Just in time for the Kennedy Center 50th anniversary, the nation’s iconic theatre will reopen its stages this fall after being dark for more than a year.
Kennedy Center 50th Anniversary Ballet Programming
World-renowned ballet companies American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and New York City Ballet (NYCB) have a longstanding history of performing annually on the Center’s stages and this one will be no exception.
In celebration of the Center’s 50th Anniversary, the 2021–2022 season ballet engagements of ABT and NYCB will celebrate the rich relationships and history of collaboration between these organizations and the Center, featuring two programs by each company – one presenting a full-evening production looking back at historical classics and another program looking forward into the future of each company and the art form.
ABT will bring the classic Don Quixote, March 29–April 3, a ballet from which a pas de deux was excerpted during the opening week of the Kennedy Center in 1971 as part of a multi-week residency with the company.
Returning June 7–12, NYCB will present George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a production brought to the Center during the company’s very first engagement in 1974.
Both companies’ second programs will include repertory work (from present-day choreographers) reflecting the current and future visions of the artistry at each company and will showcase a range of voices of dance creators living and working today.
The season also includes the returns of the famed Mariinsky Ballet who will perform Balanchine’s glamorous Jewels, the non-narrative full-length ballet highlighting the choreographer’s vision of Emeralds, Rubies, and Diamonds.
National Ballet of China is the cornerstone of the Center’s 2022 Lunar New Year festivities with their Chinese New Year ballet, an adaptation of The Nutcracker.
In addition, Miami City Ballet marks its first full-week engagement for the Center’s holiday season with Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.
The ballet season culminates in June 2022 with Reframing the Narrative bringing together Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballethnic Dance Company, and Collage Dance Collective, along with other Black-identifying ballet dancers from across the country to highlight the current work of these pillar companies.
Kennedy Center 2021-2022 Ballet Season
MIAMI CITY BALLET | November 24 & 26–28, 2021
- The Nutcracker by George Balanchine
Last seen as part of Ballet Across America in 2019, Miami City Ballet returns for its first full-week engagement with the world-renowned holiday classic, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®.
Performed to Tchaikovsky’s beloved score, the new 2017 reimagined production features tropical-inspired costumes and sets designed by the esteemed Cuban American artists Ruben and the late Isabel Toledo.
As one of the few companies in the country to continuously perform George Balanchine’s version, not seen at the Center in over a decade, the ballet includes a cast featuring a myriad of performers.
NATIONAL BALLET OF CHINA | January 26–30, 2022
- Chinese New Year by Zhao, Y. Wang, Feng, Q. Wang, S. Wang, and Z hang
Last seen at the Center in 2019 with Raise the Red Lantern, the renowned National Ballet of China returns to the Center with its adaptation of The Nutcracker performed as the cornerstone of the Center’s 2022 Lunar New Year festivities.
This colorful, fresh tale is brought to life by vibrant characters and choreography featuring Tchaikovsky’s treasured score.
As a young Chinese girl celebrates the New Year, she embarks on a mystical journey through a world of festive Chinese customs including a scroll of Chinese folklore showcasing the legendary monster Nian, the elegant and graceful Fans, the extravagant dances of Silk and Spinning Top, and more wonders in the Porcelain Kingdom.
AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE | March 29–April 3, 2022
ABT Forward
- Bernstein in a Bubble by Alexei Ratmansky
- Zig Zag by Jessica Lang)
Don Quixote
- Don Quixote by Marius Petipa
On March 29 and 30, ABT Forward will showcase new choreography by a range of voices of dance creators living and working today. The program includes Alexei Ratmansky’s Bernstein in a Bubble, a ballet created in a quarantined bubble residency in upstate New York, and Zig Zag, a new work by Jessica Lang set to music recorded by the legendary Tony Bennett. A third new work will be announced at a later date.
ABT also brings five performances of the rollicking, high-spirited, full-length production of Don Quixote. These shows pay homage to the 1971 opening week of the Kennedy Center when the ballet’s pas de deux was performed as part of a multi-week residency with the company.
MARIINSKY BALLET | April 26–May 1, 2022
- Jewels by George Balanchine
Marking its 19th annual engagement at the Kennedy Center, the famed Mariinsky Ballet returns to the Opera House stage with Jewels, one of George Balanchine’s most-loved ballets in Russia and a hallmark of the company’s repertoire.
Choreographed by Balanchine in 1967 for New York City Ballet, Jewels is recognized as the first abstract work of classical ballet. In three distinct acts—the dreamlike “Emeralds,” set to the French composer Fauré, the jazzy “Rubies,” set to Stravinsky, and the courtly “Diamonds,” set to Tchaikovsky—Balanchine evokes jewel imagery to reflect ballet’s distinct French, American, and Russian styles.
NEW YORK CITY BALLET | June 7–12, 2022
Visionary Voices
- New Works by Sidra Bell, Jamar Roberts, and Justin Peck
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream by George Balanchine
Reflecting the current and future visions of the artistry of the company, Visionary Voices will look forward within the art form with new works, set to premiere during NYCB’s 2021–2022 season all from present-day choreographers.
The company will bring George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a production brought to the Center during the company’s very first engagement in 1974.
REFRAMING THE NARRATIVE | June 7–12, 2022
with Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballethnic Dance Company, and Collage Dance Collective
In the spirit of Sankofa, in order to understand our present and ensure our future, we must know our past.
Through Reframing the Narrative, a week-long program featuring performances on the Opera House stage, we recognize that Black ballet dancers have been pillars of the field for decades. We acknowledge that the artistry and leadership of Black ballet dancers has shaped ballet throughout the United States and across the globe. The history of Black dancers in ballet is rich, but many voices and stories have remained untold and unheard. It’s time to reframe the narrative.
The week will feature multiple dynamic programs curated by Theresa Ruth Howard, founder of Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet and Denise Saunders Thompson, President and CEO of The International Association of Blacks in Dance.
Performances will bring together Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballethnic Dance Company, and Collage Dance Collective, companies which spring from the legacy of Arthur Mitchell, along with other Black-identifying ballet dancers from across the country to highlight the work these pillar companies are doing in ballet today and celebrate what they have been doing for decades.
Featured Photo for the Kennedy Center 50th Anniversary of ABT’s Christine Shevchenko and James Whiteside in Don Quixote © Gene Schiavone & NYCB’s Roman Mejia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream © Erin Baiano
