SPAC Just Cut NYCB's 2018 Summer Season in Half

October 15, 2017

There’s something special about seeing New York City Ballet dance at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Maybe it’s the history: George Balanchine helped design the theater, and NYCB has called SPAC, which opened in 1966, its summer home for over 50 years. But over the weekend, SPAC announced that NYCB’s 2018 residence will be shortened, according to Albany’s Times Union.

While this past summer saw a successful two-week residency, in 2018 NYCB will only perform for one week at their summer home in upstate New York.

The Times Union quoted NYCB’s ballet master in chief Peter Martins as saying he is “deeply saddened by the decision.” SPAC president and CEO Elizabeth Sobol explained that the two-week season is not financially sustainable for the center at this time, adding, “I am hopeful that with renewed emphasis on fund-raising, audience development and ticket sales, we will be able to return to the extended NYCB season in the future.”

It is not the first time that the annual SPAC season has been shortened in recent years; in 2013, NYCB only gave five performances, though in that case it was due to the financial burden placed on the company, not the presenter, that led to the reduction. Here’s hoping that Saratoga audiences will be back to their usual dose of NYCB magic in 2019.