We're proud to say that Saratoga Springs and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) is the Summer Home of the New York City Ballet.

The 2018 New York City Ballet season at SPAC will run from Tuesday, July 17 through Saturday, July 21st. We invite EVERYONE to click here for more details. This promises to be another great season with some amazing world-class performances on the stage of SPAC, in the beautiful Saratoga Spa State Park.

While EVERYONE is invited, we just learned of at least one family that won't be coming this summer. We share this not as a political statement but just to take you behind the curtain a little into our world.

No matter how hard we work to promote Saratoga Springs and Saratoga County as an amazing destination for people who love the ballet, the arts, horse racing, history, great food, our natural springs, and more, some things are simply out of our control.  

Here's an email we just received from a family in Montreal, Canada, which is just three hours north of Saratoga Springs: 

"Dear Community Leaders,
 
My husband and I have been attending the NYC Ballet at SPAC for more than 30 years, with a hiatus when our children were very young. Now they come with us and enjoy the ballet as much as their parents have. Our tradition has been to arrive on a Friday and remain till Sunday, taking in 2 performances, often  watching the wondrous fireworks. We love the genteel, friendly town of Saratoga Springs and of course, the NYC Ballet. We used to watch some of the dancers swim in the pool at Gideon Putnam or stroll elegantly through the town. Dancers and audience members felt like one big family, largely due to the cozy atmosphere of SS. Those dancers may be older now, but then so are we. The change in their bodies and names has not, however, affected the excellence of the performances or the allure of their summer home.
 
I was about to purchase my ballet tickets for this season when your President decided to insult our Prime Minister and denigrate  the longstanding Canadian/American relationship. As Mr. Trudeau noted, Canadians are polite but we will not be pushed around. To hear and see this has been shocking and painful. Many, many Canadians are justifiably angry. I cannot wash out Mr. Trump’s nasty mouth, but I can choose not to spend Canadian dollars on US products or services, even the beloved NYC Ballet. Of course this will affect the town because spending on gas, hotel lodgings, food, shopping and so on, will be foregone. Americans made their choice and now we make ours. The consequences for those living in towns and cities near the Canadian border may turn out to be dire. I write this in sadness. An international relationship has been seriously wounded and our family tradition has ended. Nothing to applaud here."