Whose careers will skyrocket in 2026? Our editors and contributors from across the dance world have a few predictions—namely, the artists on our annual “25 to Watch” list.

When Sara Mearns was a young dancer with New York City Ballet, she says, she kept finding herself in a certain kind of role: “big dancing, dramatic, romantic, emotional.” It took her late coach Susan Hendl to imagine her in something different, casting Mearns in Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering. “She was the first […]

Embracing the whole range of human experience—from the sticky to the aspirational to the dark—and developing a movement vocabulary that blends classical ballet with hard-hitting street styles have helped make Jennifer Archibald one of the dance world’s busiest choreographers.

Electric performances, thought-provoking choreography, buzzy bodies of work—the artists on our annual list of dancers, choreographers, directors, and companies poised for a breakout share an uncanny knack for arresting attention. They’ve been turning heads while turning what’s expected—in a performance, from a career trajectory—on its head. We’re betting we’ll be seeing a lot more of them this year, and for many years to come.

What will the dance world of tomorrow be like? An answer—or several—might be illuminated by our annual list of dancers, choreographers and companies on the brink of skyrocketing. 

No one would blame Susan Jaffe if she wanted a mulligan on her first season at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Taking over from longtime artistic director Terrence S. Orr in the middle of 2020 upended any expectations of a smooth transition into her first artistic directorship. Nonetheless, since starting at the post in July, she’s tackled […]

Warmer weather is just around the corner, and with it comes a light at the end of a hibernation tunnel for many dance organizations: a chance to perform again. While social distancing and mask-wearing remain essential to gathering safely, the great outdoors has become an often-preferred performance venue. But, of course, nature likes to throw […]

With how rapidly the performance landscape has shifted—and continues to shift—as the world grapples with COVID-19, looking ahead can feel fraught. Many artists, organizations and presenters remain in holding patterns. Nevertheless, we wanted to celebrate the projects that have been announced that excite us, even if their details (in particular, their planned performance dates) are […]