♦ 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
New York City Ballet 2025 Winter Season
The New York City Ballet 2025 Winter Season begins on January 21 and runs through March 2 showcasing twenty different ballets at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City.
The Tallchief centennial program debuts on February 5 and celebrates Maria Tallchief‘s 100th anniversary (January 24). The legendary ballerina, notably of Osage descent, was a founding member of NYCB and George Balanchine‘s first wife, and will be honored in a program that holds close ties with her career including the closing ballet which launched her into stardom:
- Scotch Symphony (1952), set to music by Felix Mendelssohn;
- Sylvia: Pas de Deux (1950), set to music by Léo Delibes;
- Firebird (1949), set to music by Igor Stravinsky.
Closing is the only full-length ballet of the season, former NYCB Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins’ version of Swan Lake. The production, which was originally created in 1996 for Royal Danish Ballet, features sets designed by the late Danish artist Per Kirkeby, costumes designed by Kirkeby and Kirsten Lund Nielsen, and lighting designed by NYCB Resident Lighting Designer Mark Stanley.
The season also features world premieres on January 29 and February 6 by the company’s Resident Choreographer and Artistic Advisor, Justin Peck, and Artist in Residence, Alexei Ratmansky, respectively.
Peck’s Mystic Familiar is choreographed to an original orchestral score by Dan Deacon, a frequent collaborator who is scheduled to make guest performances with the 62-piece New York City Ballet Orchestra during the season. The rest of the creative team includes set design by Eamon Ore-Giron, costume design by Humberto Leon, and lighting design by Brandon Stirling Baker.
“I’ve been wanting to create a new work for NYCB with a commissioned score by Dan since The Times Are Racing, and I’m thrilled that he’ll be joining the company for the premiere performances.”
– Justin Peck
Ratmansky’s new work is a staging of dances from Marius Petipa’s full-length ballet Paquita and will feature the Grand Pas from Petipa’s original version as well as Balanchine’s Minkus Pas de Trois. Ratmansky will contribute his own choreography based on a 2014 reconstruction of Paquita that he did for Bavarian State Ballet and incorporate details from the staging by Alexandra Danilova of the Paquita Grand Pas for Cincinnati Ballet in the early 1980s and 1890s drawings of the Grand Pas principal couple by Mariinsky Ballet premier danseur Pavel Gerdt from the Bakhrushin Museum in Moscow.
New costumes will be by Jérôme Kaplan, the designer’s premiere with NYCB.
“Paquita is a jewel of a ballet, full of intricate steps, refined musicality, and gentle humor. Petipa’s choreographic universe has a Ballerina at its center; he makes her shine but also challenges her. Technically and artistically that makes him akin to Balanchine, and that’s where the idea of combining Mr. B’s Minkus Pas de Trois, a reworking of Petipa’s Act I pas de trois, with Petipa’s Act III Grand Pas came from.
I am very excited to see how these two worlds divided by the artistic revolution of the early twentieth century will coexist today.”
– Alexei Ratmansky
To complement the performances, New York City Ballet will also host several public programs.
Movement Workshops to be held in the company’s rehearsal studios include:
- Children’s Workshops for children ages 5 to 7 on Saturday, February 8 from 12:30- 1:15pm, and Saturday, March 1 from 12:30-1:15pm.
- In Motion workshop for children ages 8 to 12 on Saturday, February 22 from 12:30- 1:15pm.
- Ballet Essentials workshops for teens and adults on Monday, January 27 from 6:30- 7:45pm, and Saturday, February 22 from 10:30-11:45am.
- Children’s Access Workshop for children with physical disabilities ages 4 to 12 on Saturday, February 22 from 11:00am-12:00pm.
- Autism-Friendly Access Workshops for children ages 4 to 12 with autism or other sensory needs on Saturday, February 8 from 1:00-2:00pm and Sunday, February 23 from 10:00-11:00am.
Inside NYCB on February 10, 2025 from 6:30-7:30pm takes a one-hour deep dive into Swan Lake with a presentation, performance, and discussion.
Family Saturdays on March 1, 2025 from 11:00am-12:00pm will be hosted by Principal Dancer and Family Saturdays Creative Director, Megan Fairchild. The one-hour event designed for ages 5 and up will featured an interactive exploration of Swan Lake’s story, choreography, music, and costumes.
New York City Ballet 2024-2025 Season
The New York City Ballet 2024-2025 season at the David H. Koch Theater, curated by Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan, will feature company premieres by Gianna Reisen and Lar Lubovitch and world premieres by:
- NYCB Resident Choreographer Justin Peck (his 25th for the company set to an original score by American composer Dan Deacon)
- NYCB Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky (his 8th which is a suite of dances from Petipa’s Paquita that will incorporate Balanchine’s Minkus Pas de Trois), and
- Caili Quan.
“For our 2024-25 Season, we look forward to presenting a rich selection of work from our extraordinary repertory,” said NYCB Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford and Whelan.
“From the beloved masterpieces of George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, to exciting new works, anniversary celebrations, and several ballets returning to our stage for the first time in decades, it’s a season that will build on the success of our current 75th anniversary season, and continue to move New York City Ballet into the future.”
New York City Ballet will also be celebrating the 90th anniversary of the founding of its affiliate School of American Ballet, the 50th anniversary of George Balanchine and Alexandra Danilova’s Coppélia, the 100th birthday of ballerina Maria Tallchief (who was also Balanchine’s first wife), and the 10th anniversary of Peck’s appointment as Resident Choreographer.
On May 25, 2025, Andrew Veyette’s 25-year career with New York City Ballet will be marked at his final performance which includes Glass Pieces (3rd movement) by Jerome Robbins, Chiaroscuro by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, and Stars and Stripes by Balanchine. Veyette rose up the ranks after studying at the School of American Ballet to ultimately earn his Principal Dancer status in 2007.
The company has also made some announcements that directly affect audience members. All evening performances will now being at 7:30pm while matinees will remain at 2:00pm on Saturdays and 3:00pm on Sundays.
“Previously our Friday and Saturday evening performances began at 8pm, but after surveying both new and long-time audience members and with feedback from our artistic and production teams we have concluded that the earlier curtain time on Friday and Saturday evenings would be a welcome change,” said Katherine Brown, Executive Director of New York City Ballet and the David H. Koch Theater.
Also, 40% of repertory performances will only include one intermission. Brown explained:
“We want to be open to the changing demands on the daily schedules of our audience members, and it is our goal to make the experience of attending a performance at NYCB as convenient as possible, while also providing the same rich, artistic experience that has made the Company one of city’s premier cultural attractions for more than seven decades.”
Source: New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet Upcoming Performances
New York City Ballet: All Balanchine I
New York City Ballet: All Stravinsky
New York City Ballet: New Combinations
New York City Ballet: All Balanchine II
New York City Ballet: Innovators & Icons
New York City Ballet: Balanchine + Wheeldon
New York City Ballet: Swan Lake
New York City Ballet: Coppélia
New York City Ballet Reviews
New York City Ballet News and Features
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