Van Cleef & Arpels is always en pointe.
Long known as a patron of the arts, the famed French house is holding its lauded contemporary dance festival in New York for the second time.
Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels (Feb. 19 – March 21) will feature 16 performances held in select venues across the city, from the Brooklyn Academy of Music to the Guggenheim New York rotunda. The initiative includes works by visionary choreographers like Trisha Brown, Benjamin Millepied and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.
Several highlights from the calendar: Millepied’s Reflections: A Triptych and Romeo & Juliet Suite, both L.A. Dance Project productions. Set and Reset (1983) by Brown and Travelogue by Merce Cunningham (1977) — a program by Trisha Brown Dance Company with Merce Cunningham Trust — celebrate visual artist Robert Rauschenberg’s original collaboration on the pieces. Meanwhile, the Lyon Opera Ballet will perform BIPED by Cunningham (1999) and Mycelium (2023) by Christos Papadopoulos.
In addition, an array of workshops at the New York Center for Creativity & Dance will be open to dancers of all levels.
“Holding a new festival in this city in 2026 illustrates our dedication to highlighting the importance of this art form in cultural expression and society at large,” said Catherine Renier, President and CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, in a release. “We hope that this new program will enable a growing audience to discover a universe whose richness, still often underrecognized, has captivated and inspired our Maison for over 80 years.”
“Beyond the joy of unveiling this program to the people of New York — whom we are especially delighted to see again — this event offers a new opportunity to celebrate the richness and diversity of contemporary dance,” added Serge Laurent, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Director of Dance and Culture Programs.
Van Cleef’s connection to dance dates back to the 1920s. Louis Arpels, a balletomane and co-founder of the house, often took his nephew Claude to the Paris Opera. The pair oversaw the creation of gemstone-studded ballerina clips in the early 1940s, and the elegant designs soon became signature collectibles.
In 1961, Claude met choreographer George Balanchine, co-founder of the New York City Ballet. Legend has it that Balanchine was so taken by the glittering gems at Van Cleef’s Fifth Ave. boutique that he created Jewels (1967), a three-part abstract ballet inspired by emeralds, rubies and diamonds. Set to music by Gabriel Fauré, Igor Stravinsky, and Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, each movement of the ballet is costumed in a different color. Widely considered a masterpiece, it is still part of the company’s repertoire.
Today, Van Cleef continues to champion contemporary dance, supporting the L.A. Dance Project, partnering with the Fedora non-profit philanthropic community and awarding the Fedora – Van Cleef & Arpels Dance prize. Last year, the maison inaugurated the first Van Cleef & Arpels Chair in the History of Dance at New York University.
A standing ovation is deserved.
