What Is Ballet in the 21st Century? It’s All Over the Place.

Ballet may be ballet no matter the century, but it also needs relevance in the moment. Modern life, either in its horror or euphoria, isn’t separate from the art form. How could it be? A ballet is not just a pretty thing on a stage. It needs to have a reason for being, a pulse.

But just what ballet is right now has become confusing. Its branches seem to be growing at different speeds with different textures. Some are thick and sturdy, while others are wispy, frizzled at the ends. It sometimes seems as if live performances are just extensions of TikTok.

What the ballet strives for — what companies and choreographers should always be striving for — is the opposite: a work of art that can live only on a stage. That is ballet at its most untouchable.

These thoughts were on my mind throughout New York City Ballet’s 75th anniversary, a three-season celebration that ran from September to June at Lincoln Center. In May, at the spring gala, the company presented premieres by Justin Peck and Amy Hall Garner.

“As you will see tonight, our new work advances the vision of our founders,” Wendy Whelan, the company’s associate artistic director, said in a speech before the performances. As for the season, she added, “This is New York City Ballet in the 21st century.”

I get that a gala speech is not where one goes to hear authentic artistic judgment. But what I saw at the gala didn’t advance any vision. After the dances had been danced and the bows had been taken, questions started blowing up in my mind. What does ballet have to offer us now? And what is ballet? Why do choreographers make it?