Catherine Hurlin, Joseph Markey, Skylar Brandt, Jake Roxander, Breanne Granlund, and Daniel Camargo to Lead Company Premiere Of Twyla Tharp’s Sextet

Christine Shevchenko and Calvin Royal III in Twyla Tharp’s Bach Partita. Photo: Quinn Wharton.

NEW YORK, NY (October 6, 2025) – Casting for American Ballet Theatre’s 2025 Fall season at the David H. Koch Theater from October 15–November 1 was announced today by Artistic Director Susan Jaffe.

The 2025 Fall season will include Twyla@60: A Tharp Celebration and three ABT@85 programs: A Retrospective of Master Choreographers, Classics to the Contemporary, and Innovations Past and Present.

Twyla@60: A Tharp Celebration

American Ballet Theatre will pay tribute to choreographer Twyla Tharp and her prolific career with Twyla@60: A Tharp Celebration, which will be performed on the evenings of October 15, 16, 18, and 24.  Twyla@60 includes the Company Premiere of Sextet, alongside Bach Partita and Push Comes to Shove.

Tharp’s Sextet will have its ABT Company Premiere on Wednesday, October 15, danced by Catherine Hurlin, Joseph Markey, Skylar Brandt, Jake Roxander, Breanne Granlund, and Daniel Camargo. SunMi Park, Isaac Hernández, Yoon Jung Seo, and Tyler Maloney will debut in Sextet on Thursday, October 16. A dazzling work for three couples, Sextet is staged for ABT by Nancy Raffa and set to music by Colin Jacobsen (“Brooklesca”), Café Tacvba (“La Muerte Chiquita”), and Ljova (“Plume”), with costumes by Santo Loquasto and original lighting by David Finn, recreated by Brad Fields. The ballet had its World Premiere by Twyla Tharp Dance on January 30, 1992, at New York City Center danced by Allison Brown, Isabelle Guérin, Delphine Moussin, Lionel Delanoe, Stephane Elizabe, and Robert La Fosse.

The first performance of Tharp’s Bach Partita on Wednesday, October 15, will be led by Chloe Misseldine, James Whiteside, Isabella Boylston, Andrew Robare, Christine Shevchenko, and Calvin Royal III. Hee Seo, Joo Won Ahn, Catherine Hurlin, Jarod Curley, SunMi Park, and Carlos Gonzalez will debut in these roles on Thursday, October 16. Set to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin, Bach Partita is staged for ABT by Susan Jones and features costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by Jennifer Tipton.

Isaac Hernández will debut in Push Comes to Shove on Wednesday, October 15, with Jake Roxander dancing the leading role for the first time on Thursday, October 16. Push Comes to Shove, Tharp’s inaugural work for ABT, was originally choreographed for Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1976. Bringing together popular and classical musical styles, Push Comes to Shove is set to “Bohemia Rag” by Joseph Lamb and Symphony No. 82 in C Major by Franz Joseph Haydn. Push Comes to Shove is staged for ABT by Susan Jones and features costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by Jennifer Tipton.

ABT@85: A Retrospective of Master Choreographers

A Retrospective of Master Choreographers will have performances on the evening of October 17, at the matinees on October 18 and 19, and on the evening of October 23. The program will feature Michel Fokine’s Les Sylphides, Antony Tudor’s Gala Performance, and Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo.

The first performance of Les Sylphides on Friday, October 17, will be led by Hee Seo, Cory Stearns, Léa Fleytoux, and Fangqi Li. The matinee on Saturday, October 18 will include debuts by Calvin Royal III, Sierra Armstrong, and Ingrid Thoms. At the matinee on Sunday, October 19, Christine Shevchenko, Joo Won Ahn, and Yoon Jung Seo will lead the ballet for the first time. Set to music by Frédéric Chopin and orchestrated by Benjamin Britten, Michel Fokine’s Les Sylphides, a one-act plotless work, was given its Company Premiere at Ballet Theatre’s inaugural performance on January 11, 1940, at the Center Theatre in New York City. This production of Les Sylphides features scenery by Peter Cazalet, costumes by Lucinda Ballard, and lighting by Brad Fields.

Antony Tudor’s Gala Performance will open on Friday, October 17, led by Christine Shevchenko as the Russian Ballerina, Chloe Misseldine as the Italian Ballerina, and Zimmi Coker as the French Ballerina. The matinee on Sunday, October 19, will feature debuts by Skylar Brandt (Russian Ballerina), Hee Seo (Italian Ballerina), and Léa Fleytoux (French Ballerina). Set to music by Sergei Prokofiev, Gala Performance is a clever and lighthearted satire of ballet’s grand traditions. This production is staged for ABT by Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner and features sets and costumes by Hugh Laing and lighting by Jennifer Tipton.

Agnes de Mille’s humorous love story Rodeo will have its first performance of the season on Friday, October 17, led by Skylar Brandt as the Cowgirl and Jake Roxander debuting as the Champion Roper. Breanne Granlund and Carlos Gonzalez will debut in these roles at the matinee on Sunday, October 19. Set to music by Aaron Copland, this production features scenery by Oliver Smith, costumes by Santo Loquasto, and lighting by Thomas Skelton.

ABT@85: Classics to the Contemporary

Classics to the Contemporary, to be presented October 25–28, will feature The Kingdom of the Shades and The Sleeping Beauty, Act III, alongside assorted pas de deux.

Hee Seo and Isaac Hernández will lead the first performance of The Kingdom of the Shades at the matinee on Saturday, October 25. Chloe Misseldine will debut as Nikiya at the evening performance on October 25, opposite Joo Won Ahn as Solor. Choreographed by Natalia Makarova after Marius Petipa, The Kingdom of the Shades is set to music by Ludwig Minkus, specially arranged by John Lanchbery, and features scenery by PierLuigi Samaritani, costumes by Theoni V. Aldredge, and lighting by Brad Fields. The Kingdom of the Shades was first performed in the West by the Leningrad-Kirov Ballet in 1961. Makarova first staged The Kingdom of the Shades for American Ballet Theatre in 1974, and it received its Company Premiere at the State Theater in New York City on July 3 of that year, danced by Cynthia Gregory as Nikiya and Ivan Nagy as Solor.

Skylar Brandt and Jake Roxander will debut in Christian Spuck’s Le Grand Pas de Deux at the matinee on Saturday, October 25. A comic take on the traditional ballet duet, Le Grand Pas de Deux is set to Gioachino Rossini’s overture from The Thieving Magpie and features costumes by Nicole Krahl and lighting by Martin Gebhardt.

The pas de deux from Twyla Tharp’s Known by Heart will have its first performance at the matinee on Saturday, October 25, danced by Breanne Granlund and Herman Cornejo. Set to selections from Donald Knaack’s “Junk Music,” a percussive score played entirely on recycled materials, the pas de deux is staged for ABT by Stacy Caddell and features costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by Jennifer Tipton.

The pas de deux from Frederick Ashton’s Rhapsody will receive its ABT Company Premiere on the evening of Saturday, October 25, danced by Léa Fleytoux and Herman Cornejo. One of Ashton’s final and most challenging works, Rhapsody was created for Mikhail Baryshnikov and Lesley Collier and received its World Premiere by The Royal Ballet on August 4, 1980. Set to Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” the pas de deux features costumes by William Chappell and lighting by Brad Fields.

SunMi Park and Michael de la Nuez will debut in Victor Gsovsky’s Grand Pas Classique on the evening of Saturday, October 25. This pas de deux, set to music by Daniel-François Auber, represents the epitome of classical purity and precision, allowing dancers to demonstrate their energy, endurance, and musicality through the brilliant and exacting choreography.

The Sleeping Beauty, Act III, depicts the lavish wedding of Princess Aurora and Prince Désiré from the classic ballet, complete with an assortment of fairy tale guests. This new staging by Susan Jaffe, after choreography by Marius Petipa, will have its first performance at the matinee on Saturday, October 25, led by Christine Shevchenko and Daniel Camargo. Isabella Boylston and Calvin Royal III will debut in these roles at the evening performance on October 25. The Sleeping Beauty is set to the score by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky and features costumes by Willa Kim, with additional designs by Holly Hynes, and lighting by Brad Fields.

Tickets

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2025 Fall season and 2026 Spring season at the David H. Koch Theater begin at $35 and can be purchased online, by phone at 212-496-0600, or in person at the Koch Theater box office. For more information, visit ABT’s website at abt.org.

Tickets start at $35. A Create Your Own Subscription Package is available with the purchase of three or more performances to either season, saving over 20% off the single ticket price in all seating zones except for premium locations.

During each season, ABT will offer audience members the opportunity to exchange tickets up until noon the day of the performance at no charge, minus any difference in ticket price. We regret that there are no refunds or cancellations.

Complete casting follows.

*All casting, programming, and pricing are subject to change.

ABOUT AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE

American Ballet Theatre is one of the greatest dance companies in the world. Revered as a national treasure since its founding season in 1940, its mission is to create, present, preserve, and extend the great repertoire of classical dancing for the widest possible audience. Headquartered in New York City, ABT is the only cultural institution of its size and stature to extensively tour, enchanting audiences for eight decades in 50 U.S. states, 45 countries, and over 480 cities worldwide. ABT’s repertoire includes full-length classics from the nineteenth century, the finest works from the early twentieth century, and acclaimed contemporary masterpieces. In 2006, by an act of Congress, ABT was designated America’s National Ballet Company®.

Leadership support of ABT’s New Works Initiative is provided by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, and through an endowed gift from The Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund.

Commissions and presentations of new works by women choreographers are supported by the ABT Women’s Movement, sparked by funding from the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. Champion support for ABT Women’s Movement is provided by Jenna Segal.

A special thanks to Denise Littlefield Sobel for her leadership gifts to the ABT Today Fund and ABT RISE, which are advancing the Company’s mission to create a more vibrant and welcoming future for ballet.

ABT is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of The Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

For more information, please visit www.abt.org.

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