Royal New Zealand Ballet

Dance fans know Ethan Stiefel as the celebrated former American Ballet Theatre principal; dance-movie fans know him as the jerky choreographer who broke Jody’s heart in Center Stage. These days, he’s the artistic director of the world-renowned Royal New Zealand Ballet, which is making its long-awaited NYC debut at the Joyce. The company will perform Benjamin Millepied’s elegant 28 Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Javier De Frutos’s flamenco-inflected Banderillero and Andrew Simmons’s minimalist Of Days.