Welcome to January, the month for looking back and looking ahead … to lots of unforgettable arts experiences!
Great Performances presents From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2026
Streaming until June 30, 2026
The famed Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra rings in the New Year with its annual concert from the Golden Hall of Vienna’s Musikverein conducted for the first time by Yannick Nézet-Séguin (five-time Grammy Award winner and Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera) with performances by the Vienna State Ballet. Celebrate the arrival of 2026 with this beloved annual concert, with Downton Abbey and Paddington star Hugh Bonneville returning as host for the ninth consecutive year, visiting scenic locations throughout Vienna that relate to the orchestra’s concert program.
Watch From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration on PBS.org
The Pocantico Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Katonah Museum of Art present Shen Wei: Still/Moving
David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center at Pocantico, 200 Lake Road, Tarrytown, NY 10591
On view through April 18, 2026, Thursday through Saturday, from 11am to 3pm
Shen Wei: Still/Moving commemorates thirty years of Shen Wei’s visionary career as a dancer, choreographer, visual artist, filmmaker, and global cultural ambassador. This joint exhibition of The Pocantico Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Katonah Museum of Art will illuminate the full scope of the artist’s trailblazing practice, offering viewers access to Shen Wei’s extensive paintings, works on paper, choreographic compositions, and short films, including new pieces never before exhibited in the United States. Free; registration required. On the first Saturday of each month at 1pm, docents from the Katonah Museum of Art will provide guided tours of the exhibition at Pocantico. No additional ticket or fee is required; simply register for the appropriate time slot.
Register to view Shen Wei: Still/Moving
Learn more! Watch a PBS NewsHour segment about Shen Wei
Graham100@Purchase Kick-Off Event
Thursday, January 29, 6pm
Dance Theatre Lab in the Conservatory of Dance Building at Purchase College, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase NY 10577
In 1926, celebrated modern dance choreographer Martha Graham presented her first evening of work at the 48th Street Theater in New York City, marking the beginning of the Martha Graham Dance Company and launching a glorious journey that would revolutionize the world of Western concert dance. 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of the Martha Graham Dance Company. As the only college in the nation to do so, the Conservatory of Dance, Purchase College, presents a semester-long Martha Graham Dance Company Centennial Celebration featuring more than a dozen events taking place campus-wide, curated by Assistant Professor Martin Lofsnes. One ticket gives you access to all Graham100 events and discounts!
This is a ticketed event. View the full Graham100@Purchase schedule of events and purchase your event pass on The Purchase PAC website.
Martha Graham Dance Company
Saturday, March 14, 7:30 pm
The Purchase PAC
The legendary Martha Graham Dance Company continues its three-year GRAHAM100 tour with a celebratory mixed repertory stop at The Purchase PAC. Exemplifying its founder’s timeless and uniquely American style of dance, the third season of GRAHAM100, aligned with the national celebration America250, is titled The Masterpieces. Curated around the question “What is an American?” from Graham’s 1939 work American Document, the season focuses on Graham’s greatest works.
Take a brief peek behind the curtain of Night Journey in Secrets of the Oedipus Cape – Revealed!
Parsons Dance
Friday, January 30, 2026, at 7:30pm
The Purchase PAC
Known for its energized, athletic, and joyous style, Parsons Dance creates and performs contemporary American dance that has thrilled audiences worldwide. Bold ensemble work, effortless movement, and stunning dancers come together in performances that lift hearts, spark creativity, and remind us that dance can connect us all. The mission of Parsons Dance is to bring life-affirming performances and joy to audiences worldwide and, through education and outreach programs, to sustain an appreciation for dance. We embrace the power of a diverse and inclusive company to enhance awareness and empathy, engage with audiences of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds, lift us as individuals, and bring us together. We envision a more positive, creative, and welcoming world because of our art.
Get tickets to see Parsons Dance at The Purchase PAC
Watch Parsons Dance’s Balance of Power for Dancers Responding to AIDS
See excerpts from Parsons Dance’s Nascimento
Cirque Mechanics: Tilt! A Circus Thrill Ride
Saturday, January 31, 2026, at 7:30 pm
The Purchase PAC
Cirque Mechanics, inspired by modern circus, finds its roots in the mechanical and its heart in the stories of American industrial ingenuity, with a signature style that is wrapped in acrobatics, mechanical marvels, and a bit of clowning around. Experience a whirlwind of stunts, surprises, and silliness under the lights of the Ferris wheel, where you’ll meet the carnies, characters, and operators that keep the thrills coming. You’ve got to see it to believe it!
Run time: 85 minutes, plus a 20-minute intermission. Appropriate for all ages; recommended for ages 5+.
Get tickets for Cirque Mechanics at The Purchase PAC
Watch the official trailer for Cirque Mechanics Tilt!
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Culture Picks celebrates the performing arts. In each post, PAC staff member Coni Guhl shines the spotlight on work by artists that you know and love from their appearances at The Purchase PAC, and offers recommendations about other performing arts events that you really should not miss. Experience them all!
All times are EDT unless otherwise noted.
Pictured: Martha Graham, Lamentation (c) Barbara Morgan
