Alexei Ratmansky's Romeo and Juliet, World Premieres by Jennifer Archibald, Alysa Pires, More in New York City Ballet's 2026–27 Season

New York City Ballet has announced its 2026–27 season, which will include five world premieres, two company premieres, and 41 additional works from the company's repertoire across 21 weeks of performances at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theatre.

The season will open September 22 with a revival of George Balanchine's three-act ballet Jewels. Considered the first full-length plotless ballet, Jewels is in three movements: Emeralds, set to music by Gabriel Fauré; Rubies, set to Stravinsky's Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra; and Diamonds, set to Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 3. The ballet will receive seven performances through September 27, and receive five additional performances February 12–14, 2027, in celebration of the ballet's 60th anniversary.

The company's annual Fall Fashion Gala will be held on October 1, and feature two world premieres, by Jennifer Archibald and Alysa Pires. Archibald will be making her company debut, while Pires will be returning for her second NYCB commission, following 2023's Standard Deviation. Music and design credits for both works will be announced at a later date. Following the gala premieres, both works will receive four additional performances through October 14, on an all-contemporary program alongside Justin Peck's Pulcinella Variations and Kyle Abraham's Love Letter (On Shuffle).

The fall season will conclude October 18 with a farewell performance for NYCB principal dancer Adrian Danchig-Waring, who will retire from the company after 23 years. The performance will include a new pièce d'occasion choreographed by Pam Tamowitz specifically for Danchig-Waring, as well as Balanchine's The Four Temperaments, and Lar Lubovitch's Each in Their Own Time.

George Balanchine's The Nutcracker will return for its annual holiday engagement November 27, 2026–January 3, 2027. The family favorite had its premiere in 1954, and has since become an annual holiday tradition, featuring hundreds of dancers and musicians, including children from the School of American Ballet.

The winter season will commence January 19, 2027, with the company premiere of Alexei Ratmansky's Romeo and Juliet, which will receive 14 performances through January 31. Originally choreographed in 2011 for the National Ballet of Canada, Ratmansky's setting of Prokofiev's iconic Shakespearian ballet features sets and costumes by Tony Award-winning designer Richard Hudson (The Lion King, Leopoldstadt).

The winter season will also a revival of George Balanchine's Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, the climactic ballet scene created for the 1936 Rodgers and Hart musical On Your Toes. Slaughter on Tenth Avenue holds the distinction of being the first full-length ballet in a musical, and the first such ballet scene in a musical to directly advance the plot. Slaughter on Tenth Avenue will just four performances, February 16–26, 2027, on an all-Balanchine program featuring three other works by the company's co-founding choreographer.

NYCB's winter season will also conclude with a farewell, for principal dancer Taylor Stanley, who departs after 17 years with the company. The February 28, 2027 performance will feature Stanley in a performance of Balanchine's Emeralds, as well as other repertory to be announced.

The company's Spring Gala on May 6, 2027 will feature a world premiere by resident choreographer Justin Peck, with a score and collaborators to be announced. Another world premiere, by Tiler Peck, will take place on May 8, 2027, also with details to be announced. Both Peck premieres will be performed May 8–14, 2027, on a program alongside the company premiere of Alexei Ratmansky's Fandango, set to music by Luigi Boccherini; and a revival of Jerome Robbins' The Four Seasons, set to the ballet music from Verdi's opera I Vespri Siciliani.

The season will conclude with seven performance of Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream, May 25–30, 2027. Balanchine's first fully-original full-length ballet, A Midsummer Night's Dream tells the story of Shakespeare's play, set to the music of Felix Mendelssohn.

Other works featured in the season will include Jerome Robbins' The Concert (or, The Perils of Everybody), Bruno Moretti's Oltremare, Justin Peck's Copland Dance Episodes, and more. 

To view the full season, visit NYCBallet.com.