For New Yorkers, November is historically associated with shorter days and falling temperatures, but this year it also ushers in an influx of mind-bending performance art. November 1 marked the kick off of Performa 15, a three-week festival of boundary-breaking live performance. Organized by the non-profit arts organization founded by art historian and author RoseLee Goldberg, the biennial has been celebrating both new and old work since 2005. More selective than previous fests, this edition features a little more than 30 artists from 12 countries presenting exciting and evocative productions at a variety of galleries, museums and performances spaces around town.

Performa 15 is made up of commissions, premieres, and projects, as well as Performa Hub, the biennial’s headquarters, and Performa Institute, which is the fete’s educational component. Also returning is Pavilion Without Walls, a program that was launched in 2013 that seeks to foster greater cultural and artistic exchange with international artists. This year’s edition spotlights Australia. The festival is also anchored by a theme. In 2013, it was Surrealism. For 15, the artist’s were tasked with the Renaissance.

With week two of Performa 15 underway, we’ve come up with our picks for the remainder of the festival. Among the offerings are a class in puppet making, a performance based around beautifully adorned ornamental chickens, and a sensory overloading experience inspired by Shamanism, Picasso, and Milli Vanilli.

Jérôme Bel’s Ballet (New York)

French conceptual choreographer Jérôme Bel, who presented Disabled Theater at Performa 13, returns to the festival with a new work, Ballet (New York). Co-commissed by Performa and Marian Goodman, the work travels to three venues (Marian Goodman Gallery, Martha Graham Studio Theater and El Museo del Barrio) throughout the festival, and looks at how the different environments frame and shape the ways we “feel” dance. Its cast consists of trained and untrained performers of various ages and backgrounds. (Nov 6, 7, 14, 15, 19/$25, $15)

Jesper Just and FOS’s A Concert/In the Shadow of a Spectacle/Is the View of the Crowd

Jesper Just, who is best known for his films, teams up with fellow Danish artist FOS to present a new hybrid video/performance/installation for Performa 15. The work challenges the notion of spectatorship, and examines crowd dynamics and psychology. It promises to “awaken awareness in the individual.” (Nov 13-15/$30, $25)

Additionally, Just’s Servitudes is currently screening as part of November’s Midnight Moment in Times Square. The film, which touches on society’s obsession with youth and beauty, screens nightly at 11:57pm until November 30.

Wyatt Kahn’s Artist Class

It’s time to make puppets with abstract artist Wyatt Kahn. For this afternoon session, in addition to its hands-on element, Kahn discusses his Performa 15 commission, which found him using the medium of puppetry to satirize the art world. (Nov 10, Free with RSVP)

Laura Lima’s Gala Chickens and Ball

Brazilian artist Laura Lima combines two of her earlier works, Gala Chickens (2004/2011) and Ball (2003-2004), for her Performa 15 commission. The work, which questions everyday social behavior, centers around a group of ornamental chickens dolled up in Carnival feathers. Unfolding over the course of several days, the performance culminates in a grand finale event on Saturday, November 21 at 8pm. (Nov 17-22/Free)

Oscar Murillo’s Lucky dip

Being referred to as the spiritual successor to his candy factory installation at David Zwirner Gallery, Oscar Murillo’s Lucky dip sees the Colombian-born artist revisiting the concepts of production, protest and displacement in relation to labor advocacy and immigration movements. The work manifests in multi-dimensional performances and takes place over the course of several days at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in Lower Manhattan. (Nov 16-22/Free)

Juliana Huxtable’s There Are Certain Facts That Cannot Be Disputed

2015 has been quite a year for Juliana Huxtable. The photographer, painter, poet, and nightlife impresario was featured in Storylines at the Guggenheim, as well as the New Museum’s Triennial, and is about to premiere a new work at Performa. Co-commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art and Performa, Huxtable’s There Are Certain Facts That Cannot Be Disputed investigates the relationship between “the ephemeral nature of digital information and the drive for historical documentation online” and sees her collaborating with music, sound, video and lighting artists. (Nov 13 & 14/$12, $10, $8)

Claudia de Serpa Soares, Jim White, and Eve Sussman’s More Up a Tree

More Up a Tree brings together sound and movement in an unusual way. The brainchild of dancer Claudia de Serpa Soares, drummer Jim White and visual artist Eve Sussman, the work finds the audience peering in on an experiment being conducted by de Serpa Soares and White. Can a dancer and a drummer create melody together? You’ll have to show up to this performance, which is presented in collaboration with BAM’s Next Wave Festival, to find out. (Nov 19-21/$25)

Justene Williams’ The Curtain Breathed Deeply

Australian artist Justine Williams is going for sensory overload with her Performa 15 entry The Curtain Breathed Deeply. Marrying elements of Shamanism, Voodoo, and Modernist primitivism, with pop culture references like hip hop and Milli Vanilli, and art historical figures, Williams’ immersive installation sounds totally insane. Prepare to have your mind blown by this work that incorporates a variety of patterns, colors, textures and tonalities. (Nov 16-22/Free)

(Performa 15 runs November 1-22. For more details and tickets visit the festival’s website.)