What began in 1981 as a series of unorthodox productions chosen by President and Executive Producer Harvey Lichtenstein has grown into the internationally acclaimed Next Wave Festival, "the most important showcase for contemporary experimental performance in the United States" (The New York Times ). The success of the first two Next Wave series encouraged BAM to expand to a festival in 1983. This annual three-month celebration of cutting-edge works in dance, theater, music, and opera continuously invests its energies each year to produce one of the world's largest festivals of contemporary performing arts. The Next Wave Festival has inspired similar series at institutions throughout the country.

Since its inception, the festival has given some of America's most important contemporary artists a context in which to present new, large-scale productions. The festival comprises exploratory, provocative work, providing American audiences early 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 Next Wave is also an American home for many international artists and companies such as Peter Brook, Pina Bausch/Tanztheater Wuppertal, Needcompany, Osvaldo Golijov, Sankai Juku, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker/Rosas, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, and William Forsythe/Ballett Frankfurt. On occasion, the culture of one country is explored in depth within the festival, such as 2001's Next Wave Down Under, which brought an array of productions from Australia. Many events took place apart from the main stages: spoken word, jazz, humanities. BAMcafé even added Australian cuisine to its seasonal menu.

Since its inception, the Next Wave Festival has featured works sparked by interesting collaborations. The festival's inaugural presentation, The Photographer/Far from the Truth, was a major team effort by composer Philip Glass, director Joanne Akalaitis, writer Robert Coe, and choreographer David Gordon. The many collaborations are too numerous to list, but include The Gospel at Colonus (1983), Lee Breuer and Bob Telson; Secret Pastures (1984), Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company/Keith Haring/Peter Gordon; Nixon in China (1987), John Adams/Alice Goodman/Peter Sellars/Mark Morris; Songs for 'Drella (1989), Lou Reed/John Cale; and The Black Rider (1993), Robert Wilson/Tom Waits/William S. Burroughs; Three Tales (2002), Hindenburg (1998) and The Cave (1993), Steve Reich/Beryl Korot; and mercy, 2002, Meredith Monk/Ann Hamilton, to name a few. Adding context are BAMdialogues—lively discussions where audience members can pose questions directly to key artists involved in the festival.

The festival, begun with a sense of adventure, implicitly trusted its audiences to share in its risks to reap rewards. A number of productions won immense praise, their lengthy running times perhaps making them twice as memorable: Einstein on the Beach (1984 & 1992), Peter Brook's The Mahabharata (1987); Robert Lepage's Seven Streams of the River Ota (1996); Cloudstreet, by Company B/Belvoir (2001). Such epic productions, combined with startling innovation and an impressively high production quality, firmly established the Next Wave Festival as a mandatory cultural destination.

Right from the start of the festival, the visual arts have played a prominent role. In 1983, Trisha Brown created Set and Reset with an original score by Laurie Anderson and design by Robert Rauschenberg that he described as "a mix to provide a hovering environment for the dance." Subsequent teams of  choreographers and artists include Nina Wiener/Judy Pfaff; Min Tanaka/Karel Appel; Bebe Miller/Robert Flynt; Bill T. Jones/Huck Snyder, Bjorn Amelan; Mark Morris/Howard Hodgkin; Chandraleka/Anish Kapoor; and many more.

Visual artists were handed the creative reins in the Artist-in-Action series (1995-97): Vito Acconci, Kristin Jones, Andrew Ginzel, and Ilya Kabakov are among those who participated. Artists also figured prominently in Arts in Multimedia (2001), a fascinating series of projects with Bell Labs scientists. Through the BAMart program, artwork donations and sales are arranged, the proceeds of which benefit BAM. And a different artwork marks each season, appearing on the cover of the BAMbill house program. Many well-known artists have participated in BAMart, such as Roy Lichtenstein, Louise Bourgeois, Chuck Close, and Annie Leibovitz.

In 2002, the NextNext series began, showcasing outstanding local musicians, singers, filmmakers, and visual artists. BAMcafé Live hosts the music events, which defy one genre but can include jazz, pop, cabaret, and more. The visual art component is curated by Dan Cameron, senior curator at the New Museum of Contemporary Art.  In 2002, Cameron placed art in the public nooks and crannies of BAM, setting a playful and provocatively interactive tone. And the exhilarating annual CinemaSlam at BAM Rose Cinemas screens, marathon-style, films submitted by the public on a first-submitted, first-screened basis. NextNext continues this fall.

Scanning the roster of the 1983 Next Wave Festival, the names of a number of artists pop out who have since evolved into modern masters. The 2003 Next Wave Festival, now guided by BAM Executive Producer Joseph V. Melillo and President Karen Brooks Hopkins, features an abundance of New York talent, balanced out by artists from Taiwan, Germany, the UK, Spain, and Belgium. While several of this season's artists have already joined the pantheon of worldwide recognition, it is a clean bet that many more will join them in the future.