BalletCollective Opens Application Call For 2026 Commission For Developing Choreographers

BalletCollective announced that it is accepting applications for its 2026 Commission for Developing Choreographers through February 2, 2025.

In response to demand and as during the Commission's sixth cycle, the results of which will be shared in March 2025 alongside BalletCollective's other 2025 programming, two choreographers will be commissioned to make works that will premiere with live musical accompaniment during BalletCollective's annual fall season in New York, NY in 2026. Their premieres will also have the special honor of taking place during BalletCollective's 15th Anniversary Season.

BalletCollective Founder and Artistic Director Troy Schumacher shared, "As we approach our 15th year as an organization, the outpouring of enthusiasm from the choreographic community to work within The BalletCollective Process has been truly moving for us. I'm thrilled that we can announce two commissions for the first time this year."

Previous recipients include Gabrielle Lamb (2017), Preston Chamblee (2019), Bryn Cohn (2022), Omar Román De Jesús (2023), and Houston Thomas (2024).

Schumacher also spoke to the philosophy that the name for the Commission for Developing Choreographers refers not to the career stage of choreographers it hopes to engage-both emerging and established professional dance makers are encouraged to apply!-but rather to both the hope and the lived experience that closely collaborating with artists across disciplines within the framework of The BalletCollective Process will inspire and develop unique artistic growth in participants.

BalletCollective's central premise is the exploration of how interdisciplinary collaboration can advance the creation of new, dance-driven works that reflect the world we live in. The BalletCollective Process assembles a choreographer, a composer and a "source artist" (a non-performative artist) in a structured, monthslong process to ultimately produce an original dance-based work and original score. Schumacher created and continually refines the Process, maximizing opportunities for creative growth and ultimately presenting unexpected pathways into the form both for the participating artists and the audiences who receive their work.

Schumacher added, "Each time one of BalletCollective's projects begins, we quickly find our artists from disparate backgrounds sharing the discovery that they and their art are growing more significantly than if they were focused on creating more traditional, single artist-ideated work. It has been a joy and an honor to witness the effects of true, close collaboration and to follow the careers of our recipients."

The two selected choreographers will each be offered a commission fee ranging from $9,000-$18,000 based on commission length. Additional fees are paid by BalletCollective to the choreographer's selected composer and source artist. BalletCollective will also provide to the choreographer:

• dance studio space during creative residencies in New York, NY and Millbrook, NY
• assistance with travel and housing during creative residencies in New York, NY and Millbrook, NY
• the chance to work with an ensemble of exceptional dancers and musicians
• mentorship, guidance, and support

Expert panelists helping select the 2026 Commission for Developing Choreographers recipients include:

Troy Schumacher (BalletCollective Founder & Artistic Director, choreographer, director, and New York City Ballet dancer)

Michael Sean Breeden (BalletCollective Rehearsal Director, former Miami City Ballet dancer, co-founder of the "Conversations on Dance" podcast, and répétiteur for Justin Peck)

Preston Chamblee (New York City Ballet dancer, répétiteur for Lauren Lovette, and recipient of the 2019 BalletCollective Commission for Developing Choreographers)

Gabrielle Lamb (Choreographer, Director of Pigeonwing Dance, 2024 Hearst Choreographer in Residence at Princeton University, and recipient of the 2017 BalletCollective Commission for Developing Choreographers)

Kristen Segin (BalletCollective Artistic & Administrative Manager and New York City Ballet dancer)

BalletCollective's Commission for Developing Choreographers is open to any member of the dance community with prior professional choreography experience. Applicants are also required to be a minimum of 21 years of age by June 1, 2026.

Choreographers will be asked to commission, with BalletCollective's support and guidance, a composer to create an original score for their piece. These two collaborators will then be tasked to work together to identify a "source artist" (any non-performative creator or thought leader) to create or curate a piece of "source art"-a contemporary work of art in any medium-that will serve as the starting reference point for their work. Past source artists have included photojournalists, board game designers, visual artists, architects, and more, and it is through the interpretation, exploration of, and response to the source art that the dance-based work and its score ultimately arise.

A knowledge of music or musical training is helpful, though not required, for choreographic applicants. A strong desire to collaborate with others, however, is paramount.

The application is located at balletcollective.com/forchoreographers2026.