new york city ballet

Spend enough time watching George Balanchine’s ballets, and you start to believe that he could express anything on the stage. Friday’s all-Balanchine New York City Ballet program at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center progressed from tragic romance to comic celebration, with Swan Lake and Stars and Stripes marking its emotional poles.

The New York City Ballet’s riches include its priceless repertory of ballets, especially those by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. It might surprise us, then, that the company commissions more new dances than any other ballet troupe. Thursday night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, four of these contemporary works demonstrated the great variety of ways in which NYCB keeps pirouetting into the future.

The New York City Ballet returned to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Tuesday night with tantalizing tastes of the full banquets to come. Principal dancers Adrian Danchig-Waring and Unity Phelan emceed the NYCB On and Off Stage program with intelligence, wit, and a full smorgasbord of ballet commentary on the excerpts the company danced, as well as the full ballets they will stage through Saturday night.

Saratoga Performing Arts Center welcomes the New York City Ballet this week. The season features four unique programs from tonight -July 13th as part of NYCB’s historic 75thanniversary and its 58th season in Saratoga. We welcome New York City Ballet Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford with a preview.

Sufjan Stevens’ 2005 concept album “Illinois” enjoys cult status for its lush orchestrations and inventive lyrics. Tony Award-winner and Resident Choreographer of the New York City Ballet, Justin Peck, has transformed the album, with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of 2018’s “Fairview” Jackie Sibblies Drury, into a full-length theatrical performance that blends dance, theater, live music and storytelling into a breathtakingly emotional coming-of-age journey. “Illinoise” was presented at the Bard Fisher Center in summer of 2023 as a SummerScape commission. The Bard staging and the off-Broadway production at Park Avenue Armory earlier this year were sold out, highly praised, and “Illinoise” transferred to the St. James Theatre on Broadway this month. Opening night was April 24 and the limited engagement is scheduled to end on August 10. This morning, it was announced that “Illinoise” has been nominated for 4 Tony Awards.

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) will welcome back its resident companies -- New York City Ballet and The Philadelphia Orchestra -- to their summer home in Saratoga for a celebratory season that will feature masterworks from the classical cannon, alongside SPAC premieres and debuts. Before they arrive, SPAC will host the Freihofers Saratoga Jazz Festival, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will continue their residency, there educational programs and CulinaryArts@SPAC events. President and CEO of SPAC Elizabeth Sobol, and Vice President of Artistic Planning at SPAC Christopher Shiley join us to tell us more.

The New York City Ballet returns to Saratoga Performing Arts Center this week for a series of performances beginning tonight and running through July 22nd.The four unique programs highlighted by SPAC include premieres by Kyle Abraham, Justin Peck, and a program featuring three story ballets: Swan Lake, Fancy Free, and Firebird.The New York City Ballet performed at the opening ceremony for the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in 1966 and returns each year for their summer residency.To tell us more, we welcome Artistic Director of New York City Ballet and the School of American Ballet Jonathan Stafford. A former NYCB Principal Dancer, he retired from performing in May 2014 and was named one of NYCB’s Ballet Masters.

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) is ready to welcome back its resident companies -- New York City Ballet and The Philadelphia Orchestra -- to their summer home in Saratoga for a celebratory season that will feature masterworks from the classical cannon, alongside SPAC premieres and debuts.And there is an amazing amount of other cool things happening as well. To find out what is on tap – we welcome our friends from SPAC and getting the run-down.We do so this morning with Elizabeth Sobol, president and CEO and Christopher Shiley - Vice President of Artistic Planning of Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) has announced the return of its resident companies -- New York City Ballet and The Philadelphia Orchestra -- to their summer home in Saratoga for a celebratory season that will feature masterworks from the classical cannon, alongside SPAC premieres and debuts. And there is an amazing Spring Season coming as well. SPAC President and CEO Elizabeth Sobol and Vice President of Artistic Planning Christopher Shiley join us.

Jay Rogoff continues his reviews of the New York City Ballet at Saratoga Performing Arts Center.