Thirteen Diversions.

Casting for American Ballet Theatre’s 2014 Fall Season at the David H. Koch Theater was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

American Ballet Theatre celebrates the opening of its Fall season on Wednesday, October 22 at 6:30 P.M. with a special opening night Gala performance, highlighted by a pièce d’occasion choreographed by ABT Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky and set to Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Camille Saint-Saëns.  The work will be performed by students of the American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in celebration of the school’s 10th Anniversary.

Clinique is the Leading Sponsor of American Ballet Theatre’s 2014 Fall Gala. LANVIN and Piaget are the evening’s Supporting Sponsors.  Emily Blavatnik, Sutton Stracke, and Caryn Zucker will serve as Co-Chairs for the 2014 Fall Gala. Vice Chairs include Cecile Andrau-Martel, Larry Boland, Susan Feinstein and Victoria Phillips.  Allison Ecung, Rachel F. Kirwin and Julia Loomis will serve as Junior Chairs for the evening.  A black tie dinner and dancing on The Promenade will immediately follow the performance.  ABT Trustee and former Board President Anne M. Tatlock will be honored with the 2014 Melville Straus Leadership Achievement Award.

The Opening Night Gala performance will also feature the World Premiere of a new ballet by Liam Scarlett led by Hee Seo, Misty Copeland, Gemma Bond, Devon Teuscher, Marcelo Gomes, James Whiteside, Joseph Gorak and Sterling Baca.  Isabella Boylston, Sarah Lane, Luciana Paris, Stephanie Williams, Cory Stearns, Thomas Forster, Eric Tamm and Zhiyao Zhang will debut in these roles on Friday, October 24.  The ballet features costumes by Scarlett and lighting by Brad Fields.

The Opening Night Gala will also include Christopher Wheeldon’s Thirteen Diversions, led by Sarah Lane, Craig Salstein, Isabella Boylston, Cory Stearns, Gillian Murphy, Eric Tamm, Christine Shevchenko and Blaine Hoven.  Misty Copeland and Joseph Gorak will debut in the first pas de deux on Friday, October 24.  Thirteen Diversions is set to Benjamin Britten’s Diversions for Piano (left hand) and Orchestra, Op. 21 and features costumes by Bob Crowley and lighting by Brad Fields.

On Thursday, October 23, Hee Seo and James Whiteside will lead the World Premiere of Raymonda Divertissements, choreographed by Marius Petipa, staged by Irina Kolpakova and Kevin McKenzie and set to the music of Alexander Glazunov.  These roles will be danced for the first time by Gillian Murphy and Alexandre Hammoudi at the matinee on Saturday, October 25 and by Paloma Herrera and Cory Stearns at the evening performance on Saturday, November 1.

Devon Teuscher will make her debut as Caroline in the season’s first performance of Antony Tudor’s Jardin aux Lilas on Thursday, October 23, opposite Cory Stearns as Her Lover, Veronika Part as An Episode in His Past, and Roman Zhurbin as The Man She Must Marry.  Alexandre Hammoudi will debut as The Man She Must Marry at the matinee on Sunday, October 26.  Set to music by Ernest Chausson, Jardin aux Lilas features sets and costumes by Peter Cazalet.  Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner staged the production for American Ballet Theatre.

On Thursday, October 23, Cory Stearns will make his New York debut as the second sailor in the season’s first performance of Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free, alongside Herman Cornejo, Marcelo Gomes, Stella Abrera and Julie Kent.  Eric Tamm, James Whiteside and Luciana Paris will make their New York debuts in the ballet at the matinee on Saturday, October 25.  Fancy Free is staged for ABT by Jean-Pierre Frohlich and features a score by Leonard Bernstein, with scenery by Oliver Smith, costumes by Kermit Love and lighting by Jennifer Tipton after original designs by Nananne Porcher.

The season’s first performance of Seven Sonatas will take place at the matinee on Saturday, October 25 danced by Stella Abrera, Xiomara Reyes, Julie Kent, Calvin Royal III, Herman Cornejo and Joseph Gorak, with Royal and Gorak performing these roles for the first time in New York.  Veronika Part and Arron Scott will make New York debuts in Seven Sonatas on Thursday, October 30.  Set to keyboard sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, Seven Sonatas features costumes by Holly Hynes and lighting by Brad Fields.

On Wednesday, October 29, the season’s first performance of Twyla Tharp’s Bach Partita will be led by Misty Copeland, in her New York debut, alongside Gillian Murphy, Stella Abrera, James Whiteside, Marcelo Gomes and Calvin Royal III.  On Thursday, October 30, April Giangeruso and Eric Tamm will make their New York debuts in the ballet.  Staged by Susan Jones, Bach Partita is set to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin and features costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by Jennifer Tipton.  Bach Partita was created for ABT in 1983 and received its Revival Premiere on November 1, 2013 at the David H. Koch Theater.

Gaîté Parisienne, which received its Revival Premiere during the 2014 Spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House, will have its first performance of the Fall season on Wednesday, October 29, led by Veronika Part as the Glover Seller, with Cory Stearns and Herman Cornejo in their debuts as The Baron and The Peruvian, respectively.  Set to music by Jacques Offenbach, with costumes by Christian Lacroix, scenery by Zack Brown and lighting by Steven Shelley, Gaîté Parisienne is staged for ABT by Lorca Massine, with assistance by Susan Jones.

Gala benefit tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s Fall Gala on October 22 at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, ranging from $1,500 to $7,500, are available by calling American Ballet Theatre’s Special Events office at 212-477-3030, ext. 3310.

Performance tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2014 David H. Koch Theater season, beginning at $20, are available online, at the Koch box office or by phone at 212-496-0600.  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 American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. 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 Pièce d’Occasion has been generously underwritten by Northern Trust.

The Liam Scarlett World Premiere is generously supported by the Martin and Toni Sosnoff Foundation and 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.

Jardin aux Lilas has been generously underwritten by Marjorie S. Isaac.  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.

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