June 28, 2017
World Premieres by Alexei Ratmansky, Jessica Lang and Benjamin Millepied to Highlight ABT's Fall Season at The David H. Koch Theater, October 18-29, 2017
Box Office to Open July 17
Scene from Her Notes.Programming for American Ballet Theatre’s 2017 Fall season, October 18-29, at the David H. Koch Theater, was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie. The season will feature World Premieres by Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky and choreographers Jessica Lang and Benjamin Millepied.
Principal Dancers for the 2017 Fall Season include Stella Abrera, Isabella Boylston, Jeffrey Cirio, Misty Copeland, Herman Cornejo, David Hallberg, Alban Lendorf, Gillian Murphy, Hee Seo, Daniil Simkin, Cory Stearns and James Whiteside.
Fall Gala and World Premieres
American Ballet Theatre’s 2017 Fall season opens with a Gala performance on Wednesday, October 18 at 6:30pm featuring the World Premieres of a new work by Alexei Ratmansky and a pièce d’occasion by Jessica Lang performed by ABT apprentices, members of the ABT Studio Company and students from the upper level of the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. Christopher Wheeldon’s Thirteen Diversions will round out the evening. The Fall Gala will pay tribute to the 25th Anniversary of Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie and Project Plié, ABT’s educational and diversity program.
Speaking about his anniversary year, McKenzie said, “For this season, I’ve selected works by choreographers working today that extend ABT’s repertoire with fresh ideas on what the art form can say. Alexei Ratmansky, Jessica Lang, Benjamin Millepied, Christopher Wheeldon and Liam Scarlett are among the freshest and most innovative voices in dance, and yet they continue to honor the great masters who have come before. And with the presence of the masters (Frederick Ashton and Jerome Robbins) to remind us that innovation matters, I feel proud to claim we can present such depth as we look to the future.”
The World Premiere work by Ratmansky will be set to new music, Bukovinian Songs (24 Preludes for Piano) by Leonid Desyatnikov performed live by guest soloist Alexey Goribol. The October 18 performance will also mark the World Premiere of Desyatnikov’s composition. A work for 12 dancers, the ballet will be given five performances during the Fall season.
Created for American Ballet Theatre, Thirteen Diversions is set to music by Benjamin Britten (Diversions for Piano (left hand) and Orchestra, Op. 21) and features costumes by Bob Crowley and lighting by Brad Fields. Thirteen Diversions received its World Premiere by American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York on May 24, 2011. Last performed by ABT in 2014, the ballet will be given six performances during the Fall season.
The World Premiere of a new work by Benjamin Millepied will be given on Wednesday evening, October 25. The new Millepied work, the choreographer’s fourth for the Company, will be given four performances during the season.
Returning Repertory
American Ballet Theatre’s 2017 Fall season at the Koch Theater will also feature performances of Jessica Lang’s Her Notes, Frederick Ashton’s Symphonic Variations, Jerome Robbins’ Other Dances, Alexei Ratmansky’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium and Souvenir d’un lieu cher, Benjamin Millepied’s Daphnis and Chloe and the Elegy pas de deux from Liam Scarlett’s With a Chance of Rain.
Jessica Lang’s Her Notes will be given its first performance of the season on Thursday evening, October 19. Set to music by Fanny Mendelssohn, with costumes by Bradon McDonald, scenery by Lang and lighting design by Nicole Pearce, Her Notes received its World Premiere on October 20, 2016 at the Koch Theater in New York City. Her Notes will be given five performances during the Fall season.
Alexei Ratmansky’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium will receive the first of five performances on Thursday evening, October 19. Set to music by Leonard Bernstein, the ballet features scenery and costumes by Jérôme Kaplan and lighting by Brad Fields. Serenade after Plato’s Symposium received its World Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on May 16, 2016 at the Metropolitan Opera House.
Ratmansky’s Souvenir d’un lieu cher, set to music of the same name by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov, will have four performances during the Fall season beginning Wednesday evening, October 25. Featuring sets and costumes by Keso Dekker with lighting by James F. Ingalls, the ballet for four dancers received its World Premiere by Het National Ballet on February 16, 2012 in Amsterdam. Souvenir d’un lieu cher will receive its American Ballet Theatre Company Premiere on July 3, 2017 at the Metropolitan Opera House.
Frederick Ashton’s Symphonic Variations, set to music by César Franck, with costumes by Sophie Fedorovitch and lighting by Michael Somes, will be given four performances during the season beginning Thursday, October 19. A plotless ballet for six dancers, Symphonic Variations was given its World Premiere by the Sadler’s Wells Ballet in London on April 24, 1946. It was first performed by American Ballet Theatre at the Civic Opera House in Chicago, Illinois on March 20, 1992. The ballet is staged for ABT by Wendy Somes and Malin Thoors.
Benjamin Millepied’s Daphnis and Chloe will have the first of four performances on Wednesday, October 25. Set to music by Maurice Ravel, Daphnis and Chloe features costumes by Holly Hynes, scenery by Daniel Buren and lighting by Brad Fields. Daphnis and Chloe, adapted from the second century A.D. novel by the Greek writer Longus, was choreographed by Millepied for the Paris Opera Ballet in 2014 and received its ABT premiere on October 26, 2016 at the Koch Theater in New York City. The ballet was originally commissioned in 1912 by Serge Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes. Daphnis and Chloe is staged for ABT by Janie Taylor and Sebastien Marcovici.
Jerome Robbins’ Other Dances returns to the repertory on Thursday evening, October 19 for the first time since 2013. Set to a waltz and four mazurkas by Frédéric Chopin, Other Dances features costumes by Santo Loquasto and original lighting by Nananne Porcher. The plotless, classical character pas de deux was created by Robbins for a Gala evening for the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center at the Metropolitan Opera House on May 9, 1976, performed by Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Staged for American Ballet Theatre by Isabel Guerin, Other Dances will receive five performances during the season.
Liam Scarlett’s Elegy pas de deux, from his 2014 work With a Chance of Rain, will be given three performances beginning Tuesday, October 24. Set to music by Sergei Rachmaninoff, the ballet features costumes by Scarlett and lighting by Brad Fields. Scarlett’s complete work was given its World Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on October 22, 2014.
Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2017 Fall season at the David H. Koch Theater go on sale beginning July 17, 2017. Tickets priced from $25 are available on line, at the Koch Theater box office or by phone at 212-496-0600. Performance-only tickets for the Opening Night Gala begin at $25. The David H. Koch Theater is located at Lincoln Center, Broadway and 63rd Street in New York City. For more information, visit ABT’s website at www.abt.org.
Leadership support for Serenade after Plato’s Symposium and Ratmansky’s World Premiere, part of The Ratmansky Project, has been provided by Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton E. James and the Blavatnik Family Foundation, with additional support provided by Linda Allard, Sarah Arison, Avery and Andrew F. Barth, Lisa and Dick Cashin, The Susan and Leonard Feinstein Foundation, Brian J. Heidtke, Lloyd E. Rigler – Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation, Bernard L. Schwartz, The Ted and Mary Jo Shen Charitable Gift Fund, Melissa A. Smith, The H. Russell Smith Foundation/Stewart R. Smith and Robin A. Ferracone, Martin and Toni Sosnoff Foundation, and Sutton Stracke.
Daphnis and Chloe has been generously supported by The Leila and Mickey Straus Family Charitable Trust and through an endowed gift from the Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund.
Her Notes was commissioned with leadership support from the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. This production has been generously supported through an endowed gift from the Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund.
American Airlines is the Official Airline of American Ballet Theatre.
Northern Trust is the Leading Corporate Sponsor of the American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.
ABT is supported, in part, with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.