From flamenco in Albuquerque to jazz in Taos, a guide to the visionary venues and companies shaping New Mexico’s performing arts scene now.
If you’re a performing arts fan in the Land of Enchantment, you probably frequent some of the state’s landmark venues like the Santa Fe Opera, Popejoy Hall, or the historic (and certifiably wacky) KiMo Theatre. If live music’s your thing, you’ve surely hit Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, the Sunshine and El Rey Theaters in Albuquerque, or the still-nascent Blossoms & Bones Festival in Abiquiú (and you probably miss the divey stylings of Albuquerque’s now-defunct Burt’s Tiki Lounge.)
But like New Mexico’s expansive artistic talents, our wily performing arts scene simply cannot (and will not) be contained by a handful of established venues. Whether you’re looking for dance, live music, theater, or something different altogether, outstanding artists and the spaces that love them are always popping up somewhere new. Consider this list a tasting flight of some of the state’s most active, visionary, and diverse performing arts offerings right now.
National Institute of Flamenco
Albuquerque
For nearly half a century, the National Institute of Flamenco has been the U.S. hub for the art of flamenco. An unusually elite program for the chronically underfunded yet proudly scrappy Albuquerque art scene, the institute’s innovative productions honor the history of the form while also exploring its infinite flexibility. Its tentpole programs Yjastros: The American Flamenco Repertory Company and the annual Flamenco Festival incorporate international talent into local works while also touring locally trained performers all over the world. Their elite performers nurture the artistic growth of students not only through the kind of youth programming offered by many theater and dance repertories, but also through a first-of-its-kind flamenco MFA program at the University of New Mexico. In this way, witnessing one of the National Institute of Flamenco’s many performances is not just primo entertainment, but a glimpse into an enduring ecosystem of dance history flourishing in our very backyard.
Saints Ball
Albuquerque
For the past seven years, the enterprising drag troupe Saints Ball has been steadily turning everywhere in Albuquerque into a possible performance venue. Building their dynasty out of monthly shows at queer nightlife staples like the Albuquerque Social Club and S4200 (AKA Sidewinders Bar and Grill), this band of queens, clowns, and creatures has made vital inroads for drag at New Mexico restaurants, cultural events, art institutions, and fashion shows.
Loosely organized around and by long-term collaborators Allison Saint and Kayla Chingada (AKA make-up artist Steven Sanchez), Saints Ball is a porous and inclusive collective of performers that fluctuates in number but never in dynamism. You can count on Saints Ball to give you the raunchy jokes, outrageous looks, big emotions, and playful audience bullying of any good drag show. But more importantly, their long-term commitment to being their creatively heightened selves absolutely anywhere asserts the rightful place of drag artistry in the pantheon of New Mexico performing and visual arts. And in a time when trans and Latinx communities are being relentlessly targeted, protecting and celebrating the arts leadership of Saints Ball only becomes more important.
Sandstone Amphitheatre at Lions Wilderness Park
Farmington
Picture this: you’re looking out onto a New Mexico vista of undulating sandstone cliffs set against endless blue skies. You hear the faint jingling of a disc golf basket and the grind of dirt bikes. Suddenly, you’re hit with the infectious opening strains of… is that the musical Grease? This isn’t a fever dream, it’s a production by Four Corners Musical Theatre Company at Farmington’s iconic Sandstone Amphitheatre. Nestled in Lions Wilderness Park, this unique venue is home to more traditional outdoorsy leisure activities alongside crowd-pleasing works of musical theater produced by professional as well as local youth companies. The venue boasts all the scenic delights of the Santa Fe Opera, but instead of contemplating SFO’s contemporary re-envisioning of The Magic Flute in the original German (opening July 4), you’re scream-singing along to “Summer Nights.”
Rio Grande Theatre
Las Cruces
New Mexico is home to dozens of funky historical theaters, some of which are whimsical holdovers from America’s Route 66 boom. Raton has Shuler Theater. Silver City has Silco Theater. Nearly every city in the state, large and small, boasts at least one, eleven of which have been restored in the past decade through the New Mexico MainStreet program. These enduring spaces are eye-catching gems in their communities, and largely serve as local landmarks and/or movie theaters. However, fully operational historical theaters are still a rarity outside of Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and Las Cruces’s Rio Grande Theatre, which is celebrating its 100th year, is one of these special exceptions. In addition to its regular programming of local cabaret, open mic nights, filmmaker hangouts, and old movie screenings, the venue is a frequent host to the Blank Conversations Theatre Company, which brings diversified theatrical experiences to Southern New Mexico. So plan your next road trip around New Mexico’s historical theaters, with Rio Grande Theatre as your grand finale.
Dancing Earth Creations
New Mexico + California
Dance in studios and theaters? Too obvious for contemporary troupe Dancing Earth Creations, for whom the outdoors is the ultimate stage, collaborator, and influence. While some of their performances and workshops appear in more traditional spaces from time to time, their rigorous land-body movement practice deepens artist and audience relationships with the earth, regional history, and each other. Based in California and New Mexico, the company pops up across the Western United States and Latin America, with recent New Mexico programs in Española, Peñasco, Taos, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Abiquiú, among others. This summer, they will return to Northern New Mexico for their three-part program Confluence, open to ※anyone called to movement as a way of knowing.” Intriguing!
Incite Shakespeare Company
Santa Fe
Known as the International Shakespeare Center prior to their 2023 rebrand, the Incite Shakespeare Company is singularly committed to all things Shakespeare. They produce plays, yes, but also promote deep textual analysis, train youth and novice actors, archive works for radio, and host dramatic readings in breweries. They even secured the key archival loan for the New Mexico Museum of Art’s 2016 exhibition First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare. For the uninitiated, all this effort on behalf of a long-dead playwright a world away from his home might seem odd, but ISC sees their work as a way to reflect on contemporary issues deeply and in community. Perhaps most powerfully illustrated by artistic director Ariana Karp’s work as a teaching artist in prisons as part of the Shakespeare for Social Justice program, there are demonstrable social benefits to engaging deeply with the gender, power, and emotional play in Shakespearean dramaturgy. So check them out sometime. You never know what art will incite in you (get it?).
Museum of Indian Arts & Culture
Santa Fe
Though many dances indigenous to the Americas are reserved for ceremony and relatives, New Mexico is privileged to have a number of trusted contexts in which broader audiences are invited to witness the breadth and depth of Native performance. These include weekly performances at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and the many Pueblos that welcome one and all during feast days throughout the year. Relatively new among these offerings (now in its fifth year), is the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture’s Native Dance Series. Throughout the summer months, this series of events showcases the living cultural traditions of dance groups from the Southwest and beyond on the expansive Milner Plaza. Culminating in the Youth Hoop Dancing Championship, which draws extraordinary young hoop dancers from around the country, this monthly program celebrates the enduring artistry of countless generations. So be sure to make the trek up Museum Hill for these special events this summer, and don’t forget to BYO chairs.
Santa Fe Noise Ordinance
Santa Fe
A web search for this program mostly turns up the City Different’s various fines for partying too loud too late, and you know you’ve got something avant-garde if Google doesn’t know what you’re talking about. Since its founding in 2023 by sound artists Theo Krantz and Luna Galassini, this series of experimental sound and performance art events has quickly become an enthralling, if mysterious, staple of New Mexico’s performing arts scene. Bringing together one-night-only combinations of local and touring talent, SFNO productions are just as likely to pop up in an institutional auditorium, a DIY space, or simply outside. But regardless of the site (one of which will be their to-be-named new space at 2889 Trades West Road for the foreseeable future), you can expect the esoteric and immersive from an evening with SFNO, often featuring thought-provoking site-specific installations, film screenings, field recordings, or poetry readings.
Taos Jazz Bebop Society
Taos
Born out of a fateful connection between legendary jazz musician Frank Morgan and the community of Taos, the Taos Jazz Bebop Society and its signature Frank Morgan Taos Jazz Festival have established a hub for some of the most accomplished jazz musicians playing today. Presenting its prestigious yet approachable concerts to jazz aficionados and novices alike, the society has steadily grown its program over the past decade, from a two-night jazz smorgasbord each fall into year-round offerings of once-in-a-lifetime musical encounters. In addition to presenting new and well-loved works by musicians such as Creative Capital recipient Delbert Anderson, saxophone prodigy Grace Kelly, and the late National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master awardee Albert ※Tootie” Heath, the Taos Jazz Bebop Society is newly offering in-school workshops in musical improvisation, as well as youth concerts. You can also catch their shows at Taos Center for the Arts, Daleee at KTAOS Solar Center, or Morgan’s favorite venue: the Taos Inn.
