Abramorama Picks Up Make Work, a Documentary Inside New York City Ballet

Abramorama has acquired North American distribution rights to Make Work, a documentary that follows new dance being made inside New York City Ballet, Deadline reported on October 26, 2026. Distribution rights are the permission to release a film to cinemas and other outlets in a set territory, here the United States and Canada. The film is scheduled for a North American theatrical release on March 5, 2027, and it will play at Doc NYC, New York's documentary festival.

The film follows four choreographers, Harrison Ball, Sarah Foster-Sproull, Caili Quan and Houston Thomas, as they develop new work with dancers of New York City Ballet. Choreography is the craft of designing dance movement, so the cameras stay close to the making itself. The story is set in the studios and on the stages of the New York Choreographic Institute and the company.

The New York Choreographic Institute commissioned the film. It was directed by Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger, who previously co-directed Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan, a portrait of the former New York City Ballet dancer. The pair also produced Make Work alongside Adrian Danchig-Waring, who serves as artistic director of the institute.

Danchig-Waring has a recent milestone of his own. He ended more than 24 years with New York City Ballet with a farewell performance on October 18, 2026, and he now steers the institute, which is devoted to new choreography. His move from the stage to the making of new dance sits at the centre of the film's production team.

The documentary also includes reflections from a long list of dance makers: Kyle Abraham, Lar Lubovitch, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, Pam Tanowitz and Christopher Wheeldon. Their remarks add outside voices to the rehearsal room footage.

For audiences, the key date is March 5, 2027. That places the film in cinemas in spring, with a festival showing at Doc NYC before it opens widely. Documentaries about the arts often reach screens through specialist distributors like Abramorama, which handle smaller releases built around a subject and a community of fans.