Robert Fairchild to Leave New York City Ballet Following Fall Season

New York City Ballet announced today that Principal Dancer Robert Fairchild will give his final performances with the Company during the 2017 Fall Season.

He will perform George Balanchine's Duo Concertant, with NYCB Principal Dancer Sterling Hyltin, on Saturday, October 14 at 2 p.m. and Sunday, October 15 at 3 p.m. For these two performances only, Duo Concertant will be added to the Fall Season's all Balanchine program, which also includes Square Dance, La Valse, and Cortege Hongrois.

In December, Fairchild will choreograph and star in the Off-Broadway premiere of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, presented by the Ensemble for the Romantic Century at the Pershing Square Signature Theater Center on West 42nd Street. The production will be directed by Donald T. Sanders, and will mark Fairchild's Off-Broadway debut as well as his debut as a choreographer.

In November he will appear as Harry Beaton in a the City Center concert production of Lerner & Loewe's Brigadoon directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, and starring Kelli O'Hara and Patrick Wilson. Other upcoming projects include an appearance in the PBS Masterpiece feature film The Chaperone, written by Downton Abbey's Julian Fellowes and directed by Michael Engler, in which Fairchild will play the role of modern dance pioneer Ted Shawn during the early days of the legendary Denishawn Company.

Fairchild, who joined NYCB in 2006 and was promoted to Principal Dancer three years later, took a leave of absence from the Company in 2015 to make his Broadway debut as Jerry Mulligan in Christopher Wheeldon's Tony Award-winning production of An American in Paris. For that role, Fairchild was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical and won the 2015 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, as well as the Astaire Award for Best Male Dancer and the 2015 Theatre World Award. He was also nominated for the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance.

Last winter Fairchild returned to the role of Jerry Mulligan for the London production of An American in Paris at the Dominion Theater in the West End, and this summer he also performed the role of Will Parker in the BBC Proms Production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! at Royal Albert Hall.

"Dancing with New York City Ballet has been one of the greatest joys of my life," said Fairchild. "Growing up in Salt Lake City, all I ever wanted was to be a 'song and dance man' like Gene Kelly. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would fall in love with ballet and embark on this amazing journey with one of the most prestigious ballet companies in the world. I am so grateful to Peter Martins, who saw something in me that I didn't see in myself and gave me the most incredible ballets to dance. Now I'm continuing the journey I started three years ago with An American in Paris, by pursuing new projects in theater, television, and film. I'm excited for the opportunity to challenge myself in new ways and follow the dream I had as a little kid."

Fairchild joined NYCB as a member of the corps de ballet in 2006. He was promoted to soloist in 2007 and to Principal Dancer in 2009. During his time at NYCB, Fairchild has danced featured roles in a variety of works from the Company's unparalleled repertory including ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Alexei Ratmansky, Susan Stroman, Christopher Wheeldon, and William Forsythe. In addition, he originated the role of Romeo in Peter Martins' Romeo + Juliet and has originated featured roles in a variety of other works by Martins, Justin Peck, Angelin Preljocaj, Ratmansky, Liam Scarlett, and Wheeldon, among others.

In addition to his work onstage, Fairchild has also made numerous appearances on film and television, including in the 2010 film adaptation of Jerome Robbins' N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz, Julie's Greenroom for Netflix, the role of Romeo in the Live from Lincoln Center broadcast of Martins' Romeo + Juliet, the Carnival Boy in the televised New York Philharmonic production of Carousel, and guest appearances on Dancing with the Stars, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and Live with Kelly and Michael.

Tickets for NYCB's 2017 Fall Season are on sale now. All NYCB performances take place at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, located at West 63rd Street and Columbus Avenue. Tickets start at $30 and are available at nycballet.com, by calling 212-496-0600, or at the theater's box office.