Get ready for a steamy summer of dance. On June 1, American Ballet Theatre, currently in residence at the Metropolitan Opera, opens a new production of “The Sleeping Beauty” that has been in the works for the last 18 months. Despite “The Sleeping Beauty” being the most complex and most difficult to stage of all 19th-century classical ballets, no major company can resist trying — and for that we should be thankful, since it is the crowning glory of the repertory. ABT first staged a one-act set of excerpts from the ballet in 1941; its last fulllength production was the late Kenneth MacMillan’s, in 1987. ABT’s new “Beauty” is a collaboration among the company’s artistic director, Kevin McKenzie, a former ABT star, Gelsey Kirkland, and her husband, Michael Chernov. Mr. Chernov’s role is described as “dramaturge,” so we can expect that there will be some rethinking of the narrative in this production.

It is a tradition to employ retired prima ballerinas as the ballet’s chief troublemaker, the wicked fairy Carabosse, and this time not only Ms. Kirkland herself but another ex-ABT star, Martine van Hamel, will be doing the honors. There will be 11 performances of the new “Beauty,” and several fulllength ballets later, the ABT season concludes on July 7. On June 23, an ABT principal dancer, Alessandra Ferri, dances her last performance with the company, appearing as Juliet, the same role in which she first appeared with ABT in 1985.

Across Lincoln Center Plaza, New York City Ballet’s season runs until June 24 at the New York State Theater, playing multiple programs from its vast repertory. On June 7, a performance honoring Lincoln Kirstein will see students from the School of American Ballet — which Kirstein co-founded, as he did the company — sharing the stage with the NYCB professionals. On June 13, the company reprises last season’s revival of Jerome Robbins’s remarkable and long-missing “Dybbuk.” A longtime NYCB star, Kyra Nichols, will give her final performances with the company this month, culminating in her farewell on June 22, when she will presumably dance in all three ballets on the program: “Serenade,” Robert Schumann’s “Davidsbündlertanze,” and the “Rosenkavalier” waltz from “Vienna Waltzes.” Christopher Wheeldon’s new ballet for the company, “The Nightingale and the Rose,” based on an Oscar Wilde tale, bows on June 8.

July’s Lincoln Center Festival includes a few dance offerings, including “Mongolia: Music, Dance & Ballad,” which the Festival will present in association with the Asia Society at the Clark Studio. At the New York State Theater, the Ballet National de Marseille will perform “Metapolis II,” a joint creation of artistic director Frédéric Flamand and architect Zaha Hadid that melds movement and diverse media.

Downtown, the Joyce Theater will offer good, crowd-pleasing attractions for the hot summer months. Currently playing at the Joyce is Momix, which closes its season on June 10. Pascal Rioult’s company arrives June 12 for a week’s run, followed by tap maven Savion Glover, who begins his performances June 19. Pilobolus then returns on July 16 for its annual four-week Joyce visit. The season closes with the visit of the Smuin Ballet, beginning August 13 and featuring recent work by its founder, Michael Smuin, who died just a month ago.

All well and good. But suppose you’re one of those dance lovers who would simply rather not have to pay for the experience? And suppose you like being outdoors on a summer-in-the-city night? In that case, head to Central Park’s SummerStage, which over the sultry months will showcase many popular dance attractions, including Ronald K. Brown’s Evidence, Parsons Dance, the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Philadanco, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet.