Orlando Ballet kicks off its 2026-27 season this month with Christopher Stowell's production of The Sleeping Beauty, running Oct. 15-18 at Steinmetz Hall inside the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The production arrives with more than 500 costumes and live orchestral accompaniment, even as the company leans further into community programs that stretch far beyond the stage.
According to WESH Orlando, Orlando Ballet Artistic Director Jorden Morris said The Sleeping Beauty introduces a season of adventure, romance, love stories and fairy tales. The ballet will be staged with live music from the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, a detail confirmed by Orlando Ballet, which describes the production as one where “Christopher Stowell's The Sleeping Beauty enchants audiences.” The performance runs two hours and 30 minutes plus an intermission, according to the Dr. Phillips Center.
The run is scheduled for Oct. 15-18, a date range also confirmed by the Orlando Sentinel in its fall arts preview. Per WESH, Morris framed the production as part of a company that is “growing dancers in Orlando fit for stages in the region, around the country and worldwide.” Orlando Ballet provides ticket information and sales through its own website, the station notes.
A Season Built on Momentum
The Sleeping Beauty opens a slate that also includes The Nutcracker, Alice in Wonderland, Director's Collection, and the return of Moulin Rouge® the Ballet, according to Bungalower. The same report notes that the company's Ballet Ball fundraiser raised a record $1.14 million this year.
Audience numbers have been climbing too. Orlando Ballet welcomed 42,000 patrons last season, and this year's attendance had already reached that same benchmark by the midway point of the season, according to a release from Orange County's newsroom, which also reported the company was awarded a Cultural Tourism grant administered by the county's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs and funded through a share of the Tourist Development Tax. WESH separately describes the company as building on its most successful season yet, with a growing audience base.
Programs Reaching Students Across Central Florida
Beyond the mainstage, Orlando Ballet has expanded outreach aimed at making dance accessible across the region, per WESH. The company's STEPS program trains second through fifth graders in ballet over 13- or 20-week residencies led by professional teaching artists, culminating in a showcase for family and friends, according to Orlando Ballet. The organization says STEPS reaches more than 550 students annually and provides dancewear while identifying candidates for scholarships toward further training.
That education push extends into dozens of public schools. The same Orange County release noted that Orlando Ballet runs 10- to 20-week residencies in 48 public schools each year, and that 15,000 second graders attend a live performance of The Nutcracker annually. WESH also reports a separate program, RISE, gives middle and high school dance students a chance to explore ballet and performing-arts careers at no cost, with Shane Bland, the company's head of community enrichment, saying the program helps students identify their abilities and pursue opportunities in the field — including guidance on auditioning for companies like Disney or Universal.
Healing Through Movement
Orlando Ballet's outreach also reaches adult survivors of violence. Emotions in Motion, created in partnership with the Victim Service Center of Central Florida, is described by Orlando Ballet as a healing-through-movement program. Each session focuses on a featured emotion and includes warm-ups, center work, creative combinations and small-group discussion, the organization says.
This fall's session runs Mondays from Sept. 28 through Dec. 7, from 7:15 to 8:45 p.m., and the program requires a full 10-week commitment from all participants, per the same Orlando Ballet page. WESH reports that the ballet partners with the Victim Service Center of Central Florida throughout this month, and that the program is structured like a dance class to help survivors of domestic violence heal through movement. Together, the mainstage season and these community initiatives reflect a company aiming to connect people of all ages with the arts while extending ballet's impact well beyond the footlights at Steinmetz Hall.
