News
A first look at our next season!
Three premieres, seven revivals, and a steadily expanding education programme – here’s an overview of the upcoming season.
In his fourth season as Artistic Director of Staatsballett Berlin, Christian Spuck presents three premieres on the major opera stages. With The Nutcracker (27 November 2026, Deutsche Oper Berlin), he stages a brand-new production created especially for Berlin. It bridges the magical world of childhood with the realities of growing up, while exploring the psychological and literary depth of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s original story.
Following the great success of the William Forsythe evening in the 2023/24 season, William Forsythe II (19 March 2027, Deutsche Oper Berlin) brings further iconic works by the exceptional choreographer to the stage. Of Any If And and the Artifact Suite once again showcase his precise, intellectually driven movement language.
The third premiere, Marco Goecke’s The Lover (5 June 2027, Staatsoper Unter den Linden), is based on Marguerite Duras’s novel of the same name. It tells the story of a fifteen-year-old French girl’s encounter with a much older Chinese lover in colonial Indochina (present-day Vietnam), translating the novel’s elliptical, fragmentary narrative into a movement language that reveals the body as a medium of memory, desire and social constraint.
Remaining in the repertoire are Fearful Symmetries (Staatsoper Unter den Linden) with choreographies by Christian Spuck and George Balanchine, Wunderkammer (Komische Oper Berlin) by Artist in Residence Marcos Morau, Nureyev (Deutsche Oper Berlin) by Yuri Possokhov, Kirill Serebrennikov and Ilya Demutsky, and the children’s dance piece Chicxulub or The Devil’s Flea (Deutsche Oper Berlin, Tischlerei) by Dominik White Slavkovský. Returning to the stage are Giselle (Staatsoper Unter den Linden), 2 Chapters Love (Staatsoper Unter den Linden) with choreographies by Jiří Kylián and Sharon Eyal, and Christian Spuck’s Bovary (Deutsche Oper Berlin).
Within the company, eleven dancers are celebrating promotions. Kalle Wigle becomes Principal from next season, while Emma Antrobus, Marina Duarte, Fiona McGee and Leroy Mokgatle are promoted to Soloists. Jessica Beardsell, Achille De Groeve, Vivian Assal Koohnavard, Yuka Matsumoto, Giovanni Princic, Alicia Ruben and Lewis Turner move up from the corps de ballet to Demi-Soloists.
Tanz ist KLASSE!, the Staatsballett’s education programme, celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2027. Alongside its wide-ranging programme for children and young people, school groups, families, adults and people with disabilities, the coming season will include more family mornings than usual as well as additional dance workshops open to everyone. Anyone interested can take part in a free workshop in the Apollosaal of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden (20 September 2026) or after the open training session in the foyer of Deutsche Oper Berlin (30 January and 17 April 2027). In addition, Futura Danza will offer, for the first time, a workshop designed for pregnant women or young mothers and fathers with babies up to twelve months old.
The accompanying programme continues to offer opportunities to look behind the scenes through Premiere Talks and open rehearsals. Audiences can also meet members of the company and creative team at the Ballet Talks, which invite a more personal exchange. The Forum series provides a space for discussions on social issues related to dance on stage.
Visually, the upcoming season is shaped by the photographic work of Peter Kaaden. The photographer and director, who spent several years as Photo Director of Rolling Stone Magazine and lives and works in Berlin and Paris, created the image campaign featuring 20 dancers from the company.
Artistic Director Christian Spuck emphasises the breadth of dance and the abilities of the dancers in the new programme:
“This season the company shows its full range: from technically brilliant classics and modern masterpieces to contemporary creations. Each production opens up its own choreographic world, and together they form a dynamic mosaic that highlights the diversity, precision and expressive power of Staatsballett Berlin.”
Regular ticket sales begin on 8 May 2026 at 12 noon. Members of the Friends’ Association and holders of the TanzTicket can purchase tickets in advance from 24 April 2026 at 12 noon.