New York City Ballet's Second Annual Dancers' Choice Benefit Performance

On Sunday, June 14, New York City Ballet (NYCB) presented its second annual Dancers' Choice program, a benefit for NYCB's Dancers' Emergency Fund. The event was conceived by NYCB's Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins to give one of the Company's dancers an opportunity to plan a NYCB performance.

This year's event was planned by Principal Dancer Jenifer Ringer, who oversaw the evening's programming and casting as well as the marketing and promotional efforts. A highlight of the evening was the world premiere of a new ballet by NYCB Principal Dancer Ashley Bouder, which featured costumes created by NYCB Principal Dancer Janie Taylor.  The evening also featured performances and excerpts from eight other ballets, including works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, and Richard Tanner, and featured 40 dancers performing roles for the first time ever.

To assist in planning the evening, Ringer put together a team of fellow dancers, including Principal Dancer Jared Angle and Corps de Ballet member Faye Arthurs. Corps member Gwyneth Muller took behind-the-scenes photographs in the months leading up to the performance. The images were used to make up a post card set that was distributed to every audience member at the performance as a keepsake-thank you.

Behind-the-scenes and performance pictures  after the jump!