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Scene from Harlequinade. Photo: Erin Baiano.
174 brand-new costumes were created for ABT’s Harlequinade—plus 172 hats and wigs to match! ABT’s Wardbrobe Department also hand-dyed and painted hundreds of pairs of character and pointe shoes to match the technicolor costumes dreamed up by designer Robert Perdziola.
The Kingdom of the Shades from La Bayadère. Photo: Rosalie O'Connor.
3 dreams came to life on stage this season. In La Bayadère, Solor dreams of being reunited with his love Nikiya in the Kingdom of the Shades. The title character in Don Quixote falls asleep and has an enchanted dream about Kitri in Act II. The Boy in Whipped Cream dreams of a world made entirely of the title confection after eating too much of it.
Scene from AFTERITE. Photo: Marty Sohl.
4,100 pounds of total scenery in AFTERITE. Creating the set for this World Premiere took some heavy lifting! The wood and steel box onstage weighs 2,800 pounds, and the freezer curtain in the background, made of frosted PVC pipes, weighs another 1,300 pounds.
Patrick Frenette, Tyler Maloney and Calvin Royal III in Praedicere. Photo: Marty Sohl.
4 different types of shoes were worn by dancers throughout the 13-minute Spring Gala pièce d’occasion. Male and female dancers in Michelle Dorrance’s Praedicere wore a mix of ballet slippers, pointe shoes, soft shoes and tap shoes.
Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg in Giselle. Photo: Rosalie O'Connor.
3,859 audience members attended the performance of Giselle on May 18 to see Guest Artist Natalia Osipova and Principal Dancer David Hallberg dance together on their shared birthday. The sold-out house celebrated with a spontaneous singing of Happy Birthday at curtain call!
A chandelier on the Whipped Cream set. Photo: Doug Gifford.
78,000 Swarovski crystals were used to embellish 150 costumes, 3 chandeliers and countless sweet shop set pieces in Whipped Cream.
Romeo and Juliet supernumeraries. Photo: Gene Schiavone.
59 supernumeraries performed in 8 shows of Romeo and Juliet. Called “supers” for short, ABT holds open auditions for background characters in full-length ballets. Supers in Romeo and Juliet performed roles such as townspeople, monks, bridesmaids and groomsmen… even corpses!
Scene from Swan Lake. Photo: Gene Schiavone.
67 birds were portrayed by our dancers in 3 different ballets this season. There are 17 fantastical birds in Firebird, 13 larks in the final divertissement of Harlequinade and 26 swans plus their Swan Queen in Swan Lake.
Devon Teuscher and Aran Bell in Romeo and Juliet. Photo: Rosalie O'Connor.
32 principal role debuts, including the 16 dancers comprising the 4 principal casts of Harlequinade.
Zhong-Jin Fang in Whipped Cream. Photo: Rosalie O'Connor.
Catherine Hurlin in Swan Lake. Photo: Gene Schiavone.
Katherine Williams in Giselle. Photo: Rosalie O'Connor.
3 promotions announced! Congratulations to corps de ballet dancers Zhong-Jing Fang, Catherine Hurlin and Katherine Williams who were promoted to the rank of Soloist, effective September 1.
