Herman Cornejo to Debut as Solor in La Bayadère,
Monday, May 28 at 7:30 PM

Diana Vishneva and Marcelo Gomes to Lead
Company Premiere of All-New Production of Onegin,
Monday, June 4 at 7:30 PM

Herman Cornejo in The Bright Stream.

Casting for the third and fourth weeks of American Ballet Theatre’s 2012 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

In the season’s final performance of La Bayadère on Monday, May 28, Herman Cornejo will make his debut as Solor, dancing opposite Alina Cojocaru as Nikiya and Natalia Osipova as Gamzatti. Conceived and directed by Makarova after Marius Petipa, La Bayadère is set to the music of Ludwig Minkus, arranged by John Lanchbery, and features scenery by PierLuigi Samaritani, costumes by Theoni V. Aldredge and lighting by Toshiro Ogawa. La Bayadère is generously sponsored by an endowed gift from Drs. Philip and Marjorie Gerdine. La Bayadère is presented in loving memory of Mrs. Caroline Newhouse. A generous grant from the Rockefeller Foundation has made this production possible. Major funding for this production has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Last season’s Company Premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s The Bright Stream will be given seven performances beginning Tuesday, May 29 with Paloma Herrera, Marcelo Gomes, Gillian Murphy and David Hallberg in the leading roles. Herman Cornejo will make his New York debut as Pyotr at the evening performance on Wednesday, May 30 and Johan Kobborg will dance the role of the Ballet Dancer for the first time on Thursday, May 31. Set to Dmitri Shostakovich’s The Bright Stream, with a libretto by Adrian Piotrovsky and Fyodor Lopukhov, the ballet features sets by Ilya Utkin, costumes by Elena Markovskaya and lighting by Brad Fields. Tatiana Ratmansky assisted Alexei Ratmansky in staging the ballet for ABT. Ratmansky’s The Bright Stream received its World Premiere by the Bolshoi Ballet on April 18, 2003 with sets and costumes by Boris Messerer. The Bright Stream received its Company Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on January 21, 2011 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The Bright Stream is generously supported through an endowed gift from The Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund. This production has been made possible with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support has generously been provided by Leila and Mickey Straus and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

The Company Premiere of a new production of John Cranko’s Onegin will take place on Monday, June 4 with Diana Vishneva as Tatiana, Marcelo Gomes as Eugene Onegin, and Jared Matthews as Lensky and Natalia Osipova as Olga. Hee Seo, David Hallberg, Joseph Gorak and Yuriko Kajiya will lead the performance on Tuesday, June 5. On Wednesday, June 6, the leading roles will be danced by Irina Dvorovenko, Cory Stearns, Daniil Simkin and Sarah Lane at the matinee and by Julie Kent, Roberto Bolle, Blaine Hoven and Maria Riccetto at the evening performance. Set to music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, arranged and orchestrated by Kurt-Heinz Stolze, Onegin is based on the poem of the same name by Alexander Pushkin. John Cranko’s Onegin received its World Premiere on April 13, 1965 by the Stuttgart Ballet in Stuttgart, Germany. The ballet received its Company Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on June 1, 2001 at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. This new production, with sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto, was premiered by the National Ballet of Canada on June 19, 2010 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto, Canada. Onegin was staged for ABT by Reid Anderson and Jane Bourne. Onegin is generously supported through an endowed gift from Ruth and Harold Newman. Additional support has generously been provided by Lillian E. Kraemer.

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. MasterCard is the Official Card of 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, a state agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2012 Metropolitan Opera House season, beginning at $20, are available online, at the Met box office or by phone at 212-362-6000. The Metropolitan Opera House is located on Broadway between 64th and 65th Streets in New York City. For more information, visit ABT’s website at www.abt.org.

Complete casting follows:

*Editors please note first time in a role:
Mon., Eve., 5/28 – Cornejo (Solor) in La Bayadère
Thurs. Eve., 5/31 – Kobborg (Ballet Dancer) in The Bright Stream
Mon. Eve 6/4 – Vishneva (Tatiana), Matthews (Lensky) and Osipova (Olga) in Onegin
Tues. Eve. 6/5 – Seo (Tatiana), Hallberg (Onegin), Gorak (Lensky) and Kajiya (Olga) in Onegin
Wed. Mat. 6/6 – Stearns (Onegin), Simkin (Lensky) and Lane (Olga) in Onegin
Wed. Eve. 6/6 – Hoven (Lensky) in Onegin

+Editors please note first time in a role with ABT:
Wed. Eve., 6/6 – Bolle (Onegin) in Onegin

++Editors please note first time in a role in New York:
Wed. Eve., 5/30 – Cornejo (Pyotr) in The Bright Stream

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