What goes in your cart when you are scrolling? Is it the same thing you got last time or is it something different? Maybe something catches your eye and you take the risk and drop it into your shopping cart. Well, in this season’s lineup for dance in Palm Beach, there is a something to like for everyone.
The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts has restocked its dance offerings this season with some exciting picks while Miami City Ballet has maintained its limited programming, appearing only briefly at the Kravis Center and a runout at Glazer Hall. Meanwhile, the Duncan Theatre has expanded the variety offered in its popular modern dance series by including Irish dance and a ballet company. For the dance lover, there is a nice variety from which to choose. Put those favorites in your shopping cart but for a little thrill be sure to add something a little out of your comfort zone.
MIAMI CITY BALLET
Miami City Ballet, which has always been a big attraction, is presenting the inaugural season of the company’s new artistic director, Gonzalo Garcia — five different programs at five venues (including two in New York City) which will spread out over almost eight months. It is an impressive offering but the lineup for the Kravis is just as slim as it was last season and the season before. Only two programs are being offered and both are much later in the season than usual when many of the seasonal viewers may have already left Palm Beach.
Icons and Innovators, the first program at the Kravis, is scheduled for two performances April 17, and one on April 18. The program pairs the neoclassicism of the iconic George Balanchine with two of today’s ballet choreographers who are making a mark for themselves — Tiler Peck, a well-known New York City ballerina and emerging choreographer, and Justin Peck, a former New York City Ballet dancer who currently serves as their resident choreographer.
The program opens with Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, created in 1941 as an homage to the spectacle and grandeur of the Russian Imperial ballet tradition. The newest work on the program will be a commissioned world premiere by Tiler Peck that will mark her first collaboration with Miami City Ballet. Rounding out the program is Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes, choreographed by Justin Peck, which premiered in 2015 and was last seen at the Kravis in 2020. Peck, who is no relation to Tiler Peck, reimagined Aaron Copland’s iconic Americana score through the lens of contemporary ballet, creating a high-energy and athletic ensemble work for the cast, which is dominated by men. This work is considered by many to be one of Peck’s most thrilling ballets, as it focuses on pure movement without the original rodeo interpretation.
Miami City Ballet’s full-length adaptation of Swan Lake will return to the Kravis, having been presented in 2022 for its debut season as well as in 2024. Set by the renowned choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, the resplendent production of this famous romantic tragedy hosts a large cast of more than 50 dancers, rich costumes and gorgeous sets and is set to a sweeping score by Tchaikovsky that will be performed live by the Miami City Ballet Orchestra. Performances are May 7-9.
If you are interested in seeing any of the other MCB programs scheduled for this season, you will have to travel to Fort Lauderdale and/or Miami — except for one other performance on Palm Beach island. Glazer Hall, on the site of the former Royal Poinciana Playhouse in Palm Beach, will present Miami City Ballet in a program called American Odyssey on November 21, featuring two Balanchine works — Allegro Brillante and the “Rubies” section of Jewels — and a New World Symphony collaboration called Choreographic Concerto, featuring works by five choreographers paired with five contemporary American composers (Kevin Puts, Jennifer Higdon, Carlos Simon, Michael Abels and Sarah Kirkland Snider). Tickets are steep at $125-$150, but it offers Palm Beach County another chance to see this company. Glazer Hall’s dance series opened earlier this year with performances by American Ballet Theatre, Pilobolus and BodyTraffic; its spring season of dance had not been announced by presstime.
The company’s 2026-27 season formally opens with American Rhythms, a mixed bill that highlights Allegro Brillante with a world premiere by Miami-born, Tony Award-winning choreographer and former MCB Principal Dancer Patricia Delgado (who is married to Justin Peck) and concludes with the company premiere of Jerome Robbins’s N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz. The American Rhythms program will be shown at the Arsht Center in Miami on Oct. 16-18 and at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale on Oct. 24-25.
MCB will then celebrate the holidays with a plethora of performances of Balanchine’s setting of The Nutcracker at the Arsht Center December 11-27. That will be followed by the MCB debut of Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which will be first presented at the Arsht Center on February 25-March 7 and then at the Broward Center on March 18-21.
KRAVIS CENTER DANCE SERIES
It is noteworthy that the Kravis Center has its own strong and diverse dance lineup for the 2026/27 season, starting with the return of the groundbreaking street dance company of Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater on November 7 and 8 at the Rinker Playhouse. Choreographer Harris believes hip-hop culture can help bridge racial, religious and economic divisions, and his vibrant ensemble, which embraces the rich traditions of the past while presenting the voice of a new generation, brings a new style of social dance to the concert that challenges expectations of hip-hop and street dance.
Then on November 18 in Dreyfoos Hall, the fabulous, illusionistic dance company Momix returns to our area with its surreal full-evening work Botanica. This a surreal, visual journey through nature’s ever-changing imagery and rhythms. The combination of the energy and athleticism of the company’s world-class dancers, an eclectic score that spans from the song of a bird to Vivaldi, together with lush cinematic projections, whimsical puppetry and gravity-defying props, makes Botanica a memorable immersive experience.
The Italian performing arts company NoGravity Theatre, founded by Emiliano Pellisari and directed in collaboration with lead dancer Mariana Porceddu, will present Divine Comedy Reloaded, a production that also pushes the boundaries of theatrical illusion as mirror images of the dancers interact with their stage action. The performance will be held at Dreyfoos Hall on January 23.
The one-night-only performances continue February 13 at Dreyfoos Hall with one of the most acclaimed dance companies in the world, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. This not-to-be-missed company has performed in more than 70 countries on six continents and has a repertoire of more than 300 works. The program is sure to include new works by some of today’s most exciting and upwardly mobile contemporary choreographers as well as celebrated works by founder Alvin Ailey.
Closing out the season March 27 for the Kravis dance lineup, Camille A. Brown and Dancers will perform I AM. For more than 10 years, Brown has been racking up a long list of accolades for her work on Broadway including and not limited to an Obie Award and five Tony Award nominations. The NYC-based dance company features Brown’s whirlwind choreography, which is a blend of modern, hip-hop, African, tap, and social dance. I AM was selected as a 2025 New York Times Critics’ Pick for breaking boundaries and taking African diasporic dance forms to new heights.
DUNCAN MODERN DANCE SERIES
The Duncan Theatre, who hosts the well-attended Friday and Saturday Modern Dance Series at Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth, has been a cornerstone in the dance season in Palm Beach County for ages. Its loyal audience returns year after year, avidly participates in the after-performance talkbacks and can be seen attending many other dance events.
Its series will begin on January 29 and 30 with the Trinity Irish Dance Company, a uniquely Irish-American dance troupe that was founded in 1990 by Mark Howard, whose pioneering work as a choreographer significantly changed the direction and scope of Irish dance. These new avenues of artistic freedom ignited the traditional art form of Irish step dance into a phenomenon that directly led to popular commercial productions such as Riverdance.
Then on March 5 and 6, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel’s birth, Rioult Dance will present an evening dedicated to the ballet music of the visionary French composer who has deeply inspired choreographer Pascal Rioult throughout his choreographic career. Featured in the program are three works by Rioult set to Ravel’s iconic scores — Boléro, Wien (Vienna) and a new creation set to Daphnis et Chloé.
Parsons Dance is an immensely popular contemporary American dance company that was founded in 1985 by Artistic Director David Parsons and Tony Award-winning lighting designer Howell Binkley. Known for its high-energy, athletic, and joyful style, the company has toured the world performing in more than 445 cities, 30 countries, and five continents. Parsons Dance has been a deservedly popular item on the menu at the Duncan Theatre, as this will be the fourth time since 2018 that they have been on the series. The shows are set for March 19 and 20.
American Ballet Theatre (ABT) Studio Company, the junior company of American Ballet Theatre, which features rising stars of the ballet world between the ages of 16 and 21, will close the Duncan Theatre’s season April 2 and 3. The company prepares these outstanding young dancers, who hail from across the globe, to enter the professional world of ballet. In fact, nearly 85 perecent of current American Ballet Theatre dancers are alumni of the Studio Company and many of this junior company’s graduates go on to dance for other leading ballet companies in the United States and abroad.
BALLET PALM BEACH
Ballet Palm Beach is a professional ballet company located in Palm Beach Gardens that is celebrating its 25th anniversary season with an ambitious lineup of ballets inspired by literary masterpieces, family favorites and world premieres. This season also marks founding Artistic and Executive Director Colleen Smith’s 50 years of work in professional ballet for Palm Beach County.
The Palm Beach Gardens-based company’s season launches October 22-24 at the Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. This is the newest of the long collection of Smith’s “page-to-stage” original works that the company has presented during its 25 year history.
Then December 4-6 at Dreyfoos Hall at the Kravis, Ballet Palm Beach presents its version of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, which has become a tradition for the company. On March 5-7 at the Rinker Playhouse, the company will present a poignant new work tells that tells the story of the tragic young diarist Anne Frank, a victim of the Nazis in World War II. Honoring her legacy, Anne Frank showcases the dangers of hatred and prejudice while inspiring kindness, understanding, and hope in the modern world. This program receives support from the Palm Beach Center to Combat Antisemitism and Hatred.
Next up is everyone’s favorite, the classic rags-to-riches tale of Cinderella. Ballet Palm Beach’s production of Cinderella, which is filled with conniving stepsisters, a fairy godmother and of course, a handsome prince, and is set to a lush score by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, is a wonderful story ballet for audiences of all ages. It will be presented April 9–11 at the Rinker Playhouse.
And finally on June 26 performing back at Dreyfoos Hall, a joyful tale of romantic mayhem will unfold in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Here, magic and mischief take center stage where a cheeky sprite sets out to confuse lovers and set fairies feuding in the moonlight of a forest.
BOCA BALLET THEATRE
Once again, Boca Ballet Theatre will be the earliest to launch the holiday season early with their full-length production of the Edith and Martin Stein Family Foundation’s The Nutcracker on November 27, 28 and 29. Choreographed by company founder Dan Guin, the performances at the Olympic Heights High School Performing Arts Theater in Boca Raton, the company’s performance space, are always well-attended.
On April 17-18, the company presents Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare’s tragic story of two star-crossed lovers from feuding families in Verona is set to a classic score by Sergei Prokofiev. Boca Ballet Theatre’s final offering for the season is set for July 31-August 1 with a production of Petipa’s La Bayadère, presented by dancers taking part in Boca Ballet’s five-week summer intensive, The Directors’ Summer. The program will bring six renowned classical and contemporary dance leaders to work with the 36 young dancers in the program.
HARID CONSERVATORY
The Harid Conservatory, the Boca Raton-based tuition-free professional training school for gifted young dancers from around the world, will present two programs of high-quality dance performances.
The 2026 Winter Performances are scheduled for December 18-20. Just in time for the holidays, the festive program will consist of divertissements from Act II of The Nutcracker, as well as other classical ballets, modern dances and character dances.
The 2027 Spring Performances, which are traditionally a mix of classical and contemporary ballets highlighting Harid’s graduating Class of 2027, will be performed on May 21-23.
Both programs will be at the Countess de Hoernle Theatre which is located on the campus of Spanish River Community High School in Boca Raton.