Vail Dance Festival 2025: Returning Stars, Timeless Ballets, and New Combinations

Surrounded by its iconic mountainous landscape, the Vail Dance Festival continues to bring innovative dance to Colorado year after year. The 2025 festival, running July 25–August 5, features over 150 dance artists appearing in 14 unique performances. Offerings include eight world premieres, with works by returning choreographers Gilbert Bolden III, Michelle Dorrance, Larry Keigwin, Justin Peck, Tiler Peck, Bobbi Jene Smith, and Pam Tanowitz. Additionally, Robert Battle, Gianna Reisen, and My’Kal Stromile bring new creations in their festival debuts, and Melissa Toogood returns as a choreographer and this year’s artist in residence.

Performing companies include Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Colorado Ballet, BalletX, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Dorrance Dance, and, for the first time, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham. Individual artists join the festival from several companies, including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Philadelphia Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, and Dance Aspen. Among those making their debuts with the festival are: ABT principal Chloe Misseldine, new ABT company member Brooks Landegger, ABT Studio Company’s Elijah Geolina and Daniel Guzmán, NYCB’s Dominika Afanasenkov and Naomi Corti, and Royal Danish Ballet’s Ryan Tomash.   

“Our season builds on the idea that we always celebrate history while pushing the boundaries of the new,” says Vail artistic director Damian Woetzel. This is reflected not only in choreographic debuts, but also in evenings like the one-night-only Balanchine Celebration. The program, which features dancers from Colorado Ballet and New York City Ballet, includes Apollo (starring Roman Mejia and India Bradley, who makes her debut as Terpsichore) and Concerto Barocco.

“Artists tend to make a home in Vail, returning in different guises from year to year,” says Woetzel. An example is Robbie Fairchild, who returns for his 16th year in a revival of Mark Morris’ Three Preludes, a solo originally created for Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1992. Over his years at Vail, Fairchild’s repertoire has included a myriad of works by Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Gene Kelly, to name a few, as well as his own choreography. “I can’t wait for the moments when people start to really connect with each other here and new possibilities are made,” continues Woetzel.

Now a veteran performer at Vail for the past eight seasons, NYCB principal Mejia says he grows every time he goes. Among the works he will perform this year include Balanchine’s Duo Concertant and William Forsythe’s Herman Schmerman with Tiler Peck, and Jerome Robbins’ Other Dances with Isabella Boylston. “There’s always new, young talent there, and also people that have been going for years. It’s always a really exciting two weeks,” he continues. Mejia first danced in the festival before he became an apprentice with NYCB, and he has since expanded his repertory in works by choreographers ranging from Michelle Dorrance to José Limón. “[Vail] was the first thing I did as a young dancer. I did some of my first big roles there,” he says. The festival’s International Evenings of Dance, in particular, bring together renowned artists from across the dance world in signature performances. “I always look forward to the summer to get to see my friends, watch them dance, and learn from them,” says Mejia.

Woetzel reflects on how the collaborations and creativity nurtured at Vail extend beyond the length of the festival. Often, he says, Vail provides a start for new artistic voices to grow: “When I look to the future, I think about the mix of it all, because it’s all about the people and the companies and how they find each other and begin something exciting together.”

Check out the full breakdown of individual performers attending the 2025 Vail Dance Festival below.

Individual Artists

• American Ballet Theatre: Isabella Boylston, Catherine Hurlin, Brooks Landegger, Chloe Misseldine, Takumi Miyake, Calvin Royal III, Yoon Jung Seo, James Whiteside
• American Ballet Theatre Studio Company: Elijah Geolina, Daniel Guzmán, Kayla Mak
• Dance Aspen: Jonah Delgado and Meredith Harrill
• National Ballet of Canada: Ben Rudisin, principal          
• New York City Ballet: Dominika Afanasenkov, Olivia Bell, Gilbert Bolden III, India Bradley, Chun Wai Chan, Naomi Corti, Joseph Gordon, Sara Mearns, Roman Mejia, Mira Nadon, Tiler Peck, Unity Phelan, KJ Takahashi
• Philadelphia Ballet: Mayfield Myers, corps member         
• Royal Danish Ballet: Philip Duclos, Ryan Tomash
• Tap artists: Michelle Dorrance, Emiko Nakagawa, Dario Natarelli
• Lil Buck
• Derek Crescenti
• Denys Drozdyuk and Antonina Skobina, DNA Ballroom duo
• Robbie Fairchild
• Zack Gonder
• Daisy Kate Jacobson
• Spencer Lenain
• Rachel Lockhart
• Andrea Lodico
• Stephanie Terasaki
• Melissa Toogood