Glen Tetley Legacy Unveils 2026 Centenary Celebration

The Glen Tetley Legacy has announced a year-long international centenary celebration honoring the 100th anniversary of the birth of American choreographer Glen Tetley.

The 2026 Centenary Celebration was revealed on February 3, 2026, Tetley’s centennial birthday, and will feature performances by major ballet companies across Europe, North America, and Asia.

The global celebration will showcase key works from Tetley’s repertory, including Pierrot Lunaire (1962), Ricercare (1966), Voluntaries (1973), The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) (1974), and The Firebird (1981). All works will be staged by Glen Tetley Legacy choreologists Bronwen Curry and Peter Ottmann, alongside répétiteur Alexander Zaitsev.

The centenary performances will begin February 10, 2026, with The Royal Ballet presenting Pierrot Lunaire at the Linbury Theatre in London. The work, Tetley’s earliest surviving choreography and one of his breakout successes, will return to the Royal Ballet’s stage for the first time since 2007. Originally premiered in 1962, Pierrot Lunaire features music by Arnold Schoenberg, with original set and costume designs by Rouben Ter-Arutunian and lighting by John B. Read.

In the United States, the centenary celebration will continue on February 19, 2026, when Joffrey Ballet performs Voluntaries at the Lyric Opera House in Chicago as part of its “American Icons” program. Tetley was among the original members of the Joffrey Ballet, dancing with the company in the late 1950s. Voluntaries, which premiered in 1973, is set to music by Francis Poulenc, with designs by Rouben Ter-Arutunian and lighting by John B. Read.

The Norwegian National Ballet will present Voluntaries beginning February 28, 2026, as part of its program “Mesteraften: Tetley/McGregor/Lynch” at the Oslo Opera House. Tetley maintained a close relationship with the Norwegian National Ballet for more than three decades and was awarded the Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit in 1997 for his contributions to the company. The program honors three generations of choreographers, pairing Tetley’s work with that of Wayne McGregor and Samantha Lynch.

In Germany, Ballet am Rhein will present Voluntaries beginning March 14, 2026, at the Opernhaus Düsseldorf as part of the program “Oregelpassion.” These performances will mark the first time a Glen Tetley work enters the Ballet am Rhein repertoire.

The centenary continues in the U.S. with the Colorado Ballet, which will perform The Rite of Spring as part of its annual MasterWorks program opening April 10, 2026, in Denver. The program will also include works by George Balanchine and Yoshihisa Arai. Colorado Ballet Artistic Director Gil Boggs previously performed Tetley’s works as a dancer with American Ballet Theatre.

Beginning April 25, 2026, the Stuttgart Ballet will present a triple bill titled Tribute to Tetley at the Opernhaus Stuttgart. The program will include Voluntaries, Ricercare, and The Rite of Spring. Tetley served as director of the Stuttgart Ballet from 1973 to 1975, following the death of John Cranko, and played a key role in shaping the company’s artistic direction during that period.

The Korean National Ballet will participate in the centenary celebration beginning May 8, 2026, with performances of The Rite of Spring in Seoul. The company first presented the work in 2015, and its current artistic director, Sue Jin Kang, worked directly with Tetley during her career as a dancer with Stuttgart Ballet.