July 7, 2014
2014 Fall Season at the David H. Koch Theater, October 22-November 2, To Launch ABT's 75th Anniversary Celebration
World Premiere by Liam Scarlett and New Production of Raymonda Divertissements Staged by Kevin McKenzie and Irina Kolpakova to Highlight Season
Box Office Opens Monday, July 14
A World Premiere work by choreographer Liam Scarlett and a new production of Raymonda Divertissements will highlight American Ballet Theatre’s annual Fall season at the David H. Koch Theater, October 22–November 2, 2014. It was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.
The Fall season officially kicks-off American Ballet Theatre’s 75th Anniversary celebration. ABT’s 75th Anniversary performances, which extend through December 2015, will feature works by choreographers most closely associated with ABT, including Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor, Michel Fokine, Frederick Ashton&##44; Léonide Massine, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp and Alexei Ratmansky. These works will serve to showcase the Company’s wide-ranging style, historic legacy and continuing innovation. Special anniversary events commemorating the Company’s history will be outlined in upcoming announcements.
Principal Dancers for the engagement include Isabella Boylston, Paloma Herrera, Julie Kent, Gillian Murphy, Veronika Part, Xiomara Reyes, Hee Seo, Herman Cornejo, Marcelo Gomes, David Hallberg, Daniil Simkin, Cory Stearns and James Whiteside.
WORLD PREMIERES AND OPENING NIGHT GALA
A World Premiere by Liam Scarlett will anchor American Ballet Theatre’s Opening Night Gala on October 22 at 6:30 P.M. Scarlett’s new work, his first for the Company, will be given six performances during the Fall season. The Opening Night program will also feature Christopher Wheeldon’s Thirteen Diversions and a special 10th anniversary performance by students of the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, choreographed by ABT Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky.
CLINIQUE is the Lead Sponsor of American Ballet Theatre’s Opening Night Fall Gala. LANVIN and Piaget are Supporting Sponsors of ABT&rsqrsquo;s Fall Gala.
Raymonda Divertissements, staged by Kevin McKenzie and Irina Kolpakova after Marius Petipa, will be given its World Premiere on Thursday evening, October 23 at the Koch Theater. Set to the music of Alexander Glazunov, Raymonda Divertissements will receive five performances during the Fall season.
HISTORIC WORKS
Antony Tudor and Jerome Robbins, choreographers whose contributions to American Ballet Theatre have left a lasting impact on the Company’s legacy, will both be represented during the Fall season. Jardin aux Lilas, choreographed by Tudor for Ballet Rambert in 1936, entered the repertory of Ballet Theatre on January 15, 1940. Set to music by Ernest Chausson, Jardin aux Lilas features sets and costumes by Peter Cazalet. The ballet will be given three performances during the Koch Theater season beginning Thursday evening, October 23. Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner will stage the production for ABT.
Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free, the story of three sailors on shore leave in New York City during World War II, will receive three performances during ABT’s Fall season beginning Thursday evening, October 23. Set to a score by Leonard Bernstein, Fancy Free features scenery by Oliver Smith, costumes by Kermit Love and lighting by Jennifer Tipton after original designs by Nananne Porcher. Robbins’ work received its World Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on April 18, 1944 at the Metropolitan Opera House. Fancy Free is staged for ABT by Jean-Pierre Frohlich.
REVIVAL
Jiří Kylián’s Sinfonietta, last performed by American Ballet Theatre in 2005, will be given its Revival premiere on Friday evening, October 24. Set to music by Leoš Janáček, Sinfonietta has scenery and costumes by Walter Nobbe and lighting by Kees Tjebbes. The ballet was given its World Premiere by the Netherlands Dance Theater in Charleston, South Carolina in June 1978 and received its ABT Company Premiere at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in January 1991. The revival of Sinfonietta will be staged by Patrick Delcroix. ABT will give six performances of the ballet during the Fall season.
RETURNING REPERTORY
Twyla Tharp’s Bach Partita, which received its Revival Premiere last season, will be given three performances at the David H. Koch Theater beginning Wednesday evening #44; October 29. Set to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin, the ballet features costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. Bach Partita received its World Premiere by American Ballet Theatre at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. in December 1983. The ballet has been staged for ABT by Susan Jones.
Alexei Ratmansky’s Seven Sonatas will be given four performances during the Fall season beginning Saturday, October 25, matinee. Set to keyboard sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, Seven Sonatas features costumes by Holly Hynes and lighting by Brad Fields. Seven Sonatas received its World Premiere at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York in October 2009.
Christopher Wheeldon’s Thirteen Diversions will be given five performances beginning opening night, October 22. Created for American Ballet Theatre, Thirteen Diversions is set to music by Benjamin Britten (Diversions for Piano (left hand) and Orchestra, Op. 21) and features costumes by Bob Crowley and lighting by Brad Fields. Thirteen Diversions received its World Premiere by American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York on May 24, 2011.
Léonide Massine’s Gaîté Parisienne will be given three performances during the Fall season beginning Wednesday evening, October 29. American Ballet Theatre’s production of Gaîté Parisienne, set to music by Jacques Offenbach, with costumes by Christian Lacroix, scenery by Zack Brown and lighting by Steven Shelley, was given its Company Premiere on January 19, 1988 in Tampa, Florida with Cheryl Yeager as the Glove Seller, Victor Barbee as the Baron and Johan Renvall as the Peruvian. The ballet received its World Premiere by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1938 at the Theatre de Monte Carlo in Monaco with Nina Tarakanova as the Glove Seller, Frederic Franklin as the Baron and Léonide Massine as the Peruvian. Staged for ABT by Lorca Massine, with assistance by Susan Jones, Gaîté Parisienne was given its Revival Premiere on May 20, 2014 at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2014 Fall season at the David H. Koch Theater go on sale beginning July 14, 2014. Tickets priced from $20 are available online, at the Koch box office or by phone at 212-496-0600. Performance-only tickets for the Opening Night Gala begin at $20. The David H. Koch Theater is located at Lincoln Center, Broadway and 63rd Street in New York City. For more information, visit ABT’s website at www.abt.org.
American Airlines is the Official Airline of American Ballet Theatre. Northern Trust is the Leading Corporate Sponsor of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre. ABT is supported, in part, with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
CLINIQUE is the Lead Sponsor of American Ballet Theatre’s Opening Night Fall Gala. LANVIN and Piaget are Supporting Sponsors of the Fall Gala.
The Liam Scarlett World Premiere is generously supported through an endowed gift from The Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund. Howard S. Paley is a Sponsor of the Liam Scarlett World Premiere.
Costumes for Jardin aux Lilas are generously sponsored by the Ellen Everett Kimiatek Costume Preservation Trust.
Bach Partita is made possible by the generous support of the JCT Foundation and Leading Underwriters Patsy and Jeff Tarr.
Fancy Free was originally underwritten by a grant from David A. Klein and the Equitable Financial Companies. This production is supported by an endowed gift from Avery and Andy Barth in honor of Laima and Rudolph Barth.
Gaîté Parisienne is generously supported through an endowed gift from The Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund. ABT gratefully thanks Lillian E. Kraemer for her generous support of the Company’s 2014 performances of Gaîté Parisienne.
Seven Sonatas is generously supported through an endowed gift from The Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund. Additional support generously provided by Leila and Mickey Straus.
Sinfonietta has been made possible with generous gifts from the Francena T. Harrison Foundation Trust, the Harkness Foundation for Dance, and the Prince Charitable Trusts.
American Ballet Theatre gratefully acknowledges David and Julia Koch and Patricia K. Hagan for their generous support of Raymonda Divertissements. Major funding for this production has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.