REVIVAL OF SIR KENNETH MACMILLAN'S MANON ALSO PLANNED

American Ballet Theatre’s 2006 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House, May 22-July 15, was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie. Highlighting the engagement will be the Company Premieres of James Kudelka’s Cinderella and John Cranko’s Jeu de Cartes, as well as a Revival of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon.

Principal Dancers for the engagement will include Carlos Acosta, Maxim Beloserkovsky, Julio Bocca, Jose Manuel Carreño, Angel Corella, Herman Cornejo, Irina Dvorovenko, Alessandra Ferri, Marcelo Gomes, Paloma Herrera, Julie Kent, Vladimir Malakhov, Gillian Murphy, Xiomara Reyes, Ethan Stiefel, Diana Vishneva and Michele Wiles.

Countrywide Financial is the National Sponsor of American Ballet Theatre and Cole Haan is a Leading Benefactor. ABT’s 2006 Spring season is also made possible 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.

The 2006 Spring Season will commence with an Opening Night Gala performance featuring all of ABT’s Principal Dancers on Monday, May 22 at 6:30pm. For information about the Opening Night Spring Gala, please call the Special Events Office at 212-477-3030, ext. 3239.

Company Premieres

James Kudelka’s Cinderella will be given its American Ballet Theatre premiere on Friday evening, June 2 at 8 P.M. Kudelka’s three act-ballet, set to the music of Sergei Prokofiev, features scenery and costumes by David Boechler and lighting by Christopher Dennis. Kudelka’s Cinderella was given its World Premiere by The National Ballet of Canada in Toronto, Canada on May 8, 2004. Following the Company Premiere, Cinderella will be given 10 performances through June 10. This production is made possible with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

John Cranko’s Jeu de Cartes, "A Poker Game in Three Deals," will be given its Company Premiere as part of ABT’s All-Stravinsky evening on Friday evening, May 26. Set to the music of Igor Stravinsky, Jeu de Cartes features scenery and costumes by Dorothee Zippel. The ballet was given its World Premiere by the Stuttgart Ballet in Stuttgart, Germany on June 22, 1965. American Ballet Theatre’s All-Stravinsky evening, which includes George Balanchine’s Apollo and Michel Fokine’s Petrouchka, will be given eight performances through June 1.

Revival

American Ballet Theatre’s Revival Premiere of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon is scheduled for Monday, June 19 with Alessandra Ferri and Julio Bocca in the leading roles. Set to a score by Jules Massenet and inspired by the novel Manon Lescaut, Manon was last performed by the Company in 1996. The full-length ballet, staged for ABT by Monica Parker, features scenery and costumes by Nicholas Georgiadis and lighting by Thomas Skelton.

Manon was given its World Premiere by The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House in London on March 7, 1974 danced by Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell. The ballet received its ABT Company Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House on May 28, 1993 danced by Alessandra Ferri (Manon) and Julio Bocca (Des Grieux). Following the Revival Premiere, Manon will be given seven performances through June 24.

Returning Classics

American Ballet Theatre’s 2006 Spring Season will feature seven full-length ballets beginning with Le Corsaire which opens the season on Tuesday evening, May 23 at 8 P.M. Le Corsaire was choreographed by Konstatin Sergeyev, after Marius Petipa, with staging by Anna-Marie Holmes, after Petipa and Sergeyev. The ballet is set to a score by Adolphe Adam, Cesare Pugni, Léo Delibes, Riccardo Drigo and Prince Oldenbourg. Based on the Lord Byron poem, “The Corsaire” (1814), the ballet has sets and costumes by Irina Tibilova, with additional costume designs by Robert Perdziola. Le Corsaire will be given seven performances during the Spring Season, May 23-25 and July 7 and 8.

Xiomara Reyes and Ethan Stiefel will lead the season’s first performance of Giselle on Monday evening, June 12 at 8 P.M. Set to music by Adolphe Adam 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, featuring scenery by Quaranta and costumes by Anni with staging by Mikhail Baryshnikov, was created for the film Dancers in 1987. Giselle, which will be given eight performances through June 17, is generously supported through an endowed gift from Anka Palitz in memory of Clarence Y. Palitz, Jr.

Eight performances of Swan Lake, choreographed by Kevin McKenzie after Marius Petipa, will be given beginning Monday evening, June 26 at 8 P.M. with Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky leading the opening night cast. Swan Lake is set to the score by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky and features scenery and costumes by Zack Brown and lighting by Duane Schuler. This production of Swan Lake premiered on March 24, 2000 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Swan Lake is generously underwritten by The Rosh Foundation.

Sir Frederick Ashton’s Sylvia, premiered by American Ballet Theatre during the 2005 Spring Season, will return to the Metropolitan Opera House for four performances beginning Monday evening, July 3. The two-act Sylvia, staged by Christopher Newton, is set to a score by Léo Delibes and features scenery and costumes by Christopher and Robin Ironside, with additional designs by Peter Farmer. This production of Sylvia was given its revival premiere in three acts in London by The Royal Ballet on November 4, 2004. Gillian Murphy, Maxim Beloserkovsky, Carlos Lopez and Marcelo Gomes will lead the cast of the July 3 performance.

The 2006 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House will conclude with eight performances of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet. Diana Vishneva and Angel Corella will dance the title roles in the season’s first performance of the ballet on Monday evening, July 10. Set to the music of Sergei Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet features scenery and costumes by Nicholas Georgiadis and lighting by Thomas Skelton. The ballet received its World Premiere by The Royal Ballet in London on February 9, 1965 and was given its ABT Company Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House on April 22, 1985. ABT’s production of Romeo and Juliet is generously underwritten through an endowed gift from Ali and Monica Wambold.

ABTKids

ABTKids, a one-hour introduction to ballet geared toward children ages 4-12, is scheduled for Saturday, June 3 at 11:30 A.M. All tickets for ABTKids are $18. Reckson Associates is the Official Corporate Sponsor of ABTKids.

Pre-Performance Workshops

Pre-performance workshops, an activity based program led by ABT Teaching Artists, are available to matinee ticket holders on Saturday, June 3 (9:00-10:30 A.M.), Saturday, June 10 (10:30 A.M.-12:00 Noon) and Saturday, July 1 (10:30 A.M.-12:00 Noon). Workshops are held in the rehearsal studios of the Metropolitan Opera House. Tickets to the workshops are $20 per person and are only available to ticket holders for the matinee performance following the workshop.

American Ballet Theatre’s education programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Subscriptions for American Ballet Theatre’s 2006 Metropolitan Opera House season are on sale now by phone at 212-362-6000 and by mail.

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