Gia Kourlas names top dance performances of 2025, led by Twyla Tharp

Gia Kourlas, the dance critic for The New York Times, published her picks for the best dance performances of 2025 in a Dec. 8, 2025, roundup that places Twyla Tharp at the forefront. Tharp marked her 60th year of choreography with two programs: a City Center presentation that paired the new Slacktide with the little-seen 1998 Diabelli, and an all-Tharp program at American Ballet Theater that included Bach Partita and Push Comes to Shove.

Kourlas also singled out a range of other highlights, from Rennie Harris’s full-length American Street Dancer and Monica Bill Barnes & Company’s Many Happy Returns and Lunch Dances, to site-specific work by Kim Brandt, the searing For All Your Life by Leslie Cuyjet, and Trajal Harrell’s Monkey Off My Back or The Cat’s Meow.

The roundup noted cultural moments beyond the stage as well, citing the rise of choreographer Robbie Blue and the Timeless Torches, a New York Liberty dance team of performers 40 and older celebrating a 20th anniversary. Kourlas also highlighted projects including a new staging of David Gordon’s Times Four by Wally Cardona and Molly Lieber, and singled out individual artists such as Lexee Smith, Tiler Peck and Alexa West.

Key Topics

Culture, Twyla Tharp, American Ballet Theater, Rennie Harris, Monica Bill Barnes, Timeless Torches