The Joffrey Ballet has announced its 2025-26 season under the artistic direction of Ashley Wheater. It’s a multi-milestone year for the ballet company, whose 70th season includes the Chicago premiere of ballets by Liam Scarlett and Yuri Possokhov plus a mixed-repertory program of works by Martha Graham, Joffrey co-founders Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, and original company member Glen Tetley. The season also marks 30 years since the New York company relocated to Chicago, and a decade with Christopher Wheeldon’s “The Nutcracker.”
“Carmen” (Sept. 18-28): The Joffrey has become a caretaker for several works by late choreographer Liam Scarlett, including last season’s terrific production of “Frankenstein.” Initially created for Norwegian National Ballet in 2015, a wordless take on the iconic Georges Bizet opera, performed here for the first time on U.S. soil, “Carmen” transports audiences to 1930s Spain on the brink of civil war — and a woman who refuses to play by society’s rules.
“The Nutcracker” (Dec. 5-28): The Joffrey launched its Chicago-themed production of the holiday classic 10 years ago. To celebrate, their 1893 World’s Fair adaptation will also be featured on the city’s largest projection screen, Art on the Mart, from Nov. 2 to Dec. 28.
“American Icons” (Feb. 19 to March 1, 2026): A throw-back program honoring Joffrey’s history includes Robert Joffrey’s sentimental “Remembrances,” co-founder and once chief choreographer Gerald Arpino’s jubilant “Kettentanz,” and founding company member Glen Tetley’s 1973 “Voluntaries,” created as a tribute for choreographer John Cranko. As the cherry on top, the Joffrey dancers tackle Martha Graham’s idiosyncratic style for the first time in decades, restaging her playful, plotless 1962 work, “Secular Games.”
“Eugene Onegin” (June 4-14, 2026): Ukrainian choreographer Yuri Possokhov built a tragic, cinematic world with his 2019 adaptation of “Anna Karenina.” Now, he looks to Pushkin’s 19th century novel “Eugene Onegin” in a new co-production with the San Francisco Ballet — with which Wheater and Possokhov have deep ties. As with “Karenina,” Ilya Demutsky will create the original score.
All season performances take place at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, with live accompaniment by the Lyric Opera Orchestra. Season subscriptions (excluding “The Nutcracker”) start at $135 and are available at 312-386-8905 and joffrey.org. Tickets go on sale this summer.
Additionally, the annual Winning Works competition highlighting up-and-coming choreographers at the Museum of Contemporary Arts takes place in March 2026. And a first-ever retrospective exhibition on the Joffrey finally comes to Chicago after being on display in New York last year. “The Joffrey + Ballet in the U.S.” is scheduled for Oct. 3 through Jan. 31, 2026, at Wrightwood 659, 659 W. Wrightwood Ave.; wrightwood659.org.
Lauren Warnecke is a freelance critic.
