Tiler Peck Channels Jerome Robbins at The Joyce Theater

Dancer, curator, and choreographer Tiler Peck is returning to New York City’s Joyce Theater for its Ballet Festival, which runs August 12–17 and, this year, celebrates the work of choreographer Jerome Robbins. Three different programs, put together by Peck, highlight some of Robbins’ smaller ensemble works and will be danced to live music by some of ballet’s biggest stars, including Peck herself.

“We really wanted to hone in on it being a very intimate viewing of these ballets,” says Peck. “The whole point is to see these ballets in different lights and to be able to bring the audience in closer.”

She is no stranger to curation, having previously done so for The Music Center in Los Angeles and for New York City Center. She created her own touring production, Turn It Out with Tiler Peck and Friends, in 2023.

From the start, Peck knew she wanted to include an excerpt from Dances at a Gathering in the Joyce program, and that she wanted to cast dancers from different companies. “We don’t get to share the stage normally,” she says. “Even at galas, it’s just watching from the wings. We don’t get to experience the actual works together.” Depending on the day, the cast will include a combination of NYCB’s Peck, David Gabriel, Mira Nadon, Unity Phelan, Chun Wai Chan, Emma Von Enck, and Indiana Woodward, along with ABT’s Aran Bell and The Royal Ballet’s William Bracewell and Marcelino Sambé.

On August 16, Peck will earn the distinction of being the first woman to dance A Suite of Dances, which Robbins originally choreographed for Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1994. Peck had expressed interest in learning the work in the past, but the Robbins Rights Trust wanted to keep it an exclusively male role. When the Trust offered the role to Peck for this festival, she says she was shocked. “It’s extremely big shoes to fill, with it being made on Misha and only danced by some of the best male dancers, but I feel very honored,” she says. The choreography is remaining unchanged from the original. “Obviously, I have my own mannerisms, but the steps are all the same. I really try to be myself because I think the reason they picked me is charisma and the way I dance rather than being able to physically execute the steps.”

As curator, Peck enjoyed the opportunity to pair rising stars from different companies, like NYCB principal Mira Nadon and ABT principal Chloe Misseldine in Rondo. “I think it’ll be a growing experience for the dancers, but also very fun and interesting for the audience to see the two of them together,” she says.

Peck anticipates the program will be a hit with audiences and dancers alike. “Yes, I wanted to make it interesting for the audience, but I also selfishly wanted it to be interesting for all of us as artists and to help us grow,” she says. “What better way than to get to watch and dance with other dancers you normally don’t get to?”