In the 2025–2026 season, The Joffrey Ballet celebrates their 70th anniversary as one of the world’s most sensational dance companies and 30 years of calling Chicago home.
To honor these milestones, they’ve curated a season that embodies the very essence of the Joffrey—an exhilarating display of athleticism, artistry, and emotional intensity.
Lyric Opera House | Sept 18–28, 2025
From the choreographer of the critically acclaimed Frankenstein, the Joffrey presents Liam Scarlett’s Carmen, a tale of love, betrayal, and defiance set within the gritty confines of a cigarette factory in 1930s Spain. Amid the chaos of a nation on the brink of civil war, the uncompromising and seductive Carmen, who insists on loving whom she chooses, meets Don José, whose consuming devotion ignites a blaze of passion and peril.
In this adaptation of Bizet’s opera, Scarlett brings new intensity to a performance that pulsates with life—and ends in tragedy. With striking designs by Jon Bausor and Scarlett’s signature focus on evocative storytelling, Carmen commands the stage into a tempest of desire and destruction, revealing the timeless story of a woman who dares to live on her own terms.
Lyric Opera House | Dec 5–28, 2025
This holiday season, enter the spellbinding world where history and dreams intertwine. Join Marie and her Nutcracker prince on a fantastical adventure in Tony Award®–winning Christopher Wheeldon’s kaleidoscopic reimagining of The Nutcracker, set amidst the spectacle of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
On a magical Christmas Eve, after awakening to an epic battle between Toy Soldiers and the Rat King, a flurry of snowflakes sweeps Marie away on a whirlwind journey to the dreamlike fairgrounds of the World’s Columbian Exposition. Set to Tchaikovsky’s classic score, experience sprawling attractions representing countries from around the globe: the dazzling Golden Statue, the mystique of an Arabian enchantress, vibrant Venetian masked dancers, Chinese dragons, and Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.
Lyric Opera House | Feb 19–Mar 1, 2026
Witness the daring and enduring spirit that defines the Joffrey’s maverick legacy. American Icons celebrates a program of dynamic works by four trailblazing artists of the 20th century: The Joffrey Ballet co-founders Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, founding Joffrey Company member Glen Tetley, and prolific dance pioneer Martha Graham.
The full program is as follows:
Kettentanz
Choreography: Gerald Arpino | Music: Johann Strauss Sr., Johann Mayer
Inspired by classical Viennese balls and gardens, Kettentanz is highly regarded as one of Arpino’s signature works. Described in the New York Post as a “youthful zest that belongs to all time” and as “his loveliest ballet…a suite of tender miniatures” by Dance Magazine, Kettentanz showcases the diversity of this Joffrey legend’s technique in nine sections.
Secular Games
Choreography: Martha Graham | Music: Robert Starer
Secular Games presents a playful exploration of human nature and the lengths to which we go to impress one another. Hailed as the “Dancer of the Century” by Time, Graham’s choreography pushed the boundaries of technique, challenging dancers with bold, powerful movements. Premiered in 1962, Secular Games is a testament to Graham’s ingenuity, forever transforming the athleticism and endurance of the art form.
Remembrances
Choreography: Robert Joffrey | Music: Richard Wagner
In this intimate duet by Robert Joffrey, visionary founder of The Joffrey Ballet, a woman sings of past love, while another overlooks the memory in a dance re-enactment. Inspired by love and loss, Remembrances reflects Joffrey’s childhood, his parents, and the women who shaped his life. Poignant and timeless, Joffrey’s window into the past is a display of the founder’s artistic genius for turning lived experiences into universal art.
Voluntaries
Choreography: Glen Tetley | Music: Francis Poulenc
Voluntaries invites audiences to experience dance that transcends the stage, embodying the beauty of flight, rebirth, freedom, and desire. A masterpiece of emotional depth and soaring movement set to Poulenc’s Concerto in G Minor for Organ, Strings, and Timpani, Tetley’s Voluntaries, created in 1973 as a heartfelt tribute to the late John Cranko, celebrates the resilience of the human spirit.
Lyric Opera House | June 4–14, 2026
Following the incredibly favored Anna Karenina, choreographer Possokhov and composer Demutsky have teamed up again for the Chicago premiere of Eugene Onegin, a full-length production inspired by Alexander Pushkin’s poetic novel.
A tragic duel, a devastating loss, and a chance reunion force Eugene Onegin to confront the weight of his choices. Set against the backdrop of 19th-century Russian society, this cautionary tale follows the enigmatic and aloof aristocrat after his fateful encounter with the earnest Tatiana. Richly layered and deeply human, Eugene Onegin explores the fragility of the human heart and how unspoken words can shape destinies.
Eugene Onegin is a co-production between The Joffrey Ballet and San Francisco Ballet.
Subscriptions and Tickets
Season subscriptions are available now.
Single ticket sales will begin in the summer.
Featured Photo: Scarlett’s Carmen. Photo by Erik Berg.
