World Premiere of Alexei Ratmansky's On the Dnieper
and Company Premiere of James Kudelka's Désir
Scheduled for Monday, June 1, at 7:30 P.M.

Casting for the third and fourth weeks of American Ballet Theatre’s 2009 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

ABT’s All-Prokofiev Celebration begins on Monday, June 1 at 7:30 P.M. with the Company Premiere of James Kudelka’s Désir, led by Gillian Murphy, Blaine Hoven, Misty Copeland, Carlos Lopez, Isabella Boylston and Cory Stearns. Xiomara Reyes, Roman Zhurbin, Yuriko Kajiya, Craig Salstein, Maria Riccetto and Jared Matthews will debut in these roles on Tuesday, June 2, and Simone Messmer and Roddy Doble will debut in the first and fifth movements at the Wednesday, June 3 matinee. On Thursday, June 4, Sarah Lane and Alexandre Hammoudi will debut in the second movement and Hee Seo and Marcelo Gomes will dance the fourth movement for the first time. Set to excerpts from Prokofiev’s Waltz Suite and Cinderella, Désir is staged by Gerald Charles, with costumes by the Wardrobe of The National Ballet of Canada, under Marjory Stuart Fielding, and lighting and scenic effects by Robert Thomson. Désir was given its World Premiere by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens on January 31, 1991.

The World Premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s On the Dnieper on Monday, June 1, will be led by Veronika Part as Natalia, Marcelo Gomes as Sergei, Paloma Herrera as Olga and David Hallberg as Olga’s fiancé. Hee Seo, Jose Manuel Carreño, Diana Vishneva and Alexandre Hammoudi will debut in these roles on Tuesday, June 2, and Maria Riccetto, Gennadi Saveliev, Simone Messmer and Eric Tamm will lead the cast for the first time on Thursday, June 4. Set to Prokofiev’s score of the same name, On the Dnieper features scenery by Simon Patsukh, costumes by Galina Solovyeva and lighting by Brad Fields.

Ethan Stiefel and Michele Wiles will lead the Revival Premiere of George Balanchine’s Prodigal Son on Monday, June 1. Kristi Boone will debut as the Siren on Tuesday, June 2, and Herman Cornejo will debut as the Son at the matinee on Wednesday, June 3. Staged for ABT by Richard Tanner, Prodigal Son is set to Prokofiev’s Le Fils Prodigues and features scenery and costumes by Georges Roualt and lighting by Gil Wechsler. Created for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in 1929, Prodigal Son received its ABT premiere in 1980 and was last performed by the Company in 2000.

Désir and On the Dnieper are supported through an endowed gift from The Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund. Désir is also made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. Additional funding for On the Dnieper is provided by the generous support of The Ross Stretton Choreography Workshop Fund and The Rudolf Nureyev¬Æ Dance Foundation. American Ballet Theatre’s All-Prokofiev Celebration is made possible with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Beginning Monday, June 8, the Company will present eight performances of Giselle, with Nina Ananiashvili, Marcelo Gomes, Gillian Murphy and Gennadi Saveliev in the leading roles. Maria Riccetto, David Hallberg and Simone Messmer will make their New York debuts as Giselle, Albrecht and Myrta, respectively, at the matinee on Wednesday, June 10. The week will also feature ABT debuts by Roberto Bolle as Albrecht on Thursday, June 11, and by Guest Artist Natalia Osipova as Giselle on Saturday evening, June 13. Set to music by Adolphe Adam and orchestrated by John Lanchbery, Giselle was 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. Giselle is generously supported through an endowed gift from Anka Palitz in memory of Clarence Y. Palitz, Jr.

Superfund Asset Management, Inc. is the sponsor of American Ballet Theatre’s 2009 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House. Saks Fifth Avenue is the Leading Corporate Sponsor of American Ballet Theatre’s Costume Fund. J.P. Morgan is the Official Sponsor of Make a Ballet. American Airlines is the Official Airline of American Ballet Theatre. The 2009 Spring Season is also made possible with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. ABT acknowledges The Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund for its generous support of the 2009 Metropolitan Opera House season.

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2009 Metropolitan Opera House season, priced $19-$130, 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.

Complete casting follows:

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