Spotlight
New York City Ballet’s 2026 Fall Season will bring together landmark works, new commissions and significant revivals across four weeks of performances beginning September 22. The season opens with George Balanchine’s Jewels and continues with repertory by Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Christopher Wheeldon, and Alexei Ratmansky. At the annual Fall Fashion Gala on October 1, the Company will present three world premieres by Jennifer Archibald, Justin Peck, and Alysa Pires, created in collaboration with leading fashion designers. Support from Emily Blavatnik and the Blavatnik Family Foundation is making possible Peck’s new pas de deux, featuring costumes by Simone Rocha and an original score by Gabriel Kahane. The season will also mark the return of Balanchine’s rarely performed Pithoprakta, staged by Suzanne Farrell for its first New York City Ballet performances since 1969. It concludes on October 18 with a farewell performance honoring Principal Dancer Adrian Danchig-Waring after more than 23 years with the Company.
Six scholars were awarded the Fall 2026 Blavatnik Archive Research Fellowship for research projects incorporating our collections. These projects cover a wide range of topics, including the politics of Jewish life in the early 1900s, experiences of Latvian Jews who fought in the Red Army during World War II, the circulation of antisemitic motifs in Germany and Romania, World War II military propaganda leaflets, Soviet depictions of wartime family life, and literary texts published in pre-1917 Russian Jewish periodicals.
A $25 million gift from the Blavatnik Family Foundation is supporting USC School of Cinematic Arts’ planned Blavatnik Center for Virtual Production in University Park. The proposed 20,000-square-foot facility at 625 W. 32nd Street would replace a surface parking lot between the Cinematic Arts Center and the Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts. Plans call for two stages with wraparound LED walls, performance-capture, camera-tracking and lighting systems, along with classrooms and labs equipped for 3D design. Designed by Bastien and Associates, the contemporary two-story building would feature painted plaster and metal finishes, with courtyards connecting it to neighboring facilities. The project remains subject to City of Los Angeles approvals, but would further expand USC’s capacity to educate students in emerging production technologies.
On September 9, 2026, 2,977 lights rose above New York Harbor and assembled into the Twin Towers at full architectural scale. Created ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the public artwork honored each life lost and offered a shared moment of remembrance, reflection and unity. Developed in collaboration with members of the 9/11 family, survivor and first-responder communities, 2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor began as a spiraling helix before forming the towers in the night sky. The installation was conceived in dialogue with the iconic "Tribute in Light" and accompanied by reflective musical works from Philip Glass, John Adams, and Max Richter. The project was produced by Addison Mehr and Sky Elements and made possible entirely through private philanthropy and in-kind contributions. Major support came from the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund, 9/11 family members and the Blavatnik Family Foundation, with additional support from Pershing Square Philanthropies. Sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts, the installation was presented as a gift to New York City and to everyone whose life has been affected by September 11.
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The Foundation contributes to renowned institutions that showcase the breadth of arts and culture, including performance, exhibition and education.
The Blavatnik Archive is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to preserving and disseminating materials that contribute to the study of 20th-century Jewish and world history, with a special emphasis on World War I, World War II, and Soviet Russia.
