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Have time for only one NYC Event today? Do This:

Guangzhou Ballet
NYS Theater, Lincoln Center / 1PM, $50+
“China Arts and Entertainment Group Ltd. (CAEG) returns to the David H. Koch Theater with two ballet productions, Carmina Burana and Goddess of the Luo River, performed by the Guangzhou Ballet. Winner of 42 international awards and 159 national awards, Guangzhou Ballet is one of the most outstanding artistic performance organizations in China.

Carmina Burana is the most complete and artistic medieval poem ever known. The Guangzhou Ballet’s contemporary version of ballet Carmina Burana is not a classical ballet in the usual sense, but an exploration and attempt of ballet and medieval poetry, aiming at the perfect integration of medieval poetry and music.

Goddess of the Luo River was recomposed by Peter Quanz based on violin concerto of Composer Du Mingxin. The music style features eastern classic appeal, establishing the emotional atmosphere of the whole play with dance music driving the plot forward like floating clouds and flowing water.” (nyc-arts.org)

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7 OTHER TOP NYC EVENTS TODAY (see below for full listing)
>> Azar Lawrence Experience
>> Michael Feinstein: I Happen to Like New York
>> Bill Frisell
>> Love, Noël: The Letters and Songs of Noël Coward
>> BALLET FESTIVAL
>> The Tiki Throw Down 2019

You may want to look at previous days posts for events that continue through today.

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Music, Dance, Performing Art

Azar Lawrence Experience (Aug.15-18)
Jazz Standard, 116 E. 27th St./ 7:30PM, +9:30PM, $30
“The fulsome tenor and soprano saxophonist Azar Lawrence doesn’t disguise his admiration for John Coltrane—his bona fides include work with the Coltrane associates Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner—but a fondness for earthy R. & B. has earned him his own loyal following; his seventies recordings, including “Bridge Into the New Age,” are widely regarded as essential listening. Here, he performs with Experience, his fortified septet, which includes the guitarist Julian Coryell, the son of the fusion pioneer Larry Coryell.” (Steve Futterman, NewYorker)

Michael Feinstein: I Happen to Like New York (Aug.7-23)
Feinstein’s/54 Below / 7PM, $85+
“The popular and polished standard-bearer of American song returns to the club that bears his name for a three-week run devoted to tunes that celebrate New York City; the set includes a salute to the masterfully ebullient singer-pianist Bobby Short, who defined the champagne wing of cabaret in his four-decade run at the Café Carlyle. Feinstein is joined by special guests Melissa Manchester (August 15–20) and Jackie Evancho (August 21–23).” (TONY)

Bill Frisell (Aug.13-18)
at the Village Vanguard / 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.; $35
“The venerable crossover guitarist, famous for his luminous folk-jazz fusions, settles into a two-week residency at the Vanguard. Expect magic: His 2016 performances at the venue resulted in a live album, Small Town, released the following year. At this year’s stay, he’s sure to play from Harmony, his upcoming (and first) release with Blue Note Records. During week one, (Aug 6–11), Frisell will fire up a blazing trio, with Thomas Morgan on bass and Rudy Royston on drums; the second week, they’re joined by special guest Greg Tardy on saxophone (Aug 13–18).” (TONY)

Love, Noël: The Letters and Songs of Noël Coward (Aug.14-18)
Irish Repertory Theatre / 8PM, $45-$50
“The Noël Coward touch was always a light one. His music scampers like a mouse; his lyrics bounce like balloons. In his plays, even suffering has an upward tendency. But when his work is excerpted and performed by others, that glancing quality can turn coy and saccharine, as it sometimes does in Barry Day’s two-handed cabaret Love, Noël.

Reading from Coward’s letters and covering nearly two dozen songs, cabaret stars Steve Ross and KT Sullivan pay Coward tribute. Sometimes Ross, the longtime king of café cabaret, is his own tuxedoed self, and sometimes he’s pretending to be Coward; an amused-seeming Sullivan takes on all the women. (She does a great, gloomy Marlene Dietrich.)” (TONY)

BALLET FESTIVAL
at the Joyce Theater / 2 p.m. $85+
“Over the past couple of weeks, artists associated with Britain’s Royal Ballet have been taking turns curating programs for the Joyce’s annual midsummer gift to balletomanes. The fourth and final one belongs to the adventurous principal dancer Edward Watson. His lineup will begin with four short works — all duets and solos — by the choreographers Wayne McGregor, James Alsop, Laila Diallo and Javier de Frutos; the pieces will be performed by Watson, his Royal Ballet colleague Sarah Lamb and the former New York City Ballet dancer Robert Fairchild. Following the intermission, the three will come together in Arthur Pita’s “Cristaux” and will be joined by the City Ballet principal Maria Kowroski.” (NYT-Brian Schaefer)