Sara Mearns and Company in George Balanchine’s Serenade . Photo credit: Erin Baiano

21 Weeks of Performances Will Feature 47 Ballets
Including 21 Works by NYCB Co-Founder GEORGE BALANCHINE
And 6 Works by Co-Founding Choreographer JEROME ROBBINS

Highlights of the 2025 Fall Season – September 16 through October 12
Annual Fall Fashion Gala on Wednesday, October 8
Featuring a World Premiere by JAMAR ROBERTS
With Costumes by IRIS VAN HERPEN
2025 Fall Season Will Also Include
NYCB Premiere of JUSTIN PECK’S Heatscape
Featuring Scenic Design by SHEPARD FAIREY
RYAN TOMASH, Currently a Principal Dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet, Will Join NYCB as a Soloist

Highlights of the 2026 Winter Season – January 20 through March 1
World Premiere Ballets by
NYCB Resident Choreographer JUSTIN PECK
and
NYCB Artist in Residence ALEXEI RATMANSKY
PETER MARTINS’ Full-Length Production of PETER ILYITCH TSCHAIKOVSKY’S The Sleeping Beauty

Highlights of the 2026 Spring Season – April 21 through May 31
Annual Spring Gala on Thursday, May 7
Featuring a World Premiere by TILER PECK
NYCB Premiere of CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON’s Continuum to the Music of GYÖRGY LIGETI
The Return of GEORGE BALANCHINE’s Symphonie Concertante
Last Performed by New York City Ballet in 1952
Eight Performances of GEORGE BALANCHINE and ALEXANDRA DANILOVA’s Full-Length Production of Coppélia
A Farewell Performance for Principal Dancer MEGAN FAIRCHILD Who Will Retire from NYCB on Sunday, May 24
Dancing the Role of Swanilda in Coppélia
George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® – November 28, 2025 through January 4, 2026
The 2025-26 Season Will Also Feature the Company’s Annual Holiday Engagement of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®

New York City Ballet’s 2025-26 Season will open on Tuesday, September 16, 2025 and continue for 21 weeks of performances, through Sunday, May 31, 2026 at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center.

The season, with programming curated by NYCB Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan, in collaboration with Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford and Resident Choreographer and Artistic Advisor Justin Peck, will feature 47 ballets including four world premieres and two works new to NYCB’s stages.

The new works for the 2025 Fall Season will include a World Premiere by choreographer Jamar Roberts who will make his third work for NYCB. Roberts’ ballet will premiere at the Company’s annual Fall Fashion Gala on Wednesday, October 8 and will feature costumes by the acclaimed Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen. The Fall Season will also feature the NYCB premiere of choreographer Justin Peck’s Heatscape on Thursday, September 25. Created for the Miami City Ballet in 2015, Heatscape is set
to music by Bohuslav Martinů, with visual design by Shepard Fairey, lighting by Brandon Stirling Baker, and costumes by Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung.

New works for the 2026 Winter Season will include World Premiere Ballets by NYCB Resident Choreographer Justin Peck, which will premiere on Thursday, January 29; and NYCB Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, which will premiere on Thursday, February 5.

The 2026 Spring Season will include a World Premiere by current NYCB Principal Dancer Tiler Peck, her second work for the Company, which will premiere at the Company’s annual Spring Gala performance on Thursday, May 7. The Spring Season will also feature the NYCB premiere of Christopher Wheeldon’s Continuum on Friday, May 1. Created for the San Francisco Ballet in 2002, the ballet is set to music by György Ligeti, and is one of three works that Wheeldon has created to music by the Hungarian-
Austrian composer of contemporary classical music.

The 2025-26 Season will include 21 ballets by NYCB Co-Founder George Balanchine, 6 ballets by NYCB Co-Founding Choreographer Jerome Robbins, with additional repertory by choreographers August Bournonville, Ulysses Dove, William Forsythe, Edwaard Liang, Lar Lubovitch, Peter Martins, Justin Peck, Tiler Peck, Alysa Pires, Alexei Ratmansky, Gianna Reisen, and Christopher Wheeldon.
The season will also include three full-length works including the annual holiday engagement of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®; a two-week engagement of Peter Martins’ staging of Tschaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty during the 2026 Winter Season; and eight performances of George Balanchine and Alexandra Danilova’s Coppélia during the 2026 Spring Season.

NYCB’s 2025-26 season will also feature the 62-piece New York City Ballet Orchestra under the leadership of Music Director Andrew Litton.

All performances will take place at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, which is located at West 63rd Street and Columbus Avenue. Subscription tickets for the 2025-26 repertory season will be available beginning Monday, March 31, single tickets will go on sale on Monday, August 4. Tickets for George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® will go on sale in September. Tickets are available online or by phone at 212-496-0600.

FALL SEASON – September 16 through October 12, 2025

 World Premiere by Jamar Roberts at the Fall Fashion Gala on Wednesday, October 8
 NYCB Premiere of Justin Peck’s Heatscape on Thursday, September 25
 Ryan Tomash, currently a Principal Dancer with Royal Danish Ballet, will join NYCB as a Soloist

NYCB’s 2025-26 Season will begin with a four-week Fall Season that will open on Tuesday, September 16 with a week of ballets by NYCB’s co-founder George Balanchine. The works will include a program consisting of Donizetti Variations, Ballade, and Balanchine’s one-act Swan Lake, which will open the season; and a second program consisting of Square Dance, Episodes, and Western Symphony.

The second week of the Fall Season will be highlighted by the New York City Ballet premiere of Justin Peck’s Heatscape, which will be included on a program with Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels, Peter Martins’ Zakouski, and Gianna Reisen’s Signs. Heatscape, which Peck created for the Miami City Ballet in 2015, features music by Bohuslav Martinů, visual design by Shepard Fairey, lighting by Brandon Stirling Baker, and costumes by Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung.

The third week of the Fall Season will introduce a program featuring two landmark works by NYCB’s co-founding choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. The program will begin with Robbins’ The Goldberg Variations, which was created in 1971 and is set to Bach’s monumental score for piano; and end with Balanchine’s lavish Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3, a four-movement piece whichconcludes with the virtuosic masterpiece Theme and Variations created in 1947.

The Fall Season will also mark the NYCB debut of the Company’s new Soloist, Ryan Tomash, who is currently a Principal Dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet. Born in Toronto, Tomash trained at Canada’s National Ballet School and joined the Royal Danish Ballet in 2017, becoming a Soloist in 2021 and a Principal Dancer in 2022. Tomash will join NYCB at the start of the 2025 Fall Season rehearsal period in August.

Fall Fashion Gala

The final week of the Fall Season will be highlighted by the Company’s annual Fall Fashion Gala on Wednesday, October 8. The gala evening will feature a World Premiere by choreographer Jamar Roberts, a former dancer and Resident Choreographer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, who will make his third work for NYCB. The ballet will feature costumes designed by the Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen, who previously worked with NYCB on costumes for Benjamin Millepied’s Neverwhere in 2013.

The Fall Fashion Gala program will also include the pas de deux from William Forsythe’s Herman Schmerman (from 1992), with costumes by Gianni Versace; and Gianna Reisen’s Composer’s Holiday (from 2017), with costumes by Virgil Abloh. Following the first performance at the Fall Fashion Gala, this program will be repeated with the addition of Alexei Ratmansky’s Voices, created for NYCB in 2020.

NYCB’s Fall Fashion Gala was conceived by NYCB Board Vice Chair Sarah Jessica Parker, and launched in 2012 with a gala celebration of the legendary designer Valentino. The event has since featured costumes designed by more than 30 fashion designers including Thom Browne, Sarah Burton, Giles Deacon, Prabal Gurung, Carolina Herrera, Mary Katrantzou, Humberto Leon, Zac Posen, Christopher John Roberts, Narciso Rodriguez, Anna Sui, and Dries Van Noten.

GEORGE BALANCHINE’S THE NUTCRACKER® – November 28, 2025 through January 4, 2026

The year of performances will continue with NYCB’s annual engagement of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®, which will take place from Friday, November 28, 2025 through Sunday, January 4, 2026.

NYCB’s landmark production of the holiday classic premiered on February 2, 1954 and helped to establish The Nutcracker and its score as perennial favorites in the United States. A signature event of the holiday season in New York City, the ballet is set to the Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky score, with scenery by Rouben Ter-Arutunian, costumes by Karinska, and lighting by Mark Stanley, after lighting design by Ronald Bates.

The final performance of this year’s season of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® at 1pm on Sunday, January 4 will be a special sensory friendly performance designed to provide a relaxed and inclusive environment where individuals with autism, sensory and communication disorders or learning disabilities can enjoy a ballet performance. While intended for these audiences, this performance is open to all. Slight modifications to the social and sensory environment include a relaxed entry and exit policy,
adjustments to lighting and sound levels, designated break areas throughout the theater, additional event staffing to assist with audience needs, and pre-visit resources.

WINTER SEASON – January 20 through March 1, 2026 World Premiere by NYCB Resident Choreographer Justin Peck on Thursday, January 29

 World Premiere by NYCB Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky on Thursday, February 5
 Fourteen Performances of Peter Martins’ Full-Length Production of The Sleeping Beauty

The 2026 Winter Season will open on Tuesday, January 20 with a program consisting of two early works by George Balanchine Serenade (1935) and Prodigal Son (1929) along with one of the newest additions to New York City Ballet repertory, Alexei Ratmansky’s Paquita (2025).

The first week of the 2026 Winter Season will continue with a program consisting of three works by Balanchine: Kammermusik No. 2, Le Tombeau de Couperin, and Raymonda Variations; and Jerome Robbins’ rarely performed Antique Epigraphs, which was created in 1984 and last performed by NYCB in 2018.

The second week of the 2026 Winter Season will feature a World Premiere by NYCB Resident Choreographer Justin Peck on Thursday, January 29, on a program that will also feature Balanchine’s Walpurgisnacht Ballet, August Bournonville’s Flower Festival in Genzano Pas de Deux, and Jerome Robbins’ Opus 19/The Dreamer.

The third week of the season will feature a World Premiere by NYCB Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky on Thursday, February 5, on a program that will also feature Justin Peck’s Dig the Say and Everywhere We Go, and Gianna Reisen’s Signs.

The season will also include 14 performances of Peter Martins’ full-length production of The Sleeping Beauty, from Wednesday, February 11 through Sunday, February 22. Set to Tschaikovsky’s beloved score, the production was created in 1991 and features set design by David Mitchell, costume design by Patricia Zipprodt (executed by Barbara Matera, Ltd.), and lighting design by Mark Stanley. The ballet, which features more than 100 dancers, including students from the School of American Ballet, is one of NYCB’s most lavish productions.

The final week of the 2026 Winter Season will introduce a program featuring two masterpieces created for New York City Ballet in the 1960s: Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering from 1969, and Diamonds, the final section of Balanchine’s three-part Jewels, which premiered in 1967.

SPRING SEASON – April 21 through May 31, 2026

 World Premiere by Tiler Peck at the annual Spring Gala on Thursday, May 7
 NYCB Premiere of Christopher Wheeldon’s Continuum on Friday, May 1
 Revival of Balanchine’s Symphonie Concertante, last performed by NYCB in 1952
 Eight Performances of Balanchine and Danilova’s Full-Length Production of Coppélia
 Farewell Performance for Principal Dancer Megan Fairchild on Sunday, May 24

The 2026 Spring Season will open on Tuesday, April 21 with a program featuring a major revival of Balanchine’s Symphonie Concertante. Set to Mozart’s Symphonie Concertante in E-flat major for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra, the ballet was first performed by students from the School of American Ballet in 1945 at Carnegie Hall and has not been performed by NYCB since 1952. The program will also include two landmark works to music by Stravinsky: Balanchine’s Agon and Balanchine and Robbins’ Firebird. The
first week of the spring season will include a second program consisting of Ratmansky’s Voices, Robbins’ In Memory Of…, and Balanchine’s Diamonds.

The second week of the season will be highlighted by the NYCB premiere of Christopher Wheeldon’s Continuum. Created for San Francisco Ballet in 2002, it is the second of three works that Wheeldon created to music by György Ligeti in the early 2000s. The others, both created for NYCB, are Polyphonia (2001) and Morphoses (2002). Continuum will have its NYCB Premiere on Friday, May 1 on a program that will also feature Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH, Lar Lubovitch’s Each in Their Own Time, and Edwaard Liang’s Distant Cries, a pas de deux that was originally created for Peter Boal and Company and performed by Wendy Whelan and Peter Boal in March 2005 at The Joyce Theater, and also performed by NYCB in May 2005.

The third week of the season will feature the annual Spring Gala performance on Thursday, May 7 which will include the World Premiere of a new work by NYCB Principal Dancer Tiler Peck. This will mark Peck’s second work created for NYCB; the first, Concerto for Two Pianos, was set to the music of Francis Poulenc and premiered in 2024. The Spring Gala performance will also feature Robbins’ Opus 19/The Dreamer, which was created in 1979 to Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No 1 in D Major. Following the Spring Gala performance, the program will repeat with the addition of Alysa Pires’ Standard Deviation which was created for NYCB to a commissioned score by Jack Frerer in 2023.

The 2026 Spring Season will also include a second sensory friendly performance at 11am on Sunday, May 17, featuring Balanchine’s Divertimento No. 15 and Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH.

The final weeks of the season will include an all-Bach program featuring Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco and Robbins’ The Goldberg Variations, and eight performances of Balanchine and Danilova’s full-length production of Coppélia. Considered one of the greatest comedic ballets of the 19th Century, NYCB’s production of Coppélia was created in 1974 by Balanchine and the legendary dancer and teacher Alexandra Danilova, who was considered a definitive Swanilda, the ballet’s leading female character. The production features scenery and costumes by Rouben Ter-Arutunian, additional costumes by Karinska, and lighting by Mark Stanley, after the original lighting design by Ronald Bates. The ballet is set to the score by Léo Delibes with a book by Charles Nuitter, after E.T.A. Hoffmann, whose writing was also the basis for The Nutcracker. The NYCB production features more than 65 dancers including 24 students from the School of American Ballet.

Megan Fairchild Farewell Performance

On Sunday, May 24 at 3pm, Principal Dancer Megan Fairchild will give her farewell performance with NYCB, dancing the role of Swanilda in Coppélia to conclude her 25-year career with the Company. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Fairchild began her dance training at the age of 4. She entered the School of American Ballet in the fall of 2000, and in November 2001 she became an apprentice with New York City Ballet. She joined the Company’s corps de ballet in 2002, was promoted to the rank of Soloist in
February 2004, and became Principal in January 2005. As a member of NYCB she has performed featured roles in numerous ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, Susan Stroman, and Christopher Wheeldon, among others.

In 2014 she made her Broadway debut performing the role of Ivy Smith, AKA Miss Turnstiles, in the Tony Award-nominated revival of On the Town. In 2011 Fairchild danced the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in PBS’ Live From Lincoln Center telecast of NYCB’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. She is currently a faculty member at the School of American Ballet where she was the recipient of the Mae L. Wien Award in 2001.