Highlights include 'Desir', 'La Sylphide' and 'On the Dnieper'. As a note, the Danish translation of 'La Sylphide' is 'Sylfiden', not 'Sylphiden'.
But WHY WHY another season with 'Swan Lake' and 'Le Corsaire' and 'Romeo and Juliet'. R&J isn't so bad, but ABT's Swan Lake is horrid and 'Le Corsaire' is very, very thin - you've a lot to survive through to enjoy the pas de trois. And my memory is that the production of 'Sylvia' is also horrid. Hopefully the new ballets will make up for the repeats and horrids.
ALEXEI RATMANSKY TO STAGE ALL-NEW PRODUCTION OF
ON THE DNIEPER FOR AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE
2009 SPRING SEASON AT METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE,
MAY 18-JULY 11, 2009
BALANCHINE/TCHAIKOVSKY SPECTACULAR AND
ALL-PROKOFIEV CELEBRATION TO
HIGHLIGHT EIGHT-WEEK SEASON
NINA ANANIASHVILI TO GIVE FINAL PERFORMANCE ON JUNE 27
7:30 P.M. Curtain Time for Monday through Thursday Performances to Begin
American Ballet Theatre¹s 2009 Spring Season at the Metropolitan
Opera House, May 18-July 11, was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin
McKenzie. Highlighting the engagement will be the World Premiere of an
all-new staging of On the Dnieper by Alexei Ratmansky, ABT¹s
Artist-in-Residence.
Principal Dancers for the engagement will include Nina
Ananiashvili, Maxim Beloserkovsky, Roberto Bolle, Jose Manuel Carreño, Angel
Corella, Herman Cornejo, Irina Dvorovenko, Marcelo Gomes, David Hallberg,
Paloma Herrera, Julie Kent, Gillian Murphy, Xiomara Reyes, Ethan Stiefel,
Diana Vishneva and Michele Wiles. Natalia Osipova, a leading soloist with
the Bolshoi Ballet, will perform as a guest artist for the Spring season.
Superfund Asset Management, Inc. is the sponsor of American
Ballet Theatre¹s 2009 Metropolitan Opera House season. Saks Fifth Avenue is
the Leading Corporate Sponsor of the Costume Fund. J.P. Morgan is the
Official Sponsor of Make a Ballet. American Airlines is ABT¹s Official
Airline. Northern Trust is the Official Sponsor of the Jacqueline Kennedy
Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre. The 2009 Metropolitan Opera
House Season is also made possible with public funds from the National
Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, a state
agency and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
The 2009 Spring Season will open with a Gala performance
featuring ABT¹s Principal Dancers on Monday, May 18 at 6:30 P.M. For
information on ABT¹s Spring Gala, please call the Special Events Office at
212-477-3030, ext. 3239. ABT¹s Spring Gala is sponsored Carolina Herrera,
Ltd. and Graff.
World Premiere and All-Prokofiev Evening
Alexei Ratmansky, American Ballet Theatre¹s Artist-in-Residence,
will choreograph an all-new production of Sergei Prokofiev¹s On the Dnieper
which will receive its World Premiere on Monday evening, June 1 as part of
ABT¹¹s All-Prokofiev Celebration. On the Dnieper will feature sets by Simon
Pastukh, costumes by Galina Solovyeva and lighting by Brad Fields.
Prokofiev¹s score for On the Dnieper was originally commissioned by Sergei
Diaghilev and the ballet received its World Premiere in 1932 by the Paris
Opera Ballet.
The All-Prokofiev Celebration will also include the Company
Premiere of James Kudelka¹s Désir and the Revival Premiere of George
Balanchine¹s Prodigal Son. ABT¹s All-Prokofiev Celebration will have eight
performances through June 6. Kudelka¹s Désir, set to Prokofiev¹s Cinderella
(Op. 87) and the Waltz Suite (Op. 110), features a scenic concept and
lighting by Robert Thomson. The ballet, which will be staged for ABT by
Gerard Charles, received its World Premiere on January 31, 1991 by Les Grand
Ballets Canadiens.
George Balanchine¹s Prodigal Son, based on the Biblical parable,
will have its Revival Premiere on Monday, June 1, with Ethan Stiefel as The
Son and Michele Wiles as The Siren. The ballet premiered as Le Fils
Prodigue at the Paris Theatre by Diaghilev¹s Ballets Russes on May 21, 1929
and was first performed by American Ballet Theatre in 1980. Prodigal Son
features a libretto by Boris Kochino, scenery and costumes by Georges
Rouault and lighting by Gil Wechsler. The ballet will be staged for ABT by
Richard Tanner.
All-Balanchine/Tchaikovsky Evening
George Balanchine¹s Allegro Brillante will have its first
performance of the season on Tuesday evening, May 19 led by Gillian Murphy
as part of American Ballet Theatre¹s All-Balanchine/Tchaikovsky Spectacular.
The program, which will have eight performances through Monday evening, May
25, will also include Balanchine¹s Tchiakovsky Pas de Deux, Mozartiana and
Theme and Variations.
Allegro Brillante, set to music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky
(Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 75), received its World Premiere by New York City
Ballet on March 1, 1956. Allegro Brillante willl be staged for ABT by Judith
Fugate. The ballet will be given its ABT Company on February 17, 2009 at the
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Paloma Herrera and Marcelo Gomes will dance the season¹s first
performance of Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux on Monday evening, May 19.
Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux uses music the composer originally intended for the
pas de deux in Act III of Swan Lake and features costumes by Karinska. The
ballet was given its World Premiere by New York City Ballet at the City
Center of Music and Drama in 1960 and entered the repertoire of American
Ballet Theatre in 1979.
The season¹s first performance of Balanchine¹s Mozartiana, set
to Tchaikovsky¹s Suite No. 4, will be led by Veronika Part and Maxim
Beloserkovsky on Tuesday evening, May 19. Staged for ABT by Maria Calegari,
Mozartiana features costumes by Rouben Ter-Arutunian and lighting by Mark
Stanley. The ballet was given its World Premiere by Les Ballets 1933 at the
Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris on June 7, 1933. Mozartiana received
its American Ballet Theatre Company Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House
on May 24, 2004.
ABT¹s production of Theme and Variations, staged by Kirk
Peterson, is set to Tchaikovsky¹s Suite No. 3 for Orchestra and features
costumes by Theoni V. Aldredge and lighting by David K. H. Elliott. Theme
and Variations received its World Premiere at New York City Center on
November 26, 1947. Peterson¹s staging of the ballet received its ABT
Company Premiere at City Center, New York on October 22, 2003. Michele
Wiles and David Hallberg will lead the cast of Theme and Variations on
Tuesday evening, May 19.
Revival Premieres
The 2009 season will include the Revival Premieres of Paul Taylor¹s
Airs and August Bournonville¹s La Sylphide on Monday, June 15. The ballets
will be given eight performances through Saturday evening, June 20.
Set to a score by Hermann von Lovenskjold, La Sylphide (The
Sylph of the Highlands) is a ballet in two acts and features scenery and
costumes by Desmond Heeley and lighting by David K.H. Elliott. The World
Premiere of La Sylphide (known as Sylphiden) was given by the Royal Danish
Ballet at the Royal Theatre, Copenhagen on November 28, 1836 with Lucile
Grahn and August Bournonville. Last performed by ABT in 2000, the ballet
received its ABT premiere in 1964 with choreography by Harald Lander, from
the original by Bournonville. ABT¹s second production of La Sylphide, with
choreography by Bournonville, restaged by Erik Bruhn, was given its first
performance in July, 1971. Xiomara Reyes and Herman Cornejo will lead the
cast of the Revival Premiere of La Sylphide.
Paul Taylor¹s Airs, set to music by George Frederic Handel
(Concerto Grossi in G, Op. 3), features designs by Gene Moore and lighting
by Jennifer Tipton. Airs received its World Premiere by the Paul Taylor
Dance Company in 1978 and its ABT Company Premiere in 1981. Airs, last
performed by ABT in 1999, will be staged by Susan McGuire.
Full-Length Ballets
American Ballet Theatre¹s 2009 season will include performances
of five full-length ballets beginning with Le Corsaire on Tuesday evening,
May 26.
With choreography by Konstantin Sergeyev after Marius Petipa,
and staging by Anna-Marie Holmes after Petipa and Sergeyev, Le Corsaire
features music by Adolphe Adam, Cesare Pugni, Léo Delibes, Riccardo Drigo
and Prince Oldenbourg. Based on the Lord Byron poem ³The Corsair² (1814),
the ballet has sets and costumes by Irina Tibilova with additional costume
designs by Robert Perdziola. Paloma Herrera and David Hallberg will lead the
seasons first performance of Le Corsaire. The ballet will be given seven
performances through Saturday evening, May 30.
Eight performances of Giselle will he performed beginning
Monday, June 8 with Julie Kent in the title role dancing opposite Marcelo
Gomes as Albrecht. Set to music by Adolphe Adam and orchestrated by John
Lanchbery, Giselle is staged by Kevin McKenzie with choreography after Jean
Coralli, Jules Perrot and Marius Petipa. The two-act ballet features
scenery by Gianni Quaranta and costumes by Anna Anni. This production, with
scenery by Quaranta and costumes by Anni, was created for the film Dancers
in 1987.
Eight performances of Swan Lake, choreographed by Kevin McKenzie
after Marius Petipa, will be given beginning Monday, June 22 with Irina
Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky leading the opening night cast. Swan
Lake is set to the score by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky and features scenery
and costumes by Zack Brown and lighting by Duane Schuler. This production
of Swan Lake premiered on March 24, 2000 at the Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Nina Ananiashvili will give her final
performance with American Ballet Theatre in the role of Odette/Odile
opposite Angel Corella as Prince Siegfried on Saturday evening, June 27.
Sir Frederick Ashton¹s Sylvia, will be given seven performances,
June 29 through July 4. Gillian Murphy and Maxim Beloserkovsky will dance
the leading roles at the season¹s first performance. A ballet in three
acts, Sylvia is set to music by Léo Delibes and features costumes and
scenery after original designs by Robin and Christopher Ironside.
Additional designs for the revival of Sylvia are by Peter Farmer and
lighting is by Mark Jonathan.
The World Premiere of the original production of Sylvia was
given by The Royal Ballet on September 3, 1952 at the Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden, London, danced by Margot Fonteyn (Sylvia), Michael Somes
(Aminta), John Hart (Orion) and Alexander Grant (Eros). The United States
Premiere of this original production was given by the Sadler¹s Wells (now
The Royal Ballet) on September 29, 1953 at the Metropolitan Opera House in
New York. Sylvia received its American Ballet Theatre Company Premiere at
the Metropolitan Opera House, New York on June 3, 2005, danced by Gillian
Murphy (Sylvia), Maxim Beloserkovsky (Aminta), Herman Cornejo (Eros) and
Marcelo Gomes (Orion). The ballet is staged for ABT by Christopher Newton.
The final week of American Ballet Theatre¹s eight week season at the
Metropolitan Opera House will feature eight performances of Kenneth
MacMillan¹s Romeo and Juliet beginning Monday evening, July 6 with Diana
Vishneva in the title role of Juliet. Set to the music of Sergei Prokofiev,
Romeo and Juliet features scenery and costumes by Nicholas Georgiadis and
lighting by Thomas Skelton. The ballet received its World Premiere by The
Royal Ballet in London on February 9, 1965 and was given its ABT Company
Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House on April 22, 1985.
ABTKids
ABTKids, American Ballet Theatre¹s annual one-hour introduction
to ballet, is scheduled for Saturday matinee, May 30 at 11:30am. All
tickets for ABTKids are $25. The ABTKids performance is generously supported
through an endowed gift from Thomas and Lydia West, in loving memory of
Vivian B. West.
ABTKids Workshop Series
ABTKids Workshop Series, activity-based programs led by ABT
Teaching Artists, are available to ABTKids ticket holders only on Saturday,
May 30 (9:30 am) and to matinee ticket holders on Saturday, June 30 (11:00
am). Saturday workshops will be held in the rehearsal studios of the
Metropolitan Opera House. Tickets to the workshops are $20 per person. For
tickets and more information on ABTKids Workshop series, please call
212-419-4321.
Subscriptions for American Ballet Theatre¹s 2009 Spring Season
at the Metropolitan Opera House are on sale now by phone at 212-362-6000, or
online at ABT¹s website
www.abt.org <http://www.abt.org> .
The Balanchine-Tchaikovsky Spectacular is generously sponsored through an
endowed gift from Monica, Stefano, Cosima and Tassilo Corsi. Theme and
Variations is generously underwritten through an endowed gift from Mr. and
Mrs. John C. Sites, Jr.
The World Premiere of On the Dneiper is made possible by the generous
support of The Ross Stretton Choreography Workshop Fund.
ABT¹s performances of Le Corsaire are generously sponsored through an
endowed gift from Irene and Fred Shen.
Giselle is generously supported through an endowed gift from Anka K. Palitz,
in memory of Clarence Y. Palitz, Jr.
Sylvia is generously sponsored through an endowed gift from Ruth and Harold
Newman. The ballet is made possible with public funds from the New York
State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.
Swan Lake is generously underwritten by The Rosh Foundation.
ABT¹s production of Romeo and Juliet is generously underwritten through an
endowed gift from Ali and Monica Wambold.
CA, Inc. is a Sponsor of ABT¹s Family Initiatives.