New York Theatre Ballet’s LEGENDS & VISIONARIES To Feature Works By Merce Cunningham and More

New York Theatre Ballet (NYTB) will present LEGENDS & VISIONARIES for three performances, April 10–11, 2026, at Judson Memorial Church. The program will feature world premieres by Julian Donahue and Kevin Iega Jeff alongside works by Merce Cunningham and Antony Tudor. All seats are priced at $30.

Julian Donahue’s All the Flowers Are Behind Us will receive its world premiere on Friday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m. A former NYTB dancer and choreographer, Donahue has created a work for seven dancers set to Piano 2 by Julius Eastman, with scenery by Lily Guerin. The piece explores questions of authenticity and inauthenticity in a world shaped by technology and artificial intelligence, and marks Donahue’s second work for NYTB.

Kevin Iega Jeff’s Noi-Tar-Gim will also receive its world premiere on April 10 at 7:00 p.m. Featuring original music by Darryl J. Hoffman commissioned by NYTB, the work is part of the company’s “Letters to My Father” project, a multi-year initiative exploring themes of lineage and identity. “Noi-Tar-Gim, migration spelled backward, draws inspiration from the journey of my father, a man who grew up in the Jim Crow south, whose stories linger in my memory like fragments of a larger map,” said Iega. “It reflects the unseen energies of departure, striving, belonging, and the lingering question of what might have been possible in a less constrained world.” The work marks Iega’s first commission for NYTB.

The program will also include the NYTB company premiere of Merce Cunningham’s How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run, originally created in 1965 and set to music by John Cage, incorporating text from Cage’s Silence and A Year from Monday. Theater director Paul Lazar and actor b will serve as narrators for the work.

Also on the program is Antony Tudor’s Little Improvisations, set to Robert Schumann’s Kinderszenen, Op. 15, and staged for NYTB by Diana Byer, with costume adaptation by Sylvia Taalsohn Nolan. The ballet, originally arranged in 1953, depicts two children playing in an attic on a rainy day and received its NYTB company premiere in 1981.

“Legends & Visionaries at Judson Church, planned by Steven Melendez, follows NYTB's 47-year commitment to presenting both legacy works and new commissions that speak beautifully to classical and contemporary audiences,” said NYTB Interim Artistic Director Antonia Franceschi.

Ticket Information

Performances of LEGENDS & VISIONARIES will take place Friday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, April 11 at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at Judson Memorial Church, located at 55 Washington Square South. All tickets are $30 (plus fees).

A pre-show cocktail party hosted by NYTB’s Young Professional Committee will take place at 5:30 p.m. on April 10. Tickets for the event, which include admission to the 7:00 p.m. performance, are available for $60.