Boston Ballet — The 2026 Spring Experience

Boston Ballet’s Spring Experience is basically a sampler of what a big company can do when it doesn’t lock itself into one style. This year’s program opened May 7 and runs through May 17, 2026, at Citizens Opera House in Boston. The hook is simple — three contemporary works, three very different moods, and one company trying to show how broad its dancers can be. ### What is this program, exactly? It’s a triple bill. Boston Ballet built the evening around Jerome Robbins’ *Dances at a Gathering*, William Forsythe’s *Herman Schmerman*, and Lia Cirio’s *After*. That matters because these aren’t three slight variations on the same idea. They pull the dancers in different directions — intimate and musical in Robbins, hyper-alert and tricky in Forsythe, then more contemporary and emotionally open in Cirio. (bostonballet.org) ### Why is Robbins the headline? Because *Dances at a Gathering* is the Boston premiere in the lineup. Robbins made a ballet that looks almost casual from the outside — friends drifting in and out, relationships forming and dissolving, Chopin at the piano — but the catch is that “casual” in ballet is usually the hardest illusion to fake. Boston Ballet’s own program notes frame it as a work about human relationships and community rather than plot, which tells you what to watch for. (bostonballet.org) ### What’s the Forsythe piece doing here? *Herman Schmerman* is the jolt. Forsythe is the choreographer in this lineup who loves pushing ballet off its center line without fully breaking it. Boston Ballet describes the work as vivid, witty, and technically difficult, set to Thom Willems with those famous bright yellow Versace costumes. In plain English — this is the piece that tests speed, attack, and nerve. (bostonballet.org) ### And what about Lia Cirio’s ballet? That’s the homegrown angle. Cirio is one of Boston Ballet’s principal dancers, and *After* arrived with a world premiere in October 2024 before returning in this 2026 program. So this isn’t just a museum-style evening of established names. Boston Ballet is also saying one of its own artists belongs in that company. ### Why bundle these three together? (bostonballet.org) Because the company wants contrast, not consistency. One ballet leans into community and musical phrasing. One turns technique into something almost sly and electric. One adds a newer in-house voice. It’s a bit like putting a chamber piece, a sharp modernist work, and a new local composition on the same concert — the differences are the point. That’s also why the official framing keeps coming back to “versatility.” ### When can people actually see it? The run is longer than the preliminary weekend blurb suggested. Boston Ballet lists performances from May 7 through May 17, 2026, not just May 8–10. So if someone thought this was only a three-day event, that’s outdated. The venue is Citizens Opera House, and the company’s ticketing pages show multiple dates across that span. ### Is there anything practical worth knowing? (bostonballet.org) Yes — Boston Ballet is also pushing access around this program. Its community ticket page says Card to Culture discounts apply to Spring Experience, with $10 tickets available for eligible EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare card holders starting May 4, 2026, subject to availability. That doesn’t change the art, but it does change who can plausibly be in the room. ### Bottom line Spring Experience 2026 is Boston Ballet making a case for range. Not just “we can do contemporary ballet,” but “we can do three incompatible versions of it in one night” — and make that feel like a strength. (bostonballet.org) (bostonballet.org)