New York City Ballet 2025-2026 Season, Shows, Reviews

byCherilyn J. Lee

January 1, 2020 - Updated on January 8, 2026

♦ Location: New York, New York – United States

♦ Artistic Director: Jonathan Stafford

♦ Associate Artistic Director: Wendy Whelan

♦ Orchestra: The New York City Ballet Orchestra

♦ Affiliated School: School of American Ballet

♦ Founded in 1948 by George Balanchine & Lincoln Kirstein

♦ Official Website of New York City Ballet

Table of Contents

New York City Ballet 2026 Winter Season

The New York City Ballet 2026 Winter Season, which runs from January 20 through March 1, is set to showcase world premieres by Justin Peck, NYCB Resident Choreographer, and Alexei Ratmansky, NYCB Artist in Residence. These two ballets mark the 499th and 500th original works created for the company and will debut on January 29 and February 5, respectively.

“In reaching this incredible milestone of 500 original ballets, which is a testament to the Company’s unparalleled history of creativity and its enduring contributions to the world of dance, we are thrilled that the 499th and 500th new works created for the Company will be choreographed by our current resident artists, Justin Peck and Alexei Ratmansky, and will premiere just one week apart this winter.”

– NYCB Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan.

Peck’s The Wind-Up, set to the first movement of Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 (Eroica), is his 26th for New York City Ballet and will feature costume design by Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung, and lighting design by Brandon Stirling Baker. It will appear on the same program as George Balanchine’s Walpurgisnacht Ballet, August Bournonville’s Flower Festival in Genzano Pas de Deux, and Jerome Robbins’ Opus 19/The Dreamer.

Ratmansky’s The Naked King is his 9th for NYCB and is set to Jean Françaix’s Le Roi Nu; it is programmed with Peck’s Dig the Say and Everywhere We Go, and Christopher Wheeldon’s This Bitter Earth. It will feature costume and scenic design by Santo Loquasto and lighting design by Mark Stanley.

Opening night includes Balanchine’s Serenade and Prodigal Son, as well as Ratmansnky’s Paquita.

The second program includes Balanhine’s Kammermusik No. 2 (1978) set to music by Paul Hindemith, Le Tombeau de Couperin (1975) set to music by Maurice Ravel, and Raymonda Variations (1961) set to music by Alexander Glazounov along with Robbins’ Antique Epigraphs (1984) set to music by Claude Debussy.

The final mixed-repertory program features Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering (1969), set to music by Frédéric Chopin and Balanchine’s Diamonds (1967), the final section of the three-part Jewels, set to music by Tschaikovsky.

The NYCB 2026 winter season also includes former Artist Director Peter Martins’ full-length production of Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty.

New York City Ballet 2025-2026 Season

The New York City Ballet 2025-2026 season is highlighted by world premieres by Justin Peck and Alexei Ratmansky, the company’s Resident Choreographer and Artist in Residence, respectively, as well as Principal Dancer Megan Fairchild’s farewell performance.

Principal Dancer Tiler Peck’s second ballet for NYCB will appear during the Spring Gala in May 2026 along with Jerome Robbins’ Opus 19/The Dreamer.

Christopher Wheeldon’s Continuum, made for San Francisco Ballet in 2002, will see its New York City Ballet debut in the Spring 2026 season.

Three full-length ballets are scheduled for the season:

George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®
Peter Martins’ The Sleeping Beauty
Balanchine and Danilova’s Coppélia

It is on May 24, 2026 when Fairchild will take her final bow in the role of Swanhilda in Coppélia. Farichild joined NYCB as an apprentice in 2001, one year after moving to New York from Salt Lake City to study at the School of American Ballet (where she is currently a faculty member). She quickly rose through the ranks, arriving at Principal Dancer status in January of 2005.

While with the company, Fairchild has danced featured roles in ballets by Balanchine, Robbins, Martins, Justin Peck, Ratmansky, Susan Stroman, and Wheeldon, and others. She also appeared in the 2014 Broadway production of On the Town as Ivy Smith, AKA Miss Turnstiles.

Ryan Tomash, currently a Principal Dancer with Royal Danish Ballet, will join the company for the 2025 Fall Season as a Soloist.

For complete program details, please see the NYCB performance listings below.