American Ballet Theatre (ABT) featured a major two-part residency at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the 2025–26 season. The Company presented a Fall Season, October 15–November 1, 2025, followed by its inaugural Spring Season, March 6–21, 2026. These engagements highlight ABT’s breadth of repertory, from beloved classics to bold new creations, bringing audiences a chance to see both history and innovation unfold onstage.

2025 Fall Season

The Fall engagement at the Koch Theater featured programs honoring ABT’s 85th anniversary while celebrating the vision of choreographers past and present.

• World Premiere: On October 29, ABT unveiled Have We Met?! by Juliano Nunes, marking his first work for the Company. Set to music by composer Luke Howard, this new ballet explores the connection between two inseparable souls across different lifetimes, with stage design by Youssef Hotait and lighting by Brad Fields.

• Company Premiere: The season opened on October 15 with Twyla Tharp’s Sextet, a work for three couples set to an eclectic score by Colin Jacobsen, Café Tacvba, and Ljova. Sextet joins Bach Partita and Push Comes to Shove in Twyla@60: A Tharp Celebration, a tribute to Tharp’s six decades of groundbreaking work.

• ABT@85 Retrospectives: A series of repertory evenings showcased choreographic milestones including Fokine’s Les Sylphides, Tudor’s witty Gala Performance, and de Mille’s American classic Rodeo.

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• Classics to the Contemporary: This program (October 25–28) blends the purity of Petipa’s The Kingdom of the Shades with Act III of The Sleeping Beauty. Additional highlights include Christian Spuck’s playful Le Grand Pas de Deux, Twyla Tharp’s Known by Heart pas de deux, Victor Gsovsky’s Grand Pas Classique, Frederick Ashton’s Rhapsody pas de deux (Company Premiere), and Alexei Ratmansky’s Neo.

• Innovations Past and Present: A program running October 29–November 1 spotlighted works that define ABT’s present and future: Juliano Nunes’s World Premiere, Ratmansky’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium, and Balanchine’s Theme and Variations.

Special events include a Halloween Family Program on October 31, inviting audiences in costume for a lighthearted evening, and ABTKids on November 1, hosted by Misty Copeland with family-friendly pricing and activities.

Fall Gala Celebration Honoring Misty Copeland

A highlight of the Fall Season was ABT Fall Gala on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, honoring Misty Copeland as she enters her farewell season with the Company. This special event took place at the Koch Theater brought together leaders from the worlds of dance, philanthropy, fashion, and culture.

Program Highlights

The gala program has been shaped by Copeland and ABT Artistic Director Susan Jaffe and included:

• A World Premiere pièce d’occasion choreographed by Kyle Abraham, danced by Copeland and Calvin Royal III.

• Copeland with Royal in the balcony pas de deux from MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet.

• Copeland with Herman Cornejo in an excerpt from Tharp’s Sinatra Suite.

• Additional repertory selections including Swan Lake (Seo & Stearns), Balanchine’s Theme and Variations(Teuscher & Bell), and a performance by ABT Studio Company.

The evening featured video tributes highlighting Copeland’s career and special messages from Debbie Allen and Oprah Winfrey.

2026 Spring Season

ABT’s first-ever Spring Season at the Koch Theater showcased a mix of dramatic storytelling and celebrated repertory, expanding the Company’s presence at Lincoln Center beyond the fall.

• Lar Lubovitch’s Othello returned for the first time since 2015, with eight performances in March. The full-length ballet, set to a commissioned score by Elliot Goldenthal, is a gripping retelling of Shakespeare’s tragedy through powerful dance.

• Alexei Ratmansky’s Firebird, inspired by Russian folklore and set to Stravinsky’s iconic score, was performed in nine shows. The ballet combines bold visual design with Ratmansky’s inventive choreography.

  

• George Balanchine’s Mozartiana was featured in select performances, offering audiences one of the choreographer’s late masterpieces, set to Tchaikovsky’s Suite No. 4.

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  Raymonda: Grand Pas Hongrois, an excerpt from Petipa’s full-length Raymonda, accompanied Firebird on select dates, presenting a celebratory finale of classical grandeur.

The season also included the ABT Masters Series, immersive day-long workshops for adults with classes at ABT’s 890 Broadway studios, followed by an evening performance at the Koch Theater.