Ratmansky to co-lead Vail
Alexei Ratmansky will co-lead creative direction at the 2026 Vail Dance Festival, bringing major-company choreography into the summer festival circuit. (vaildaily.com) Composer Caroline Shaw returns for her 10th year as composer-in-residence, promising new collaborations crossing ballet and contemporary work. (vaildaily.com)
Vail Dance Festival will run July 31–August 10, 2026, and the festival website lists Alexei Ratmansky as its Artist‑in‑Residence for that season (vaildance.org). The announced lineup includes performances from Martha Graham Dance Company, Rennie Harris Puremovement, Colorado Ballet, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Philadelphia Ballet, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet. (vaildance.org) Choreographers slated to create new works this season include Robert Battle, Michelle Dorrance, Larry Keigwin, Tiler Peck, Pam Tanowitz, and festival debuts by Chun Wai Chan and Amanda Treiber alongside Alexei Ratmansky. (vaildance.org) The Vail Valley Foundation says the 2026 season will feature seven new commissions, including a new work by Justin Peck that will be set to a composition by the Festival’s composer‑in‑residence, Caroline Shaw. (vvf.org) Caroline Shaw is listed as the Festival’s Leonard Bernstein Composer‑in‑Residence and has been composing new works for Vail each summer since the role was inaugurated in 2018. (vaildance.org) Artistic Director Damian Woetzel’s 20th season at the Festival will be celebrated in 2026; the festival notes Woetzel’s tenure has overseen the commissioning of more than 100 new works. (vaildance.org)
