New York City Ballet Wage Talks Center Stage as THE NUTCRACKER Curtain Set to Rise

Sara Mearns is in the spotlight as a principal dancer at New York City Ballet, where she has spent the past two decades of her career. Yet, even at the top of her field, she relies on off-season gigs to cover New York rent on a 37-week contract.

“I'm very fortunate that I'm able to do some gigs on my layoff time,” she said. "I fill my entire layoff with gigs so I can pay my rent, so I can pay for my everyday living.”

Outside of those 37 paid weeks, she said NYCB dancers must be in performance shape per their contract when their layoff period ends. This means many dancers don't have time to pursue outside gigs during unpaid time off. 

“Many dancers have to go on unemployment to be able to have something to contribute to their living costs, and they've obviously had to save up money from the weeks that they get paid to afford their bills,” Mearns said, adding that this has become a growing challenge with the rising cost of living in New York City. “We're post-COVID, and the inflation rates in the city have just skyrocketed.”

The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), the union working with NYCB dancers and stage managers on contract negotiations, states on its website that NYCB dancers agreed to take a 4% wage cut at the start of the pandemic. In 2022, they negotiated a 13.7% wage increase, which translated to a net of 9.7% between the start of the pandemic and 2025 with the 4% cut.

Meanwhile, the consumer price index in the New York metro area has increased by just less than 22% in the period from the start of the pandemic to the summer of 2025, according to U.S. Federal Reserve economic data. This gap means NYCB dancers are back at the negotiating table.

“We have a lot of young dancers in the company, and they just can't afford their rent based off of what it costs to live in this city now,” Mearns said. “And it's nobody's fault that this is happening, but we have to be able to have a great work environment and that also means having a stable life outside of work.”

NYCB dancers and stage managers have been in contract negotiations with the company since May and working with an expired contract since August 31 as the dispute has gone unresolved. Dancers boycotted the company’s Fall Gala dinner and red carpet on October 8, while still fulfilling their performance commitments.

“Since I've been in the company, and I've been in the company since 2003, I've never experienced such resilience and strength from the group of dancers standing together,” Mearns said. "There's never been a moment where we boycotted something. That was unheard of.”

In an open letter to New York City Ballet management published on AGMA’s website, guild dancers stated that even with a reduction in their original economic proposals at the October 6 bargaining session, management’s negotiating team did not meet their wage goals. The letter was signed by many guild dancers from the corps de ballet to principal dancers such as India Bradley, Megan Fairchild, Tiler Peck, Roman Mejia, and Sara Mearns. 

Martha Kinsella, counsel for AGMA and lead counsel in the negotiations, said progress has been made, albeit slowly.

“We've made a lot of progress throughout the negotiation on many terms,” she said. “So at this point, we are focused on compensation, and there's still a gap between where management's proposal is and where our last proposal was.”

Tentative agreements have been reached on mandated annual evaluations for each dancer in the company and on language around the use of artificial intelligence, which Kinsella said is a bargaining priority across AGMA signatories and throughout the performing arts industry. Tentative agreements have also been reached regarding health and safety issues, such as excessive heat and air quality concerns — issues that have emerged both at NYCB and across the industry after major wildfires — as well as communication around scheduling and casting notices.

“Everybody's coming to the table amicably, and nobody's refusing to come to the table,” Mearns said. “It’s moving forward, but not to a place where we feel we can sustain it.”

A NYCB spokesperson told Page Six in a statement following the Fall Gala that “NYCB management looks forward to returning to the bargaining table and reaching a mutually beneficial agreement for all involved.” BroadwayWorld reached out to New York City Ballet for further comment but did not hear back by press time.

“We’re not the only ones going through this — the musicians and artists on Broadway are also going through the same thing,” Mearns said, referencing an October 18 vote to ratify a contract agreement between Actors’ Equity - the union for actors and stage managers - and the Broadway League after weeks of negotiations and a tentative strike. 

“I'm glad that they were able to come to an agreement,” she said. “But the actions that they had to take, we shouldn’t have to get to that point.” 

With New York City Ballet’s annual performance of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker around the corner, Mearns expressed concerns about ongoing negotiations especially as dancers are working with an expired contract.

“We don't want this labor dispute to get in the way of [The Nutcracker], so we're trying everything we can right now to figure this out,” she said. “We don’t want to escalate, but it’s not out of the question, because what else are we going to do?”

Kinsella said AGMA is seeing artists at ballet companies across the country becoming more willing to demand what they feel they deserve, especially in the face of a relatively short career as a dancer.

“It's frankly very hard to make a living in New York City,” she said. “New York City is one of the most expensive cities in the country. We have been fighting as a union for fair compensation and increasing industry standards in New York and throughout the country.”

In updates on its website regarding the negotiation process, AGMA stated that New York City Ballet should be a leader in an industry plagued by economic insecurity for artists. A Dance Data Project report from last year showed that New York City Ballet is the largest ballet company in the U.S. based on financial scope.

“Everybody does look to us on every level of what we're doing, and that means marketing, that means wellness, that means performance quality, costumes,” Mearns said. “If they see what we're doing in New York City Ballet, then all of the companies are going to follow. It trickles down from the top, and that’s also why we're fighting for this because all dancers deserve this.”

AGMA’s latest update on the contract negotiations states that following nearly eight hours of bargaining on October 20, a significant gap continues to exist between the wage proposals presented by the guild and NYCB management, with artists now on layoff until November 11. 

Mearns urged supporters of the dancers and the company to write letters to NYCB management and to continue talking about the issue to voice their support. 

“We work really, really hard for what we do. We are the ones out there on stage. We are the reason people are buying tickets and people are coming to see the Nutcracker, so we’re going to ask for what we deserve. We’re very empowered,” she said. “I'm proud to be part of this group of dancers that are doing this and showing solidarity like this. This is not about now. This is also about the future — future dancers and future contracts and what this stands for.”

Photos: Sarah Silver