NYC Ballet Fall 2025: All Balanchine
Isabella LaFreniere in George Balanchine’s Swan Lake. Photo credit: Erin Baiano.
On September 16, 2025, New York City Ballet raised the curtain on their Fall season, presenting the first of their All Balanchine programs for an exciting evening of dance.
Opening the night was ‘Donizetti Variations,’ which adapts music from his opera ‘Don Sebastian’ to create an upbeat and effervescent series of movements. The corps entered with three trios of dancers, displaying ease and charm through their relaxed yet refined steps and changing figures executed in great sync between themselves and their groups.
Joseph Gordon and Megan Fairchild in George Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations. Photo credit: Erin Baiano.
Dancing the soloist roles were Megan Fairchild and Joseph Gordon, who proved a capable and exciting pair as they flowed on and off stage through the ensuing variations. From brisk lifts punctuated with brief arabesques, to charming chaines delivered almost in dialogue with each other, the two opened with a sparkling energy to start things off. The adagio sections provided ample time for them to demonstrate their control as they relished in the slower, lyrical movements, featuring supported penchees and a series of turns from which Fairchild quickly hops upward to be gently set again. These qualities built wonderfully as Fairchild softly chaines into Gordon’s hands, just before her arabesque turns under his embrace to a beautifully soft cambre to close.
Between the breadth of the musically-rich passages and entrancing choreography, the piece itself is a splendid showcase of classical virtuosity and NYCB delivered it with finesse, starting the season off without a hitch.
Filling out the middle of the program was ‘Ballade,’ set to Gabriel Faure’s ‘Ballade for piano and orchestra, Op. 19.’ This selection was truly fascinating for the way it blended neoclassical movements with the mesmerizing tonality of Faure’s style. On the piano was Hanna Hyunjung Kim, accompanying dancers Mira Nadon and Peter Walker.
Mira Nadon and Peter Walker in George Balanchine’s Ballade. Photo credit: Erin Baian
From Nadon’s entrance, she intimated great expressivity through the swaying pointe and sense of exploring the stage before she is quickly taken up by Walker for some delicate pair work. Their choreography is often underscored with a wave-like quality as they often swayed before and behind their centers of gravity. Despite this gentle technique, they did not lack for energy as they often broke into brief chases, or executed swift series of pivots and flowing postures.
Throughout this shorter piece, there was an abundant sense of beauty as well as freedom, with Kim’s utterly hypnotic arpeggios often leading the spectacle to intoxicating heights.
Rounding out the program was the company’s one-act staging of ‘Swan Lake,” which distills the beloved work into its lakeside dances for a thrilling journey of utterly romantic passages. In particular, I was taken with the set and costume design which places the work in a vast cavern of icicles, and all the cursed swans are garbed in black like the infamous Odille, creating a stunning contrast of light and dark. From the delicacy of the entr’acte and the passing background swans, to the monstrous and imposing appearance of Von Rothbart, this setting created a fantastical atmosphere which I found charming and reminiscent of NYCB’s production of ‘The Nutcracker.’
sabella LaFreniere and Chun Wai Chan in George Balanchine’s Swan Lake. Photo credit: Erin Baiano
Dancing the lead roles were Isabella LaFreniere and Chun Wai Chan as Odette and Siegfried. Despite the lack of time to establish character given the nature of the piece, they quickly swept the audience in their unfolding drama as they began their pas de deux with both affection and elegance.
LaFreniere opened with a suitable frailty as she’s supported through soft turns in promenade to deep falls which evoked flying over the ground’s surface, building a lovely sense of grace and vulnerability to carry her through the choreography. Chan made for a gallant figure as he pursued the swan princess, supporting her with strength and ease through various series of high lifts and dives, as well as displaying his great athleticism through the later variations of touring leaps and strong pirouettes.
This selection was a highly thrilling conclusion to the night’s dances as the audience responded with much applause, and I found the staging a truly enchanting way to re-explore such a well-known work.
Running through September, this program of works makes for a splendid start to any dance lover’s season, and a powerful case for what the rest of the year with New York City Ballet will bring.
-written by Logan Martell.