Just Do Art!

Founded in 1977 by Hulda Bittencourt — and having recently performed in Thailand and Germany — Sao Paulo Brazil’s Cisne Negro Dance Company returns to The Joyce with a special opening night guest appearance by ABT principal Marcelo Gomes (who will share the stage with the dynamic young violinist Charles Yang, playing Paganini’s famed “Caprice”). The Company will perform works by choreographers Dany Bittencourt, Gigi Caciuleanu, of Romania, Vasco Wellenkamp and Rui Moreira. Cisne Negro (“Black Swan” in Portuguese) will open in a manner befitting their name (Gigi Caciuleanu’s “Swan’s Lament,” in which a flock of swans, dancing to Andre Mehmari’s variations on the Saint-Saens theme, will escort audience members to their seats). The program concludes with “Flock.” It was created by National Ballet of Chile director Gigi Caciuleanu — who recently noted, “My idea was to combine two of Stravinsky’s works, both of them based on the concept of Fire: Firebird and Fireworks into a single work called Birds in Flight.”

Aug. 15-20. Mon.-Wed. at 7:30pm; Thurs. & Fri. at 8pm; Sat. at 2pm and 8pm). At The Joyce Theater (175 8th Ave., at W. 10th St.). For tickets ($10-30), call 212-242-0800 or visit joyce.org. Also visit cisnenegro.com.br.