{"id":350496,"date":"2026-09-18T20:14:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T20:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/350496\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T20:14:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T20:14:19","slug":"new-york-city-centers-2026-fall-for-dance-festival-features-ballet-world-premieres-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/350496\/","title":{"rendered":"New York City Center\u2019s 2026 Fall for Dance Festival Features Ballet, World Premieres, and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

As September\u2019s end nears, New York City Center\u2019s annual Fall for Dance Festival<\/a> returns with a wide range of performances spanning everything from ballet and modern to tap and flamenco. With 10 days of performances divided into five programs, the event caters to both long-time dance fans and curious new viewers for only $30 a ticket. This year\u2019s festival runs September 22\u2013October 3 and includes 11 premieres, including two NYCC commissions.<\/p>\n

As always, Fall for Dance features a variety of genres, with performances by the Martha Graham Dance Company, A.I.M, Philadanco, and more. Ballet lovers can expect to see artists from The Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and The Australian Ballet, as well as new works choreographed and performed by former New York City Ballet principal Robbie Fairchild and The Stuttgart Ballet\u2019s Friedemann Vogel.<\/p>\n

Read on to learn more about Fall for Dance\u2019s ballet highlights.<\/p>\n

\"AaronAran Bell and Skylar Brandt. Photo by Arthur Elgort, courtesy NYCC.<\/p>\n

Program 1: A.I.M by Kyle Abraham; Skylar Brandt and Aran Bell; Martha Graham Dance Company<\/p>\n

September 22\u201323<\/p>\n

The festival\u2019s first program features American Ballet Theatre principals Skylar Brandt and Aran Bell in Gerald Arpino\u2019s L\u2019Air d\u2019Esprit, a classical pas de deux set to rarely heard music from Giselle. Romantic and complex, L\u2019Air d\u2019Esprit was originally choreographed in 1978 by Gerald Arpino for the Joffrey Ballet as a tribute to the great ballerina Olga Spessivtseva.<\/p>\n

Program 2: Philadanco, Robbie Fairchild\u2019s Players, Boston Ballet<\/p>\n

September 24\u201325<\/p>\n

Program 2 will feature Robbie Fairchild\u2019s Players in the world premiere preview of Fairchild\u2019s choreographic and directorial debut, Lord Chamberlain\u2019s Men. The work, a co-commission with Guild Hall<\/a> and NYCC, blends dance and theater to explore the potential origin of Shakespeare\u2019s Romeo and Juliet. (Check out a behind-the-scenes video here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\"RobbieVincenzo di Primo and Robbie Fairchild rehearse Lord Chamberlains Men. Photo by Dane Dupuis, courtsey of NYCC.\"AArtists of Boston Ballet in Akram Khan\u2019s Vertical Road (Reimagined) 2023. Photo by Theik Smith, courtesy Boston Ballet.<\/p>\n

Boston Ballet closes the program with Akram Khan\u2019s Vertical Road (Reimagined) 2023. An exploration of humanity\u2019s nature, rituals, and the consequences of actions, the work draws inspiration from the Persian poet and philosopher Rumi, along with aspects of Sufi tradition. Khan, who originally choreographed Vertical Road in 2010, reworked the piece on Boston Ballet in 2023. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Program 3: Juan Tom\u00e1s de la Mol\u00eda, Lior Tavori Dance Company, The Royal Ballet<\/p>\n

September 26\u201327<\/p>\n

Program 3 features the U.S. premiere of The McRae\/Vassilev Project, a collaboration between Royal Ballet principal Steven McRae and Royal Opera House principal guest concert master Vasko Vassilev. Choreographed by Loughlan Prior<\/a>, the work debuted earlier this month in London and stars McRae alongside fellow Royal Ballet principal Sarah Lamb.<\/p>\n

\"InSteven McRae with Vasko Vassilev. Photo courtesy NYCC.<\/p>\n

The work, inspired by legendary violinist Niccol\u00f2 Paganini, combines ballet, tap, and live music accompaniment featuring Vassilev and accomplished pianist Pamela Tan-Nicholson. In a press release, McRae noted the immediate understanding he and Vassilev have through music: \u201cMy dancing and his music became one, proof of my belief that music and dance are a marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Program 4: San Francisco Ballet, Friedemann Vogel, Gauthier Dance\/\/Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart<\/p>\n

September 30\u2013October 1<\/p>\n

San Francisco Ballet opens Program 4 with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui\u2019s Faun, a contemporary duet that reimagines Vaslav Nijinsky\u2019s 1912 ballet L\u2019Apr\u00e8s-midi d\u2019un faune. Claude Debussy\u2019s famous score is supplemented with original music by Nitin Sawhney, which starkly contrasts the flowing melody.<\/p>\n

\"InJacey Gailliard and Wei Wang rehearsing Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui\u2019s Faun. Photo by Lindsey Rallo, courtesy NYCC.\"FriedmannFriedemann Vogel. Photo by Roman Novitzky, courtesy NYCC.<\/p>\n

Following that is Stuttgart Ballet star Friedemann Vogel\u2019s world premiere of ECHO:SOG, a solo he co-choreographed with Thomas Lempertz to J.S. Bach\u2019s Chaconne in D Minor. Gauthier Dance, a contemporary company founded by former Stuttgart Ballet dancer Eric Gauthier, closes the program with Hofesh Shechter\u2019s experimental Any way the wind blows.<\/p>\n

Program 5: Pony Cam, Miami City Ballet, The Australian Ballet<\/p>\n

October 2\u20133<\/p>\n

The final program features Miami City Ballet in Alexei Ratmansky\u2019s Roses from the South: Three Waltzes for Toby<\/a>, which premiered in February. The ballet, set to music by Johann Strauss II, is an elegant tribute to Toby Lerner Ansin, the company\u2019s founder.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AdamThe Australian Ballet\u2019s Adam Elmes and Callum Linnane in Stephanie Lake\u2019s Seven Days. Photo by Kate Longley, courtesy NYCC.<\/p>\n

Finally, The Australian Ballet closes out Fall for Dance with resident choreographer Stephanie Lake\u2019s Seven Days. Performed by a cast of seven dancers to Bach\u2019s Goldberg Variations, the ballet unfolds in seven looping variations. On her website<\/a>, Lake says the piece makes for an interesting dynamic by \u201ccolliding\u201d her contemporary style with the dancers\u2019 classical training: \u201cYou\u2019d think they\u2019d be worlds apart when, in fact, they\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the festival, The Australian Ballet is sticking around, with performances of Christopher Wheeldon\u2019s Oscar<\/a> at NYCC (October 8\u201311).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As September\u2019s end nears, New York City Center\u2019s annual Fall for Dance Festival returns with a wide range…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350497,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[16478,130948,130949,9,24,3901,55,54,56],"class_list":["post-350496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-city-center","tag-dance-festival","tag-fall-for-dance-festival-2026","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-center","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}