
Next Wave 2025
Part of Fall 2025
For over four decades, Next Wave has stood as a declaration of what BAM believes in: presenting revolutionary works by groundbreaking artists to curious audiences. Showcasing local, national, and global creators whose work spans—and fuses—dance, music, performance art, theater, visual art, and more, Next Wave offers a panoramic view of contemporary innovation—and illuminates the shared ideals and inspirations that bring artists and audiences together.
This year’s Next Wave features iconic artists whose work BAM has celebrated many times over, along with newer talents whose work will define the decades to come. More than a festival, more than a series of events, Next Wave is a state of mind—and a community completed by you, the audience.
Thank you to our Fall and Next Wave 2025 season supporters.
For over four decades, Next Wave has stood as a declaration of what BAM believes in: presenting revolutionary works by groundbreaking artists to curious audiences. Showcasing local, national, and global creators whose work spans—and fuses—dance, music, performance art, theater, visual art, and more, Next Wave offers a panoramic view of contemporary innovation—and illuminates the shared ideals and inspirations that bring artists and audiences together.
This year’s Next Wave features iconic artists whose work BAM has celebrated many times over, along with newer talents whose work will define the decades to come. More than a festival, more than a series of events, Next Wave is a state of mind—and a community completed by you, the audience.
Thank you to our Fall and Next Wave 2025 season supporters.
ON SALE DATES
Thu, May 15 at 1pm ET
BAM Members and Patrons
Thu, May 22 at 1pm ET
General Public
BAM Members and Patrons get first access and save 20% on tickets through June 30, 2025
Thu, May 15 at 1pm ET
BAM Members and Patrons
Thu, May 22 at 1pm ET
General Public
BAM Members and Patrons get first access and save 20% on tickets through June 30, 2025
October
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Music
Natalia Lafourcade
Sat, Oct 11, 2025
Natalia Lafourcade
Sat, Oct 11, 2025Next WaveCelebrated Mexican singer-songwriter, composer, producer, and activist Natalia Lafourcade fuses beloved traditional Latin idioms with a modern sensibility for her stripped-down, intimate Cancionera tour. -
Dance
Dambudzo
Oct 8—Oct 9, 2025
Dambudzo
Oct 8—Oct 9, 2025Next Wave“Rock star of downtown dance” (Dance Journal) nora chipaumire combines sound, painting, sculpture, and performance in a fearless, immersive experience confronting colonial legacies. -
Dance
What Is War
Oct 21—Oct 25, 2025
What Is War
Oct 21—Oct 25, 2025Next WaveEiko Otake and Wen Hui weave a complex tapestry of language, movement, and video, excavated from recollections of war, political upheaval, and their aftermath. -
Theater
LACRIMA
Oct 22 & 24—26, 2025
LACRIMA
Oct 22 & 24—26, 2025Next WaveIn this sprawling theater piece, a Parisian fashion house receives an extraordinary commission, and a fascinating story unfolds across continents and generations. -
Dance | Theater
Martha@BAM—The 1963 Interview
Oct 28—Nov 1, 2025
Martha@BAM—The 1963 Interview
Oct 28—Nov 1, 2025Next WaveRecreating a 1963 interview between the iconic choreographer Martha Graham and dance critic Walter Terry, Richard Move embodies Graham live on stage, evoking her indomitable spirit. -
Visual Art | Performance Art
Franklin Furnace's 50th Anniversary
Oct 2025—Jan 2026
Franklin Furnace's 50th Anniversary
Oct 2025—Jan 2026Next WaveFranklin Furnace, a crucial downtown New York arts space and archive currently based at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, is the subject of a gallery show marking its 50th anniversary in 2026.
November
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Dance | Music
Optimistic Voices
Nov 5—Nov 8, 2025
Optimistic Voices
Nov 5—Nov 8, 2025Next WaveJuliana F. May creates thrillingly elaborate cycles of song, text, and movement from the wreckage of difficult experience, probing the intractable contradictions of family, eroticism, and motherhood. -
Poetry | Music | Film
I Guess It Was My Destiny To Live So Long
Nov 18—Nov 22, 2025
I Guess It Was My Destiny To Live So Long
Nov 18—Nov 22, 2025Next WaveCurated by Hanif Abdurraqib, a constellation of artists, writers, and performers activate BAM’s spaces, illuminating the truths of our moment via poetic imagination. -
Theater | Music
FOR REAL
Nov 19—Nov 23, 2025
FOR REAL
Nov 19—Nov 23, 2025NEXT WAVECombining in-depth social reporting with original music, this theatrical radio show probes the intellectual undermining of women confronted with sexism, and invites audience members to add their voices.
December/January
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Dance | Film | Theater
For All Your Life
Dec 3—Dec 7, 2025
For All Your Life
Dec 3—Dec 7, 2025Next WaveChoreographer Leslie Cuyjet investigates the value of Black life and death in a performance, film, and social experiment that draws upon the life insurance industry for method and metaphor. -
Theater | Music | Opera
What to wear
Jan 15—Jan 17, 2026
What to wear
Jan 15—Jan 17, 2026Next WaveRichard Foreman and Michael Gordon’s raucous post-rock opera is remounted for the first time in two decades, directed by Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar.