stage. One performer kneels low at left, holding two clear umbrellas. At center, multiple performers support another performer lifted horizontally through the air with arms extended. Confetti is scattered across the floor. - The work photographed is Natasha Adorlee's" Exquisite Corpse" Photo: Sachyn Mital, © Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Artistic Director: Nadia Adame
Executive Director: Danane Rees
Rehearsal Director: Joel Brown
Engagement Manager: Alannah Martin
Accessibility Artist :Octavio Rose Hingle
Production & Touring Manager: Aurelia Langseth
Dancers :A(laj)a Badalich, Anna Gichan, Julie Hasushi, JanpiStar, Isaiah Newby, Hannah Westbrook
Lighting Designer Walter Holden
Patterns
Welcome // Choreographed by Sonya Delwaide and Nadia Adame // Composed by Michael Wall
Electric Fish: bring my dead body to the surface // Choreographed by Christopher Unpezverde Núñez
Composed by Alfonso "Poncho" Castro, Designed by Branden
Right Here, Right Now (film) // Choreographed by Kayla Hamilton and directed by Natasha Adorlee
Composed by Michael Wall
Exquisite Corpse // Choreographed by Natasha Adorlee // Composed by Michael Wall
Costume design by David Calhoun and Josue Villeda
April 17-18, 2026
Since its inception in 1987, AXIS Dance Company, a pioneering integrated dance company, has advanced the field through artistry and innovation. AXIS collaborates with disabled, non-disabled, d/Deaf, and neurodiverse artists using visibility and advocacy to challenge ableist bias towards dance and dancers. This April, AXIS Dance Company performed at Lincoln Center for the first time, presenting Patterns, a collection of four new works that demonstrated technical prowess, emotional range, and choreographic complexity.
"Welcome", Choreographed by Sonya Delwaide and Nadia Adame- Two performers stand back-to-back on a dark stage marked with tape lines. Both wear white button-down shirts and dark pants with neckties. One performer supports themself with a cane angled to the floor. Their knees are bent, and bodies lean slightly away from each other, creating a mirrored, grounded stance under cool blue lighting; Photo: Sachyn Mital, © Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Patterns opens with Welcome, which, at first, appears to be a typical introductory speech given by AXIS's artistic director, Nadia Adame. However, Adame is joined by Canadian choreographer Sonya Delwaide, who spends the first half of the piece attempting to distract and divert Adame from her remarks. Delwaide, successful in her mission, convinces Adame to relinquish her words and partner her in a gestural duet. This rethinking of the typical welcome speech sets the tone for an evening of surprise and reconsideration of concert dance convention.
"Welcome", Choreographed by Sonya Delwaide and Nadia Adame- Two performers in white shirts and ties move closely together. One performer with a cane bends at the waist, while the other wraps an arm around their shoulders. Their heads angle toward each other with gentle smiles, and their bodies form an intertwined diagonal shape against a dark background. Photo: Sachyn Mital, © Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
In a conversation with Adame before the show, she said, "I don't like to go to performances where they present the same vocabulary, the same type of movement, or the same kind of structure. I always try to push the limits…I want to be exposed to something that I have never been exposed to. So we start the show with a little surprise."
Following Welcome comes Electric Fish: bring my dead body to the surface by Christopher Unpezverde Núñez. In a trancelike state, four dancers repeatedly move in a cross pattern designated on the stage by panel lights above. There are variations on this theme as the phrase work builds, but driving drums and repetitive movements establish a baseline for Unpezverde Núñez's world. The dancers' gestures are quick yet smooth, often resembling a school of fish; however, several defining moments disrupt this flow, evoking ceremonial and even somber tones. Intensity, created through duration and rhythm, brings the piece from the feeling of daydream to the sense of immediate and profound presence.
Pictured here "Electric Fish: bring my dead body to the surface" by Christopher Unpezverde Núñez-Four performers stand in a staggered triangle formation on the left, arms lifted overhead with wrists flexed downward in a sculptural pose. One performer remains seated in a wheelchair at the far right. Costumes include masks, sleeveless tops, shorts, and long socks, arranged in alternating colors and textures against a purple-lit backdrop. Photo: Sachyn Mital, © Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Following intermission, the film Right Here, Right Now, directed by Natasha Adorlee and choreographed by Kayla Hamilton, is screened. In a part dance-film, part documentary-style, the dancers answer questions such as "What can I know about you?" and "What do you want me to notice?" They move through open landscapes in unison and duet, physically embodying the stories they share. The film creates an intimacy with the dancers that audiences of concert dance don't usually experience.
Pictured: Natasha Adorlee's "Exquisite Corpse"-Three performers appear mid-action against a dark backdrop. One performer on the left in a wheelchair turns slightly sideways towards center. Another performer arches backward with arms open near the center, while a third performer on the right kneels, hands reaching upward to support the arched figure. The trio are all wearing neutral-toned costumes in varied layers; Photo: Sachyn Mital, © Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Closing the show is Natasha Adorlee's Exquisite Corpse, a dance theater work that showcases each performer's unique dramatic abilities. Pairing whimsy with drama, the full company takes to the stage performing heightened states of human emotion and physicality. Dressed in costumes reminiscent of court jesters, complete with ruffled collars, the dancers parade through the space with gusto. Masterful feats of contemporary partnering, flexibility, and strength enhance the piece's performative nature. Though confetti rains throughout the work, an undercurrent of contempt is also present.
Pictured: Natasha Adorlee's "Exquisite Corpse"-Two performers in wheelchairs face each other while holding clear umbrellas overhead. Confetti falls through the air around them, scattering across the stage floor. Both umbrellas are tilted outward, creating intersecting arcs under orange and purple lighting; Photo: Sachyn Mital, © Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Forming a line downstage and projecting their energy directly into the dark house, all but one of the dancers remove their jester's collars, seeming to find liberation from the confines of their performativity. At last, they can breathe freely. One dancer, Anna Gichan, however, keeps her collar on, seeming to cling to tradition and the known, until, at the last moment of the piece, she too sheds her ruffles to take a breath of fresh air. She moved from a space of complacency into action, but in her own time. Particularly impactful are the emotional risks taken by dancers JanpiStar, Alaja Badalich, and Gichan, who shape Exquisite Corpse with intensity and commitment in every breath.
Pictured: Natasha Adorlee's "Exquisite Corpse"-Six performers stand evenly spaced across the stage, some standing, kneeling, and some seated in wheelchairs. Strong backlighting projects large, soft-edged shadows of the performers onto the backdrop behind them; Photo: Sachyn Mital, © Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
AXIS Dance Company not only challenges biases and moves the field forward for disabled dancers, but also conceives bright, new perspectives on dance for all. Adame says, "We've been working on this for a long time… trying to push the level of our artistry so that we can be considered a mainstream company." Collaborators choose to work with AXIS for the company's inclusive mission and the group's well-established artistic merit. AXIS continues to shift the narrative around access and artistry, and they've done so triumphantly here on the world-renowned Lincoln Center stage.
