The Next Wave Festival connects some of the most innovative artists around the world with New York City’s most curious and adventurous audiences. Every autumn, the Festival offers an extraordinary range of contemporary performance, artist talks, literature, film, and visual art that celebrates the creative voices that will be leading us into the future.

Since its inception in 1981, the festival has comprised of exploratory, provocative work, providing New York audiences access to now-renowned artists such as Trisha Brown, Robert Wilson, Meredith Monk, Philip Glass, Lucinda Childs, and Laurie Anderson. The Next Wave Festival has nurtured the careers of many other artists such as Mark Morris, Eiko & Koma, Bill T. Jones, Susan Marshall, Robert Lepage, and John Jasperse. While familiar names now, many were just beginning their careers when they made their Next Wave debuts. The Festival also features emerging artists working in a wide range of artistic disciplines with programs such as Next Wave Art (visual art), Between the Lines (multimedia storytelling), and The Next Director (film).