BalletCollective returns to Millbrook for 12th summer residency

The community here has become an essential part of our creative process.
— Troy Schumacher, Founder of BalletCollective

For the 12th consecutive summer, the acclaimed New York City-based dance company BalletCollective will return to Millbrook, continuing a residency that has become a vital part of the organization’s creative process and an increasingly significant cultural event for the Hudson Valley.

Founded by Troy Schumacher in 2011, BalletCollective was created as an interdisciplinary laboratory where choreographers collaborate with composers, writers and visual artists from the earliest stages of a work’s development. Rather than simply commissioning a score or set design, the company builds each ballet through a creative exchange among artists working across disciplines. The company has produced 26 world premieres and has performed at venues including Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Joyce Theater.

This summer’s residency will feature new works by choreographers Shane Urton and Noelle Kayser, alongside Schumacher, all of whom are creating pieces for BalletCollective’s fall season. Running from July 13 through Aug. 2, the residency will bring dancers, choreographers and composers to the village as they develop new works that will premiere later this fall at New York City’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Joining the company in Millbrook will be dancers from New York City Ballet, including Davide Riccardo, Maya Milic, Simeon Neeld and Keenan Kiefer.

Parker Whitehead-Bus

The residency culminates with two public performances at Millbrook School on Aug. 1 and 2, offering audiences a rare opportunity to experience works in progress before they premiere in New York.

“Millbrook continues as the spine of how we develop new work,” said Schumacher. “The community here has become an essential part of our creative process.”

Schumacher’s connection to the region extends beyond the company’s annual residency. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he organized “The Nutcracker at Wethersfield,” an ambitious outdoor production staged at the Wethersfield Estate in Amenia. The production became a symbol of artistic resilience during one of the performing arts’ most challenging periods and was later chronicled in the feature-length documentary “The Nutcracker at Wethersfield,” directed by acclaimed filmmaker Anne Sundberg.

As BalletCollective celebrates its 15th anniversary season, Millbrook remains at the heart of the company’s creative process. For three weeks each summer, the village becomes a creative laboratory where choreographers, dancers and composers experiment, collaborate and refine new work before sharing it with the community that has helped nurture the company for more than a decade.