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Nutcracker 2012


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The release:

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE’S THE NUTCRACKER

RETURNS TO BAM HOWARD GILMAN OPERA HOUSE

DECEMBER 7-16, 2012

Xiomara Reyes and Herman Cornejo to Lead Opening Night Cast

Box Office Opens Monday, August 20

American Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker will return to the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House for 12 performances beginning December 7, 2012, it was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie. Tickets go on sale Monday, August 20, 2012 online, by phone and at the BAM box office.

The Opening Night cast on December 7 at 7:30pm will be led by Xiomara Reyes as Clara, the Princess and Herman Cornejo as the Nutcracker Prince. Hee Seo will debut as Clara, the Princess at the matinee on Saturday, December 8, and Misty Copeland will dance the role for the first time on Thursday, December 13.

The Nutcracker, set to a score by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, features choreography by ABT Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, scenery and costumes by Richard Hudson and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. This production was given its World Premiere at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House on December 23, 2010, led by Gillian Murphy as Clara, the Princess and David Hallberg as the Nutcracker Prince.

The BAM box office opens Monday, August 20 for advance ticket sales. Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker, beginning at $25, can be purchased in person at the BAM box office, by phone at 718-636-4100 or online at www.bam.org. The BAM box office is located in the Peter Jay Sharp Building at 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, New York. For more information, please visit ABT’s website at www.abt.org.

David H. Koch is the Lead Underwriter of American Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker.

Linda Allard is the Original Underwriting Sponsor of costumes for The Nutcracker.

Joan Taub Ades and Alan M. Ades, the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Foundation, and Brian and Darlene Heidtke are Co-Underwriting Sponsors of The Nutcracker.

A gift as Co-Underwriting Sponsor of costumes for The Nutcracker has been provided in loving memory of Ellen Everett Kimiatek.

Lisa and Dick Cashin, Linda and Martin Fell, and Ruth and Harold Newman are Co-Underwriting Partners of The Nutcracker.

ABT’s The Nutcracker is generously supported through an endowed gift from

The Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund.

Additional support has been provided by Ed Fox, Theresa Khawly,

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund and The National Endowment for the Arts.

American Airlines is the Official Airline of American Ballet Theatre.

Northern Trust is the Leading Corporate Sponsor of the

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre.

MasterCard is the Official Card of American Ballet Theatre.

ABT is supported, in part, 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, in partnership with the City Council.

WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY MAT. SATURDAY EVE. SUNDAY MAT.

12/5 12/6 12/7 12/8 12/8 12/9

7:30 p.m. 2:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 1:00 p.m.

Reyes Seo Part Kajiya

Cornejo Stearns Hammoudi Gorak

WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY MAT. SATURDAY EVE. SUNDAY MAT.

12/12 12/13 12/14 12/15 12/15 12/16

7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 2:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 1:00 p.m.

Seo Copeland Lane Reyes Herrera Lane

Stearns Hammoudi Simkin Cornejo Tamm Simkin

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Thanks for posting this. Nothing is listed on the ABT site yet, either under Calendar or News. It's interesting that Gomes/Part are not listed among the principals, although they were prominent last year in this production.

I see that Mikhailovsky has a busy fall season, with many casting announcements yet to be filled in, so I wonder if Gomes will be more active there with his new status as "Guest Principal."

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That is indeed interesting to note, abatt. I didn't notice it at first sight because it is just still so new to include her in the list of regular principals. She has also not yet been put up in the dancers section of the website, has she? Even after it was updated taking down Angel Corella and the other retired dancers.

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That is indeed interesting to note, abatt. I didn't notice it at first sight because it is just still so new to include her in the list of regular principals. She has also not yet been put up in the dancers section of the website, has she? Even after it was updated taking down Angel Corella and the other retired dancers.

Her contract begins officially in September, so they won't update to include her until then. They did this with someone else (maybe Sascha when he returned?) and it seemed a little bizarre then as well.

Glad Misty is getting a go... she is doing a Nutcracker with Festival Ballet Theatre out here in southern California as well this year. Also excellent to see Joseph Gorak back on the list this year!!

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That is indeed interesting to note, abatt. I didn't notice it at first sight because it is just still so new to include her in the list of regular principals. She has also not yet been put up in the dancers section of the website, has she? Even after it was updated taking down Angel Corella and the other retired dancers.

Her contract begins officially in September, so they won't update to include her until then. They did this with someone else (maybe Sascha when he returned?) and it seemed a little bizarre then as well.

That makes sense, thank you.

Has there been any news on Hallberg's injury?

Gillian Murphy is supposed to be in New Zealand at that time if I remember correctly.

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Updated release (casting should be up now on abt.org):

PRINCIPAL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE’S THE NUTCRACKER

AT BAM HOWARD GILMAN OPERA HOUSE

DECEMBER 7-16, 2012

Xiomara Reyes and Eric Tamm to Lead Opening Night Cast

Xiomara Reyes and Eric Tamm will lead the opening night cast of American

Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House on Friday,

December 7, 2012 at 7:30 P.M. Choreographed by ABT Artist in Residence Alexei

Ratmansky, the holiday classic will be given 12 performances through December 16 at

Hee Seo will make her debut as Clara, the Princess at the matinee on Saturday,

December 8, dancing opposite Cory Stearns as the Nutcracker Prince. James Whiteside

will dance the role of the Nutcracker Prince for the first time with ABT, opposite Paloma

Herrera on Sunday evening, December 9. Additional casts will be led by Veronika Part

and Alexandre Hammoudi, Yuriko Kajiya and Joseph Gorak and Sarah Lane and Daniil

The Nutcracker, set to a score by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, features

choreography by Alexei Ratmansky, scenery and costumes by Richard Hudson and

lighting by Jennifer Tipton. This production was given its World Premiere at the BAM

Howard Gilman Opera House on December 23, 2010, led by Gillian Murphy as Clara,

the Princess and David Hallberg as the Nutcracker Prince.

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker, beginning at $25, can

be purchased in person at the BAM box office, by phone at 718-636-4100 or online at

www.bam.org. The BAM box office is located in the Peter Jay Sharp Building at

30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, New York. For more information, please visit ABT’s

website at www.abt.org.

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I went to see the Nutcracker last night. I don't have a lengthy review (no coffee yet!) but a few words on it.

I really love this production. I find it funny and more emotionally moving, ultimately, than any Nutcracker I've seen. I still love Balanchines (which for me is THE classic) but right now, this has a lot more interest to me.

I know this was discussed last year (I may have participated in it) but I cannot express how wonderful the snow scene is. The way it builds, growing more and more frenzied and ominous and drawing on a major musical element that, due to the way it is usually staged (or ways), I never really recognized before. I think it is genius.

I don't love all the divertisements in act II. I'd much prefer that Spanish was cut to a single couple. with 3 couples in busy outfits (I love the costumes throughout) it is impossible to see anything. Chinese is great. I *am* a fan of the bees.

In my view, there should have been an announcement at the end of the performance, that the leads were being promoted.

Yuriko Kajiya and Joseph Gorak were stupendous. I believe* (I'd only seen this once before a year ago) they simplified a lift or two, but my belief is based only on memory and something I read in a review regarding the lifting sequences. He showed no obvious strain in the partnering, was gracious, elegant, princely, gorgeous, and danced beautifully.

She was strong but sweet, elegant, showed exquisite control.

I really thought they were both fantastic.

I was very impressed by her last season at the MET and do hope she will be promoted. I think she deserves it and would make a good principal dancer. The fact he is in the corps, however, is something that should be rectified ASAP. They have a newly minted opening in the soloist rank... FILL IT!

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I would be more than happy to see Kajiya and Gorak promoted. But only after Stella Abrera is promoted to Principal. It breaks my heart to see all the promotions that leave her behind.

I don't share your opinion (I realize I am in the minority here apparently) but in any case, promoting Gorak out of the corps would have no impact on whether Abrera ever makes principal.

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I would be more than happy to see Kajiya and Gorak promoted. But only after Stella Abrera is promoted to Principal. It breaks my heart to see all the promotions that leave her behind.

I don't share your opinion (I realize I am in the minority here apparently) but in any case, promoting Gorak out of the corps would have no impact on whether Abrera ever makes principal.

If you don't believe that Stella should be made a principal, then perhaps the following won't make sense: but I believe that when ANY promotion is made in a company, it has an impact on most if not all of the dancers, who would be likely to reflect on their own positions within the hierarchy and their own chances for promotion, if not now, then in the future. Obviously I cannot speak for Stella, but if I were in her shoes, I would feel every promotion as a reminder that I'm being overlooked.

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I would be more than happy to see Kajiya and Gorak promoted. But only after Stella Abrera is promoted to Principal. It breaks my heart to see all the promotions that leave her behind.

I don't share your opinion (I realize I am in the minority here apparently) but in any case, promoting Gorak out of the corps would have no impact on whether Abrera ever makes principal.

If you don't believe that Stella should be made a principal, then perhaps the following won't make sense: but I believe that when ANY promotion is made in a company, it has an impact on most if not all of the dancers, who would be likely to reflect on their own positions within the hierarchy and their own chances for promotion, if not now, then in the future. Obviously I cannot speak for Stella, but if I were in her shoes, I would feel every promotion as a reminder that I'm being overlooked.

It might be a reminder, but as a professional, she must be aware that male and female dancers serve different roles and DANCE different roles and it can have no impact on her in any way if a male dancer at a lower rank is elevated. It might be a reminder to her husband of his limited chances for promotion at this point, but for her it really shouldn't make a difference.

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I would be more than happy to see Kajiya and Gorak promoted. But only after Stella Abrera is promoted to Principal. It breaks my heart to see all the promotions that leave her behind.

I don't share your opinion (I realize I am in the minority here apparently) but in any case, promoting Gorak out of the corps would have no impact on whether Abrera ever makes principal.

If you don't believe that Stella should be made a principal, then perhaps the following won't make sense: but I believe that when ANY promotion is made in a company, it has an impact on most if not all of the dancers, who would be likely to reflect on their own positions within the hierarchy and their own chances for promotion, if not now, then in the future. Obviously I cannot speak for Stella, but if I were in her shoes, I would feel every promotion as a reminder that I'm being overlooked.

It might be a reminder, but as a professional, she must be aware that male and female dancers serve different roles and DANCE different roles and it can have no impact on her in any way if a male dancer at a lower rank is elevated. It might be a reminder to her husband of his limited chances for promotion at this point, but for her it really shouldn't make a difference.

If we're going to stay concrete about this, the promotion of Kajiya, whom I thoroughly enjoy, would make a huge, if not fatal, difference to Stella's chances of promotion.

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I saw the Simkin - Lane performance last night. Simkin was wonderful in his solos , but there were some glitches in the partnering. One lift in particular went badly and looked particularly sloppy. I was more disapponted with Lane. Her solo work was very small scale. This was my only ABT Nutcracker for the season. None of the couples I've seen since this production premiered have equaled the stellar performances of Muphy and Hallberg. I suspect we won't be seeing them again in the ABT Nutcracker, as they have moved on to bigger and better things during the ABT non-Met season.

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I saw the Veronika Part - Alexander Hammoudi performance last night, which played to a full house. And Veronika brought that house down. She was luminescent, utterly divine, expressive, rapturous. And best of all, she appeared Self-Confident! Her feet were wondrous in their expressiveness and beauty, and she floated over the stage in her grand jetes. She may not have the always-reliable steely technique of some other dancers, but she is born to dance. (I've heard that having a high instep and very flexible feet makes it more difficult to do multiple turns, for example, which is why we chew our nails for her in ballets with 32 fouettes. I believe Alessandra Ferri had the same sort of pliant feet.)

Alexander Hammoudi made a valiant effort to be a worthy partner. But although he has a nice ballet line, he's not a great technician. These days we expect multiples turns from our male dancers, as well as an easy intuitive technique (think Cornejo, Corella, Carreno), and Hammoudi is not a natural turner. However, with an extra half-second of preparation, the couple managed the Grigorovich lift with Veronika appearing completely at ease up in the air. Hammoudi danced with a graciousness and modesty that seemed to reflect an awareness that he was dancing with one of the greats. He showed a similar modesty during the curtain calls.

The applause was thunderous. This was Veronika at her very best.

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