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Ballet Icons Gala

vildwerk. presents Asylum at the 20th Anniversary of the Ballet Icons Gala in London, held at the iconic London Coliseum. The work premiered in 2025 as part of Dancing for Our Wonderful World at New York Live Arts.

Choreographed by Antonia Franceschi and created for and performed by Royal Ballet legend Edward Watson, Asylum is a powerful solo exploring humanity’s ancestral and spiritual connection to the natural world. Created in collaboration with Nature and Culture International, the work reflects vildwerk.’s mission to unite artistic excellence with urgent environmental storytelling on an international stage.

Asylum draws on ritual and tribal relationships with nature—seeking otherness, transformation, and altered states. It evokes the longing to set oneself free, to engage with something greater. As expressed in San (Bushmen) culture: “In a trace I can change myself into a star, visit my friends in the sky, and when I return I drop to the ground, and become a person again.”

Panel discussion JCG1

Bradley Shelver and Joffrey Concert Group Preview

Preview of Bradley Shelver's When the Water Breaks with artists of the Joffrey Concert Group on December 3, 2025.

Season 2025

Dancing for our Wonderful World, Season 2025.

December 17th to 20th at New York Live Arts, New York City.

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Preview of Christopher Wheeldon's After the Rain with Mira Nadon, Preston Chamblee, Isabella Boylston and Craig Hall with panel discussion moderated by Indré Rockefeller on December 1, 2025

Christopher Wheeldon's After the Rain - A Preview

Preview of Christopher Wheeldon's After the Rain with Mira Nadon, Preston Chamblee, Isabella Boylston and Craig Hall with panel discussion moderated by Indré Rockefeller on December 1, 2025.

nyscha

nysca grantee 2026

vildwerk. was awarded $25,000 by the New York State Council on the Arts to support the arts and culture sector. Through New York State’s continued investment in arts and culture, NYSCA has awarded $80.9 million in FY 2026 to arts and culture nonprofits across all 10 regions and a historic number of artists. “New York’s arts and culture sector is a cornerstone of the state’s identity, and we're making bold investments to ensure it remains strong,” Governor Hochul said. “These grants will lift up artists and organizations in every region, fueling local economies and expanding access to the arts. Congratulations to all the grantees – your talent and dedication help power New York’s future.”

spring drinks

Spring Drinks Reception Our Wonderful World

A Preview on June 9th, 2025 at Cookfox Architects.

Cook Fox

award

outstanding achievement in ballet award 2025

On March 9th, 2025 the highly acclaimed annual Ballet Icons Gala in London, England together with Olga Balakleets, bestowed a prestigious award to vildwerk. and founder, Chiara Gorodesky at London Coliseum. Recognizing and supporting the importance of vildwerk.s mission to raise environmental conservation awareness through dance the Gala presented Mara Galeazzi's, Toujours, an emotional duet performed by her and Jason Kittelberger examining loss, with music by Domenico Clapasson, which had its US premiere at vildwerk.s Time to Protect Our Planet season 2024. 

Read more about the evening's program here.

opening season 2024

“time to protect our planet – vildwerk. season 2024 October 15th &16th, 2024, Theatre of the Museo del Barrio, New York City. Works by Chistopher Wheeldon, Gianna Reisen, Buglisi Dance Theatre, Joshua Beamish, Mara Galeazzi, Henning Rübsam and Briana J. Reed celebrate the beauty and fragility of our planet. Featuring artists from The Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet,The Martha Graham Dance Company, Buglisi Dance Theater, Complexions, LA Dance Project and others.

Click to read our program booklet of season 2024's program Time to Protect Our Planet

inaugural gala dinner

May 1st, 2023, The Bowery Hotel, New York City Dinner Chairman Christopher Wheeldon, OBE welcomed guests to an evening allowing a small glance into what is yet to come in 2024 at vildwerk.’s first season. The gala featured a world premiere by choreographer Joshua Beamish entitled The Golden Tortoise, performed by Mara Galeazzi with music by Felipe Perez Santiago in tribute to the Ploughshare Tortoise. One the rarest species of tortoise on the planet and native to Madagascar, it has almost been poached to extinction with fewer than 150 left in the wild, which are sold for up to six figure sums on the black market as so-called “status symbols”. Standing next to a nearly extinct ploughshare tortoise, joining the Gala by video, was Turtle Conservancy Founder, Eric Goode. Conservation legend Re:Wild’s CCO, Professor Russell Mittermeier, and Turtle Conservancy’s Senior Scientist, Professor James Juvik, worked with Beamish during the choreographic creation process of the solo and addressed guests with insights from the field. The evening also featured performances by cellists of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Dorothea and Rafael Figueroa. After a video message from David K. Israel, they performed his Windansea, a classical piece by Jean-Baptiste Barriere, and then Dying Swan by Charles-Camille Saint-Saens, joined on the piano by Amber Salladin. Amber, Co-Artistic Director of Inspire – Chorus for Unity, also conducted Grow Little Tree, sang by 7 young vocal artists, accompanied by 9-year-old Anton Figueroa at the keyboard and Cassandra Longville, dancing a piece choreographed by former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater star, Briana J. Reed.

Open Rehearsal The Golden Tortoise

April 28, 2023 at Gibney Studios

Choreographer Joshua Beamish and Principal Dancer Mara Galeazzi in rehearsal for The Golden Tortoise. A solo created to raise awareness and in honor of the almost extinct Ploughshare Tortoise of Madagascar. To learn more about one of the world's most trafficked animals click here and support Turtle Conservancy and its partner organizations.