Cynthia Erivo to Be Honoured at American Ballet Theatre's 2026 Fall Gala
American Ballet Theatre will honour Grammy, Tony and Daytime Emmy winner Cynthia Erivo at its 2026 Fall Gala, themed "Angels and Demons," on Thursday, 29 October 2026, at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center, New York City. The one-night-only event is ABT's premier annual fundraiser, and the theme leans squarely into the Halloween season. (American Ballet Theatre, Billboard)
Erivo, a three-time Academy Award nominee, has a history with the company. In May 2020, when live performance venues were shuttered by pandemic lockdowns, she sang an a cappella rendition of "America the Beautiful" for ABT's first digital gala, American Ballet Theatre Together Tonight — an hour of tributes and quarantine performances by company dancers and Tony Bennett. (The New York Times)
Susan Jaffe, ABT's artistic director, curated the 2026 gala program and issued a statement praising Erivo as honouree, according to Billboard. The performance portion of the evening will feature excerpts from four full-length ballets — Coppélia, Swan Lake, La Sylphide and Sylvia — alongside standalone works: Frederick Ashton's Dance of the Blessed Spirits, Michel Fokine's Le Spectre de la Rose and Agnes de Mille's Three Virgins and a Devil. That last title fits the gala's angelic-demonic theme neatly, though ABT has not drawn an explicit line between programming and the evening's name. (American Ballet Theatre)
After the curtain call, the "Angels and Demons" celebration continues with dinner and dancing on the Promenade of the Koch Theater. The gala is led by three mother-and-daughter pairs serving as Grand Chairs: Sloan Lindemann Barnett and Violet Barnett, Emily Blavatnik and Laila Blavatnik, and Julia Koch and Mary Julia Koch. (American Ballet Theatre)
BroadwayWorld independently confirmed the announcement on 19 August 2026 (BroadwayWorld), the same day ABT published its own press release.
For Erivo, the honour places a stage-and-screen performer — not a dancer — at the centre of one of America's most prominent ballet institutions. The connection dates back six years, to a streamed gala assembled when no one could gather in a theatre. Now the company is asking audiences back to Lincoln Center to mark the occasion in person.
