New York City Ballet
"Serenade", "Prodigal Son", "Paquita"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 22, 2026
This evening’s ballets were a a series of firsts and lasts; Balanchine’s “Serenade” (1935) is the first ballet he made in the US, his “Prodigal Son” is the last of his works performed by the Diaghilev company, and Alexei Ratmansky’s “Paquita” (2025), while certainly not the first or the last work he has made for NYCB, is the first
New York City Ballet
“Voices,” “Composer’s Holiday,” “Herman Schmerman Pas de Deux,” “Foreseeable Future”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 10, 2025
There is no such thing as too much new dance, but that does not always lessen one’s longing for the old. For its last program of the fall season, New York City Ballet presented three works from the last decade, including a premiere from its Fall Gala this season by Jamar Roberts, and William
New York City Ballet
"Voices", "Composer's Holiday", "Herman Scherman Pas de Deux", "Forseeable Future"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 9, 2025
The current City Ballet practice of programming ballets by themes meant that the evening, called “Contemporary Choreography I”, had no tutus, limited point shoes, fantastic dancing, and a gradually diminishing audience. Contemporary, in this case, ranged from 1993 (William Forsythe’s “Herman Schmerman pas de deux”) to yesterday (Jamar Roberts’ “Foreseeable Future”
New York City Ballet
“Square Dance”, “Episodes”, “Western Symphony”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 20, 2025, matinee
New York City Ballet’s second all-Balanchine program of the Fall season showed two variations on bouncy American square dances (the serenely classical “Square Dance” from 1957 and the raucous “Western Symphony” from 1954), sandwiching the austere, angular “Episodes” (1959) to selections of Anton Webern—something for everyone. I do miss the old weekly smorgasbord programming
New York City Ballet
“Donizetti Variations”, “Ballade”, “Swan Lake”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 16, 2025
New York City Ballet opened its Fall season with an all Balanchine evening, showing three variations of love, both lost and found, all set to nineteenth-century music. There were two standards, “Donizetti Variations” and “Swan Lake”, and one rare revival, the 1980 “Ballade”, set to “Ballade for Piano and Orchestra” by Gabriel Fauré. “Donizetti Variations” has
New York City Ballet
"A Midsummer Night'sDream"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 31 evening, 2025
Adorable dancing bugs start and finish Balanchine’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, performed by very well-trained SAB students with a minimum of cuteness. Of course there were oohs and aahs from the enthusiastic audience when they fluttered on, but they danced with a sweet-natured concentration and had no “Hi, Grandma” vibes. The rest
New York City Ballet
"Glass Pieces", "Chiaroscuro", "Cool", "Pas de Deux from 'Stars and Stripes'"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 25 matinee, 2025
Andrew Veyette gave his last performance this afternoon, after 25 years with the New York City Ballet, 18 of those as a principal. I first noticed him as the lead in “Two Birds with One Wing”, a ballet choreographed by Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux for the 2006 Diamond Project.
New York City Ballet
"Divertimento from 'Le Baiser de la Fée'", "When We Fell", "Chiaroscuro", "Odesa"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 24 matinee, 2025
The program, officially called Eclectic NYCB, showed works from four very different choreographers (Balanchine, Kyle Abraham, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, and Alexei Ratmansky), but each piece used an element of darkness, either as a theme or a background, or both. The result, thanks to some interesting choreography and some extraordinary
New York City Ballet
"Beneath The Tides", "Solitude", "Mystic Familiar"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 17, evening 2025
This program grouped three ballets choreographed in the last two years which pointed, presumably, to the future. Alexei Ratmansky, currently NYCB’s artist in residence, was the senior, with “Solitude” which was choreographed in 2024, while Caili Quan’s (“Beneath the Tides”) and Justin Peck’s (“Mystic Familiar”) works both premiered in 2025. It
New York City Ballet
"In G Major", "Sonatine", "Pavane", "Errante", "La Valse"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 15, 2025
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of NYCB’s Ravel Festival, the company has put together a program of five ballets set to the composer’s music, one by Robbins (“In G Major”) and four by Balanchine (three rarely seen brief works, ”Sonatine”, “Pavane”, and”Errante”, and his stylish 1951 “La Valse”).
New York City Ballet
"Paquita", "A Suite of Dances", "After the Rain" 'Brandenburg"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 1, 2025
Though still rare, non-Balanchine evenings are being programed at NYCB with more frequency (though Balanchine is referenced in the "Minkus Pas Trois" which opens "Paquita", the dance is a revision of Petipa's original). The evening’s program featured older works by NYCB stalwarts Jerome Robbins, Christopher Wheeldon, and Alexei Ratmansky, whose reworking
New York City Ballet
"Scotch Symphony" "Belles-Lettres", "Glass Pieces"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
April 26, 2025, Evening
This program featured three ballets by three choreographers created in three decades each separated by about thirty years; this variety made for a very lively and interesting evening. Balanchine’s “Scotch Symphony” (1952) is an oblique take on Bournonville’s nineteenth-century Romantic work set to Mendelssohn, Justin Peck’s “Belles-Lettres” (2014) is a neo-romantic swoon