World Premiere, Co-Commissioned with the Vail Dance Festival, Scheduled for Spring Gala, May 21, 2018 at Metropolitan Opera House

Tap dance choreographer Michelle Dorrance. Photo: Matthew Murphy/Kenn Tam.

Tap dance choreographer Michelle Dorrance, in her first work for American Ballet Theatre, will create a pièce d’occasion for the Company’s Spring Gala performance on May 21, 2018 at the Metropolitan Opera House. It was announced today by ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

The new Dorrance work is the first of a trio of works by the choreographer, co-commissioned with Vail Dance Festival, for which Dorrance is an artist-in-residence.  The pièce d’occasion will be followed up in July 2018 with the premiere of a new work for American Ballet Theatre’s first appearance at the Vail Dance Festival.  Dorrance’s Vail work will incorporate dancers from ABT and guest artists from the Festival’s roster, leading towards an ABT World Premiere for the Company’s Fall season at the Koch Theater in New York, October 17-28, 2018.

Michelle Dorrance, a New York City based tap dancer, choreographer, director and performer, is founder and Artistic Director of Dorrance Dance.  She is an Artist-in-Residence at the American Tap Dance Foundation, a 2016-17 New York City Center Choreography Fellow and a 2015 MacArthur Foundation Fellow.

“To have Michelle’s imaginative artistry on the same program with works by Alexei Ratmansky and Wayne McGregor is a dream come true,” said McKenzie.  “For me, it recalls Ballet Theatre’s early days when diverse choreographers, working in distinct styles, offered variety to both dancers and audiences.”

Dorrance’s work in Vail over the past summers has drawn her into collaborations with a wide range of dancers beyond the tap world, from modern dance to street dance to ballet. “We are ecstatic to be partnering on this project, which furthers our mission of promoting creative alchemy,” said Vail Dance Festival Director Damian Woetzel.

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