2026 BENEFIT GALA AND HOME SEASON
ITNY's 2026 Home Season was on May 1, 2 and 4, and the Benefit Gala was on May 4, 2026
Program from the Home Season Performances Below:
PRE-SHOW, IN A NUTSHELL
Choreography by Rob McBrien
Music: W.A. Mozart
Performed by Matt Thomas
Photo Credit Hideki Aono
LARK ASCENDING
Choreography by Rob McBrien
Re-Staged by Sarah France
Music: Vaughan Williams
Performed by Sarah Baetge, Jaqueline Benson, Georgina Blackwell, Elisabeth Ehrhardt, Sarah France, Isaac Lindy, Karina Manta, Janine Rho, Liz Yoshiko Schmidt, Aaron Singletary
“The simplest movements in skating can be the most beautiful and most meaningful ones. I think that the actual act of skating, which we call stroking, is one of the most refined and well-defined movements the human being can make. To some skaters this is only a means of transportation across the ice and a way of gaining speed and the momentum necessary to perform a jump. To me it has more meaning than that; to me it is infinitely more beautiful than running; and much more beautiful than dancing can ever be.” – John Curry
Photo Credit Lianna O'Grady
ALBERTA BIOGRAPHY
Choreography by Frank Nowosad
Originally performed by Gary Beacom
Music: Bird calls as recorded by Roger Tory Peterson
Performed by Danil Berdnikov
Birds like people have local dialects and personalities… this provides the inspiration for this choreography.
Photo Credit Naomi Jiang, Lianna O'Grady
ALCANCE (World Premiere)
Choreography by Milly Wasserman
Music from Estrella Morente and Michael Nyman
Performed by Georgina Blackwell, Libby McGrosky, Janine Rho, Milly Wasserman
Set to music by Estrella Morente and Michael Nyman, this quartet takes inspiration from the rhythm and structure of tango. Four women skate in changing partnerships, exploring movement beyond traditional ice dance roles.
Photo Credit Hideki Aono, Lianna O'Grady
WHEELS OF A DREAM (World Premiere)
Choreography by Kaitlyn Weaver
Music: Ragtime
Performed by Liz Yoshiko Schmidt and Aaron Singletary
Imagining a future built on dignity, stability, and possibility. It holds a distinctly American tension between promise and reality, always in forward motion.
Photo Credit Hideki Aono, Naomi Jiang
INNER EYE
Choreography by Jim May
Music: Ave Maria
Performed by Sarah Baetge, Jacqueline Benson, Elisabeth Ehrhardt, Janine Rho, Milly Wasserman
Photo Credit Naomi Jiang
PURPLE RAIN
Choreographed and Performed by Emmanuel Savary
Music: Prince
Photo Credit Lianna O'Grady
MIO CRISTO DIAMNTI
Choreography by Lucinda Ruh and Kaitlyn Weaver
Performed by Liz Yoshiko Schmidt
Photo Credit Hideki Aono
HAPPY FEET
Choreography and Performed by Vakhtang Murvanidze
Music: Mamaflex - Hear me tonight
Costume: George Shaghashvili
Photo Credit Lianna O'Grady, Hideki Aono
HEART
Choreography by JoAnna Mendl Shaw
Music: Sienn O (Sing! Mouth Music)
Performed by Sarah France, Libby McGrosky, Janine Rho, Aaron Singletary
Photo Credit Lianna O'Grady, Hideki Aono
WORK SONG (MAY 4TH ONLY)
Music: Hozier
Performed by Emilea Zingas & Vadym Kolesnik
Photo Credit Lianna O'Grady, Naomi Jiang, Hideki Aono
I WAS MADE FOR LOVIN' YOU (MAY 4TH ONLY)
Music: KISS
Performed by Ilia Malinin
Photo Credit Naomi Jiang, Lianna O'Grady
TANGO IMAGES
Choreography by Peter DiFalco
Restaged and directed by Joe Johnson
Music: from the soundtrack of The Tango Lesson
Performed by Sarah Baetge, Jacqueline Benson, Danil Berdnikov, Elisabeth Erhardt, Isaac Lindy, Karina Manta, Liz Yoshiko Schmidt
Photo Credit Hideki Aono
Photo Hideki Aono
ITNY's 2026 Benefit Gala and Performance took place on Monday, May 4th, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Honorary Chair: Vera Wang
Co-Chairs: Dr. Tenley Albright, Timothy Goebel, and Stephanee Grosscup
Photo Naomi Jiang, Karl Cardona
“For more than four decades Ice Theatre of New York has done something that almost no one in our sport really thinks to do. And they have insisted that figure skating belongs in the same conversation as contemporary dance, music, as visual arts. Really establishing that they belong in this cultural fabric in such an amazing city like New York City. But what moves me even more than is what happens off the stage, off the ice. Introducing so many New York City public school children to the joy of ice skating. And that is how our sport grows, how an art form grows, so if anyone is being honored tonight it should really be Moira, Jirina, the ensemble, the choreographers, and all of you all supporting this organization to continue flourishing.”
- Nathan Chen, 2026 Honoree
"It's a wonderful, special place for skating and I admire the 40 years, because that's how long stars has been around, the 40 years of work to put it to the point where it is, we have a full house inside Sky Rink and wonderful performances by Olympic and World Champions... It's my honor to be honored by the Ice Theatre."
- Byron Allen, 2026 Art & Business Award
Performance, Cocktails, Dinner, and Award Ceremony.
The Lighthouse Chelsea Piers.
The Gala Performance featured the ITNY Ensemble, and Guest Artists 3X World Champion Ilia Malinin, World Bronze Medalists Emilea Zingas & Vadym Kolesnik, and Diversify Ice Ambassador Emmanuel Savary!
Check out our 2026 Benefit Gala Journal Below: Click Here to Read our Beautiful 2026 Benefit Gala Journal!
About Ice Theatre of New York
Founded by Moira North, ITNY's mission is to celebrate and advance dance on ice as a performance art. Through its performances in both traditional and site-specific venues, ITNY presents ice dance that helps to open one’s eyes to seeing skating in new and unexpected ways. ITNY was the very first ice dance company to receive dance program funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. www.icetheatre.org
ITNY is supported, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy C. Hochul and the New York State Legislature. ITNY is also supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and NYC Council Members Abreu, Bottcher, Marte and Powers. ITNY's Manhattan programming is funded in part by a grant from the New York City Tourism Foundation.
Additionally, ITNY receives funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Daniel & Corrine Cichy Memorial Foundation, The Lisa McGraw Figure Skating Foundation, the Will Sears Foundation, and its generous private patrons.
