The 92nd Street Y, New York presents Johnnie Cruise Mercer: The Good News Suite as part of Home: Departure and Return, the Harkness 2026/27 Mainstage Season. Performances are on October 16 and 17 at 7 pm in Buttenwieser Hall at the Arnold Center with tickets available at https://www.92ny.org/event/johnnie-cruise-mercer-the-good-news-suite.

With The Good News Suite, Johnnie Cruise Mercer draws on his upbringing in the Black Baptist church to create a work rooted in memory, ritual, and shared experience. Inspired by Bible scriptures passed down through childhood, these choreographies are crafted to guide communities through grief, and toward the possibility of release.

No two performances of The Good News Suite are the same; the work shifts in response to each space and the people who gather there, taking shape as both performance and communal experience. As part of the suite being performed at 92NY is the premiere of The Unforced Rhythms of Grace, a captivating new ensemble work for Black movement and vocal artists, grounded in contemporary gospel music and built from deeply embodied testimony, rhythm, and collective energy. Each night features guest artists from across New York’s Black dance community, as well as singers, actors and musicians. The program also includes a new version of Mercer’s ever-evolving solo work, Mercies of a Butterfly.

The Harkness Mainstage Series’ Home season explores how dance maps the shifting terrain of home, identity, belonging, and the borders — visible and invisible — that shape us.

The Good News Suite – Artist Credits

Movement Ensemble: Johnnie Cruise Mercer, Paulina Meneses, TJ Jacobs, Paris Jones, Demietrius Burns

Instrumentalists: Jean Charlot, drums; Robert McSweeney, horn

Vocal Ensemble: Alejandro Jimenez (Vocal Arranger), Jaida Forman, Nic Pierre

Tech Director/Lighting Designer: Whimzee 

Stage Manager: Gloria Gomez 

Wardrobe Design: Pierre Rashad and Ifeyinwa Ogbuagu  

Sound Designer: Justin Johnson