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Ballet NYC


Ballet in NYC is defined by New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a modern dance company that performs at the same level. Dance Theatre of Harlem is an African American ballet company.

Ballet Hispánico is a contemporary dance company. Ballet Nepantla is a contemporary folkloric dance company. Both incorporate ballet elements.

Ballet is a Latin dance. It’s an Italian court dance, developed in French royal courts, and popularized by Ballet Russes out of Paris from 1909-29.


Ballet NYC News

Fall for Dance (Wirestock/Dreamstime)

Fall For Dance 2023 Celebrates 20 Years at New York City Center

Five programs of three international dance companies for $20 + fees at one of New York’s leading dance theaters.

NEW YORK CITY CENTER in Midtown, Manhattan

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Continue Reading Fall For Dance 2023 Celebrates 20 Years at New York City Center

New York City Ballet Fall 2023 75th Anniversary Season (Lightfield Studios/Adobe)

New York City Ballet 75th Anniversary Fall Season is a Ballet Master Class

75th Anniversary Season presents “Jewels,” and more Balanchine gems.

September 9 – October 15, 2023
DAVID H KOCH THEATER
Lincoln Center

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Continue Reading New York City Ballet 75th Anniversary Fall Season is a Ballet Master Class

American Ballet Theatre 2023 Spring Season (Fabrizio Ferri/ABT)

American Ballet Theatre’s 2023 Spring Season Features Like Water For Chocolate, Giselle, Swan Lake, & Romeo and Juliet

New artistic director Susan Jaffe makes her mark with a series of ballets about passion.

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Continue Reading American Ballet Theatre’s 2023 Spring Season Features Like Water For Chocolate, Giselle, Swan Lake, & Romeo and Juliet

American Ballet Theatre (courtesy)

American Ballet Theatre is America’s National Ballet Company

One of the world’s great classical ballet companies is also a world leader in ballet diversity with great Latin and African American dancers.

Continue Reading American Ballet Theatre is America’s National Ballet Company

Ballet Hispánico New York City Center Spring 2023 (Rachel Neville)

Ballet Hispánico Dances an Iconic Ballet Pas de Deux, New Commissions and a Latin Classic at New York City Center

Ballet Hispánico takes the stage with a Forsythe ballet duet, new work by Michelle Manzanales and Omar Román de Jesús, and a company classic by Pedro Ruiz.

NEW YORK CITY CENTER
Thursday-Saturday, June 1-3, 2023
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Continue Reading Ballet Hispánico Dances an Iconic Ballet Pas de Deux, New Commissions and a Latin Classic at New York City Center

Ballet Hispánico Legacy Gala Spring 2023 (Rachel Neville/Ballet Hispánico)

Ballet Hispánico Legacy Gala Hosted by Ana Navarro with Sergio Trujillo Tributes The Miranda Family at The Plaza

Ana Navarro (The View) with Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, On Your Feet!) lead a star-filled tribute to The Miranda Family with dancing to the Spanish Harlem Orchestra.

NEW YORK CITY CENTER
THE PLAZA
Midtown, Manhattan
Thursday, June 1, 2023

Continue Reading Ballet Hispánico Legacy Gala Hosted by Ana Navarro with Sergio Trujillo Tributes The Miranda Family at The Plaza

Ballet Hispánico New York City Center Spring 2023, Forsythe "New Sleep" (Rachel Neville)

Ballet Hispánico Makes its Mark as America’s Largest Latinx Cultural Organization

Ballet Hispánico takes center stage with an iconic Forsythe ballet pas de deux that is danced on a diagonal, a literal Latinx.

NEW YORK CITY CENTER
Thursday-Saturday, June 1-3, 2023
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Continue Reading Ballet Hispánico Makes its Mark as America’s Largest Latinx Cultural Organization

Ballet Hispánico "Club Havana" (Rachel Neville/New York City Center)

Ballet Hispánico Leaps into the Top Tier of American Dance Companies

Ballet Hispánico takes the stage with a Forsythe ballet duet, new work by Michelle Manzanales and Omar Román de Jesús, and a company classic by Pedro Ruiz.

The opening night Legacy Gala honors The Miranda Family and features dancing to the Spanish Harlem Orchestra at The Plaza Hotel.

NEW YORK CITY CENTER
Thursday-Saturday, June 1-3, 2023
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Continue Reading Ballet Hispánico Leaps into the Top Tier of American Dance Companies

Dance Theatre of Harlem Spring 2023 (DTH/NYCC)

Dance Theatre of Harlem Bids Farewell to Artistic Director Virginia Johnson at New York City Center

New York Premieres of William Forsythe’s “Blake Works IV;” and a new Tiffany Rea-Fisher ballet set to DJ Erica Blunt, inspired by Hazel Scott.

Incoming Artistic Director Robert Garland’s hit “Higher Ground,” and departing Artistic Director Virginia Johnson’s favorite Balanchine, “Allegro Brillante.”

Dance Theatre of Harlem has come all the way back.

NEW YORK CITY CENTER
Midtown, Manhattan
Wednesday-Sunday, April 19-23, 2023
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Continue Reading Dance Theatre of Harlem Bids Farewell to Artistic Director Virginia Johnson at New York City Center

YAGP, Youth America Grand Prix Gala 2023 (courtesy)

The YAGP, Youth America Grand Prix Gala 2023 Returns to Lincoln Center

Tuesday, April 11, 2023
The “Stars of Today Meets the Stars of Tomorrow” Gala is our favorite ballet in New York. It’s a night with some of ballet’s biggest stars and the young winners of the Grand Prix competition.
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Continue Reading The YAGP, Youth America Grand Prix Gala 2023 Returns to Lincoln Center

Dance On Camera Festival 2023 (Ghostly Labor/John Jota Leaños and Vanessa Sanchez)

Dance on Camera Festival 2023 Brings Dance to the Big Screen at Film at Lincoln Center

Friday-Monday, February 10-13, 2023
FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER
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Continue Reading Dance on Camera Festival 2023 Brings Dance to the Big Screen at Film at Lincoln Center

Complexions Contemporary Ballet (Parkinson Sniper/Dreamstime)

Complexions Contemporary Ballet Dances the Purchase College Performing Arts Center

Saturday, February 4, 2023
PURCHASE COLLEGE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Purchase, New York
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Continue Reading Complexions Contemporary Ballet Dances the Purchase College Performing Arts Center

Indigenous NYC, Maria Tallchief (Everett Collection/Adobe)

Remember Maria TallChief (Osage Nation), America’s & NY City Ballet’s First Prima Ballerina Who Popularized The Nutcracker

Tuesday, January 24, 2023
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Continue Reading Remember Maria TallChief (Osage Nation), America’s & NY City Ballet’s First Prima Ballerina Who Popularized The Nutcracker

New York City Ballet, Balanchine's "Apollo" (NY City Ballet)

New York City Ballet Winter 2023 Season Brings New Justin Peck and Classic Sleeping Beauty to Lincoln Center

Tue-Sun, January 17 – February 26, 2023
DAVID H KOCH THEATER
Lincoln Center
 

Continue Reading New York City Ballet Winter 2023 Season Brings New Justin Peck and Classic Sleeping Beauty to Lincoln Center

New York City Ballet "George Balanchine's The Nutcracker" (NYCB)

New York City Ballet’s “George Balanchine The Nutcracker” 2023

Friday, November 24 – December 30, 2023
DAVID H KOCH THEATER
Lincoln Center

Continue Reading New York City Ballet’s “George Balanchine The Nutcracker” 2023

American Ballet Theatre 2022 Fall Season (Lightfield Studios/Adobe)

American Ballet Theatre 2022 Fall Season at the David H Koch Theater Features the World Premiere of “Lifted” with an All-Black Cast

Thursday, October 20-30, 2022
DAVID H KOCH THEATER
Lincoln Center
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Continue Reading American Ballet Theatre 2022 Fall Season at the David H Koch Theater Features the World Premiere of “Lifted” with an All-Black Cast

World Ballet Day (Andriy Bezuglov)

World Ballet Day 2022 Takes You Behind the Scenes at the World’s Leading Ballet Companies

Wednesday, November 2, 2022
STREAMING
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Continue Reading World Ballet Day 2022 Takes You Behind the Scenes at the World’s Leading Ballet Companies

New York City Ballet, Balanchine's "Apollo" (NY City Ballet)

New York City Ballet 2022 Fall Season is Something Old & Something New

September 20 – October 16, 2022
DAVID H KOCH THEATER
Lincoln Center
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Continue Reading New York City Ballet 2022 Fall Season is Something Old & Something New

BAAND Together Dance Festival 2022: Ballet Hispánico, NY City Ballet, ABT, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Dan Jackson/Lincoln Center)

The BAAND Together Dance Festival 2022 Brings Ailey, ABT, Ballet Hispánico, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and City Ballet to Lincoln Center for Free!

Tuesday-Saturday, August 9-13, 2022
LINCOLN CENTER
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Continue Reading The BAAND Together Dance Festival 2022 Brings Ailey, ABT, Ballet Hispánico, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and City Ballet to Lincoln Center for Free!

NYC Dance Week 2022 (Iakov Filimonov/Dreamstime)

NYC Dance Week is 10 Days of Free Dance, Fitness & Wellness Classes

Thu, June 9 – Sat, June 18, 2022
ALL OVER NYC
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Continue Reading NYC Dance Week is 10 Days of Free Dance, Fitness & Wellness Classes

BAAND Together Dance Festival (Andrew Eccles/Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre)

The BAAND Together Dance Festival Presents NYC’s Iconic Dance Companies Outdoors at Lincoln Center

DAMROSCH PARK
Lincoln Center
Tuesday-Saturday, August 17-21, 2021
Workshops 4pm, Shows 7:30pm
FREE

Continue Reading The BAAND Together Dance Festival Presents NYC’s Iconic Dance Companies Outdoors at Lincoln Center


Ballet Companies in NYC

American Ballet Theatre

Complexions Contemporary Ballet

Dance Theatre of Harlem

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo

New York City Ballet


Ballet Theaters in NYC

David H Koch Theater

Joyce Theater

Metropolitan Opera House

New York City Center


Ballet Festivals in NYC

World Ballet Day

YAGP Youth America Grand Prix


Origins of Ballet

Ballet was originally the classical music dance.

Ballet is a Latin dance. It’s an Italian court dance, developed in France, preserved in Russia and Denmark after the French Revolution (1789-99), relaunched to the Americas by Ballets Russes of Paris (1909-29), and launched in New York City by George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein in 1934.

Argentina, Brazil and Cuba have world-class ballet traditions. For dancers across Latin America, training and performing in Cuba is a jumping off point to an NYC dance career.

Ballet is an Italian court dance, developed in France, preserved in Russia and Denmark, and popularized across the Americas by Ballet Russes out of Paris.

George Balanchine is the father of ballet in the United States.

Italian Origins

Ballet is a fifteenth-century Italian court dance brought to France by Italian Queen of France and later Queen Mother Catherine de’ Medici (from the Italian banking family of Florence).

She doesn’t deserve any respect because to stay in power, she set her own people to fight each other.

French Development

In France, ballet developed in the royal court of King Louis XIV. The “Sun King” loved to party.

The dance almost died when the French Revolution ended the royal court in 1789. It was preserved in the Russian and Danish royal courts.

Ballet Russes Rebirth and Modernization

In the modern era, ballet was popularized across the Americas by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes (1909-1929) out of Paris, France.

Ballets Russes established the ballet tradition of collaborating with great visual artists of the time. Its American heir, New York City Ballet, continues the tradition.

A Ballets Russes dancer became one of ballet’s most important choreographers. George Balanchine (1904-1983) was a link from ballet’s past to its future. He was trained in Imperial Ballet technique in St Petersburg. That’s old school.

With his choreography “Apollo” (1929), Balanchine transformed classical ballet, with its grand sets, costumes, and stories into neoclassical ballet with minimal staging and less or no story.

His trend towards minimalist abstraction put the focus on the movement and the dancers, including the men.

American Ballet

Balanchine came to New York City to found a ballet school because he didn’t think Americans danced very well.

He founded the School of American Ballet and New York City Ballet.

“Mr. B” brought lessons from his work on Broadway and in Hollywood into the ballet, and continued his neoclassical development. That led to Balanchine’s black & white leotard ballets that are pure dance without story, staging or costume.

He also developed the leadership of Dance Theater of Harlem. Washington Ballet and Miami City Ballet are also Balanchine technique.

Balanchine and America’s first prima ballerina Maria Tallchief (Native American Osage Nation) transformed “The Nutcracker” from an obscure choreography into the world’s most popular ballet. Nutcracker performances now support ballet companies all year long.

Ballet training starts early and is expensive, so it’s long been a sport for rich kids. We tend to lack the technique that years of training produces. Balanchine loved the skinny waif body type. Many Latins have, shall we say “derrière,” and we used to regularly be told that we don’t have the right bodies for ballet. That’s nonsense.

Lourdes Lopez at New York City Ballet and Misty Copeland at American Ballet Theatre broke the mold. So did Carlos Acosta, Julio Bocca and Arthur Mitchell. We dance with the best. Don’t let anybody tell you that ballet isn’t for Latins.

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