Ballet Hispánico New York - the nation’s largest Latino dance organization - presents Mujeres: Women in Motion at New York City Center from April 23-26, 2026. Tickets start at $45 ($25 for the En Familia Matinee) and are available at https://www.nycitycenter.org/pdps/2025-2026/ballet-hispanico/.

 

Mujeres: Women in Motion, an evening spotlighting contemporary choreographic voices reimagining movement, perspective, and representation onstage, offers four works by women who approach dance as a way of thinking about the present. This second all-female season foregrounds artists who expand how stories are told through dance.

 

"The artists with us this season are redefining the boundaries of what is possible in the dance landscape. Each of the works this season speaks in its own language, yet all share a common thread: a curiosity about how we move through the world and alongside one another,” said Artistic Director and CEO Eduardo Vilaro. “We are grateful to City Center, to our supporters, and all who join us on this journey, our second year exclusively featuring female choreographers. It is very important to me to elevate their voices as we draw inspiration from their fearless expressions of the human spirit."

 

The evening includes two world premieres: a vibrant new work entitled Trança (Braid) by Brazil’s Cassi Abranches, a contemporary take on Brazilian dance, capturing the restless energy of daily life, and Reactor Antígona (Reacting to Antigone), a re-envisioning of Antigone by Cuban choreographer Marianela Boán,acclaimed for her genre-defying Contaminated Dance, that reimagines the Greek myth as a living question on female sacrifice, the passage between worlds, and the self-imposed structures under which we live.

 

Línea Recta by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa explores what happens when individuality begins to move collectively through flamenco dance. Stephanie Martinez’s Otra Vez, Otra Vez, Otra Vez offers a richly textured reflection on the cyclical patterns of life inspired by Picasso’s Old Guitarist.

 

Opening night is the Ballet Hispánico 2026 Gala. For more information, visit ballethispanico.org/support/events/2026-gala. The season also includes Ballet Hispánico’s signature En Familia / Family Matinee on April 25—a joyful, one-hour performance with narration and interactive moments featuring three full-length pieces, hosted by Artistic Director & CEO Eduardo Vilaro. All tickets are $25.

 

Ballet Hispánico 2026 Gala

Reception & Performance (5:30pm) and Dinner & Dancing (8:30pm)

Attendees will experience an exhilarating evening of dance, glamour, and culture in support of Ballet Hispánico's Company, School, and Community Arts Partnerships programming. Table and ticket reservations include access to the pre-performance reception (5:30pm) and premium seating at the opening night performance at New York City Center (6:30pm), followed by dinner and dancing at The Plaza (8:30pm). Tickets are available at www.ballethispanico.org/support/events/2026-gala.  

 

Ballet Hispánico 2026 En Familia Matinee

The season also includes Ballet Hispánico’s En Familia/Family Matinee, hosted by Artistic Director & CEO Eduardo Vilaro, featuring full-length performances of two of this season’s works – Trança and Otra Vez, Otra Vez, Otra Vez – and repertory favorite Línea Recta.

An afternoon that will have you dancing in your seat. All tickets for En Familia Matinee are $25 (fees included) and are available here.

 

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

Thursday, April 23 at 6:30pm – Gala Performance

Trança by Cassi Abranches

Línea Recta by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa

Otra Vez, Otra Vez, Otra Vez by Stephanie Martinez

 

Friday, April 24 at 7:30pm

Trança by Cassi Abranches

Reactor Antígona by Marianela Boán

Otra Vez, Otra Vez, Otra Vez by Stephanie Martinez

 

Saturday, April 25 at 2:00pm

En Familia Family Matinee

Trança by Cassi Abranches

Línea Recta by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa

Otra Vez, Otra Vez, Otra Vez by Stephanie Martinez

 

Saturday, April 25 at 7:30pm

Trança by Cassi Abranches

Reactor Antígona by Marianela Boán

Otra Vez, Otra Vez, Otra Vez by Stephanie Martinez

 

Sunday, April 26 at 2:00pm

Trança by Cassi Abranches

Reactor Antígona by Marianela Boán

Otra Vez, Otra Vez, Otra Vez by Stephanie Martinez

 

Programming subject to change

 

Tickets can be purchased online at NYCityCenter.org, by calling 212.581.1212, or in person at the City Center Box Office. New York City Center is located at 131 W 55th St between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.

 

Cassi Abranches is one of Brazil’s most acclaimed contemporary choreographers, with a career that bridges the worlds of ballet, contemporary dance, and global performance. After more than a decade as a leading dancer with the renowned Grupo Corpo, she emerged as a choreographic force whose works have been performed internationally to critical acclaim. Pieces such as Suíte Branca, Agora (2019), Respiro (2020), and Motriz (2022) have solidified her reputation for crafting choreography of rigorous structure, musical intelligence, and exhilarating energy. In 2016, she brought her vision to the global stage as choreographer for the Rio Paralympic Opening Ceremony and later served as Artistic Director of São Paulo City Ballet. Critics praise her dances as “a contemporary dance of epic proportions, overflowing with life and choreographic intelligence,” underscoring her ability to create movement that is at once architecturally precise and electrically alive. Today, Abranches is recognized as a vital international voice shaping the future of contemporary dance.

 

Marianela Boán is one of the most daring voices in contemporary Latin American dance. Through her vision of “contaminated dance,” she dismantles the illusion of purity, blending theater, literature, and lived experience into movement that is raw, intellectual, and deeply human. Her work asks us to see the body not only as a vessel of beauty, but as an archive of history, exile, and transformation. To experience Boán is to understand that dance is knowledge—and that it has the power to shift how we see ourselves and our world.

 

Chicago-based choreographer Stephanie Martinez has created more than 60 works for leading companies across the United States, including Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Hispánico, BalletX, Kansas City Ballet, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. In 2020, she founded PARA.MAR Dance Theatre, establishing herself as a dynamic voice in American contemporary ballet. Recognized for her stylistic versatility and psychological insight, she has been described as a “chameleon” of choreography, adept at merging ballet technique with narrative and contemporary form. Martinez’s work is marked by its boundary-pushing innovation and its deep engagement with the human condition.

 

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa is a prolific, award-winning choreographer who has created more than a hundred ballets for 89 dance companies around the world. Described by Wendy Perron in Dance Magazine in 2016 as one world's busiest choreographers, she is also one of the very few female choreographers who excel in narrative ballets. Annabelle has successfully created 15 narrative ballets to date, including FRIDA, Coco Chanel, The Life of a Fashion Icon, Doña Peron (for Ballet Hispánico), Callas, La Divina, and A Streetcar Named Desire. Annabelle became resident choreographer at the Dortmund Ballet in Germany in 2025. In spring 2026, she will premiere a brand-new narrative piece titled Gentleman Jack for the Northern Ballet, supported by the prestigious Fedora Award.

 

Major support for Ballet Hispánico is provided by the Arnhold Foundation, Jerome L. Greene Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Thompson Family Foundation, Frances Lear Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, and Shubert Foundation.

 

MetLife Foundation is the Official Tour Sponsor of Ballet Hispánico.

 

Mujeres: Women in Motion is made possible in part by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and contributors to the Dance Innovación Fund. Public support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the New York City Council under the leadership of Speaker Julie Menin, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

Additional support is provided by the Goldie Anna Charitable Trust, Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Tatiana Piankova Foundation, Prospect Hill Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Hyde & Watson Foundation, and the Jerome Robbins Foundation. Public support is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

 

NEW YORK CITY CENTER (Michael S. Rosenberg, President & CEO) has played a defining role in the cultural life of the city since 1943. The distinctive Neo-Moorish building was founded by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia as Manhattan’s first performing arts center with the mission of making the best in theater, dance, and music accessible to all audiences. This commitment continues today through celebrated dance and musical theater series like the Fall for Dance Festival and the Tony-honored Encores! series; the annual season by Principal Dance Company Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; and new dance series Artists at the Center. City Center welcomes audiences to experience internationally acclaimed artists including Kyle Abraham, Matthew Bourne, Ayodele Casel, Manhattan Theatre Club, Nederlands Dans Theater, and Twyla Tharp, on the same stage where legends made their mark. Dedicated to a culture built on the values of curiosity, collaboration, accessibility, and inclusivity, City Center’s dynamic programming, art exhibitions, and studio events are complemented by education and community engagement programs that bring the performing arts to thousands of New York City students, teachers, and families every year. NYCityCenter.org

 

Ballet Hispánico is the nation’s leading Latino dance company and the largest cultural institution of its kind in the United States. For over five decades, it has been a beacon of artistic excellence, celebrated for its bold repertory and exceptional training programs. The Company has commissioned over 100 original works, performed on the world’s most prestigious stages, and inspired generations through performances, education, and community engagement. Recognized as one of America’s Cultural Treasures by the Ford Foundation, Ballet Hispánico continues to redefine what it means to be an American dance company.

 

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