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Spring 2004 Met Season announced!


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AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE’S 2004 SPRING SEASON

AT THE METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE,

MAY 10-JULY 3, 2004

ALL-NEW PRODUCTION OF RAYMONDA AND SPECIAL OPENING NIGHT

APPEARANCE BY VIOLINIST SARAH CHANG

Svetlana Zakharova to Debut as Guest Artist

American Ballet Theatre’s Spring 2004 season at the Metropolitan Opera House, May 10-July 3, will feature six full-length ballets including the United States Premiere of an all-new production of Raymonda by Anna-Marie Holmes and Kevin McKenzie.

American Ballet Theatre’s 2004 season will open with a special Spring gala performance on Monday evening, May 10, featuring an appearance by internationally renowned violinist Sarah Chang. Ms. Chang will perform a pièce d’occasion and the evening will include a preview of the season’s ballets performed by ABT’s Principal Dancers.

Principal Dancers for the engagement will include Nina Ananiashvili, Maxim Beloserkovsky, Julio Bocca, Jose Manuel Carreño, Angel Corella, Herman Cornejo, Irina Dvorovenko, Alessandra Ferri, Marcelo Gomes, Guillaume Graffin, Paloma Herrera, Amanda McKerrow, Gillian Murphy, Xiomara Reyes, Ethan Stiefel and Ashley Tuttle. Countrywide Financial is the National Sponsor of American Ballet Theatre’s 2004 Metropolitan Opera House season and national tour. Cole Haan is the Leading Benefactor of ABT’s Spring season and national tour. ABT’s Spring Season is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

American Ballet Theatre’s Opening Night Gala performance is sponsored by Signature Bank and Gianfranco Ferré. For information about the Opening Night Spring Gala, please call the Special Events Office at 212-477-3030, ext. 3239.

United States Premiere of All-New Raymonda

American Ballet Theatre will present the United States Premiere of an all-new production of the full-length Raymonda on Friday evening, May 21 at 8 P.M. Choreographed by Anna-Marie Holmes and conceived and directed by Holmes and Kevin McKenzie, Raymonda is set to the music of Alexander Glazunov, arranged by Ormsby Wilkins, and features sets and costumes by Zack Brown (Swan Lake and Dorian) and lighting by Steen Bjarke. A co-production with the Finnish National Ballet, the all-new Raymonda was given its World Premiere in Helsinki by the Finnish National Ballet in May, 2003. Excerpts from the new production of Raymonda, with choreography by Anna-Marie Holmes, were first presented by ABT in October 2003 at City Center.

The World Premiere of Raymonda, choreographed by Marius Petipa, was given in 1898 by the Imperial Ballet at the Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1964, Rudolf Nureyev restaged Raymonda with additional choreography for the Royal Ballet Touring Company. The production received its American Ballet Theatre premiere in 1975 in Houston, Texas with Cynthia Gregory as Raymonda, Rudolf Nureyev as Jean de Brienne and Erik Bruhn as Abderakhman.

American Ballet Theatre gratefully acknowledges Julia and David Koch and Patricia K. Hagan for their generous support of this production. Major funding for Raymonda has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Guest Artists

Svetlana Zakharova, a principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet, will make her debut with American Ballet Theatre this season as a Principal Guest Artist. Ms. Zakharova will perform the role of Nikiya in La Bayadére opposite Jose Manuel Carreño on Monday evening, May 17 and Wednesday evening, May 19. Born in Louzk, Ukraine. Ms. Zakharova studied at the Kiev Ballet School and at the Vaganova Ballet Academy. She joined the Kirov Ballet in 1996 and became a principal in 1997. In September 2003, Ms. Zakharova joined the Bolshoi Ballet. She remains a guest artist with the Kirov.

Roberta Marquez, a guest artist with The Royal Ballet of London, will appear with ABT as a Principal Guest Artist, performing the role of Nikiya in La Bayadère, on Friday evening, May 14 and at the matinee on Wednesday, May 19. At both performances, she will dance opposite Ethan Stiefel as Solor. Ms. Marquez was born in Brazil and trained at the Maria Olenawa State School of Dance. In 1994, she joined the Municipal Theatre Ballet in Rio de Janiero and was promoted to principal dancer in 2002. In 2003, she was invited to perform as a guest artist with The Royal Ballet. Earlier this year, Ms. Marquez made her ABT debut at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts performing the role of Nikiya.

An all-Tchaikovsky Salute to George Balanchine

In tribute to the centenary of choreographer George Balanchine, American Ballet Theatre will present a program of his works, all set to the music of Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky. The all-Balanchine/Tchaikovsky programs will be performed May 24 and May 26-31. Highlighting the program will be the Company Premiere of Mozartiana on Monday evening, May 24. Created in 1981, Mozartiana, one of Balanchine’s last works, is set to Suite No. 4 Mozartiana by Tchaikovsky and features costumes by Rouben Ter-Arutunian. The ballet will be staged for ABT by Maria Calegari.

George Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial will have its revival premiere on Monday evening, May 24 with Gillian Murphy, Carlos Molina and Michele Wiles performing the leading roles. Set to Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 2 in G for Piano and Orchestra, Ballet Imperial features costumes by Rouben Ter-Arutunian and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. Last performed by ABT in 1996, Ballet Imperial received its World Premiere by American Ballet Caravan in 1941 and first entered ABT’s repertory in 1988. Colleen Neary will stage the revival of Ballet Imperial for ABT.

American Ballet Theatre’s all-Balanchine/Tchaikovsky program will also include Theme and Variations and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux. Paloma Herrera and Marcelo Gomes will lead the season’s first performance of Theme and Variations on Monday evening, May 24. ABT’s production of Theme and Variations, staged by Kirk Peterson, recreates the original version choreographed by Balanchine for Ballet Theatre in 1947.

Full-length Ballets

In addition to the all-new Raymonda, American Ballet Theatre will present five full-length ballets during its Spring season.

La Bayadère, choreographed by Natalia Makarova after Marius Petipa, will be given nine performances beginning Thursday evening, May 13 with Nina Ananiashvili as Nikiya, Julio Bocca as Solor and Gillian Murphy as Gamzatti. Set to music by Ludwig Minkus, specially arranged by John Lanchbery, La Bayadère features scenery by PierLuigi Samaritani, costumes by Theoni V. Aldredge and lighting by Toshiro Ogawa. The full-length production of La Bayadère received its World Premiere by ABT in May 1980 at the Metropolitan Opera House.

Don Quixote, staged by Kevin McKenzie and Susan Jones, after the choreography of Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky, will be given eight performances, June 7-12. Nina Ananiashvili and Jose Manuel Carreño will lead the season’s first performance of Don Quixote, which is set to the music of Ludwig Minkus and arranged by Jack Everly. The ballet features scenery and costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by Natasha Katz. The McKenzie/Jones staging of the current production was first performed by ABT in June 1995.

Kevin McKenzie’s production of the Tchaikovsky classic, Swan Lake will have its first performance of the season on Monday evening, June 14 with Gillian Murphy as Odette/Odile and Jose Manuel Carreño as Prince Siegfried. Swan Lake, staged by Kevin McKenzie after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, has scenery and costumes by Zack Brown and lighting by Duane Schuler. McKenzie’s staging received its World Premiere in March 2000 at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Generously underwritten by the Rosh Foundation, Swan Lake will continue for eight performances through June 19.

Celebration in Honor of Frederic Franklin

Eight performances of Coppélia, staged by Frederic Franklin, will be highlighted by a special celebration of Franklin’s 90th birthday on Monday evening, June 21. A distinguished ballet master and choreographer, Franklin was one of the original members of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and has appeared with American Ballet Theatre in recent years. Coppélia is set to the music of Léo Delibes and features scenery by Tony Straiges, costumes by Patricia Zipprodt and lighting by Brad Fields. Franklin’s staging of Coppélia, which will be performed June 21-26, received its Company Premiere in February 1997. Leading the opening night cast of Coppélia will be Ashley Tuttle as Swanilda and Angel Corella as Franz.

Additional repertory for American Ballet Theatre’s 2004 Metropolitan Opera House season includes Jiri Kylian’s Petite Mort and Sechs Tänze, Antony Tudor’s Pillar of Fire, staged by Donald Mahler and Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison, choreographed by David Parsons, Ann Reinking, Natalie Weir and Stanton Welch. Repertory programs featuring these works are scheduled for May 11 evening, May 12 (matinee and evening), May 25 evening and May 26 matinee. Pillar of Fire has been generously underwritten by Mrs. Bernard L. Schwartz.

ABTKids

ABTKids, a special one-hour family friendly performance, is scheduled for Saturday, June 5 at 11:30 A.M. This season, ABTKids will feature a special appearance by PBS’ award-winning storybook character, Angelina Ballerina. All tickets for ABTKids are priced at $18. American Ballet Theatre’s annual Family Day Benefit, featuring Angelina Ballerina as Honorary Chair, will coincide with ABTKids on June 5 at 11:30 A.M. followed by a luncheon in the Tent at Lincoln Center. For information on Family Day, please call ABT’s Special Events office at 212-477-3030, ext. 3239. Reckson Associates is the Principal Corporate Sponsor of ABTKids. Additional support has been provided by The Wallace Foundation.

FAMILY SERIES

The matinees on Saturday, May 22 (Raymonda), and Saturday, June 26 (Coppélia) will offer tickets for children ages 4-14 at 50% off regular price with the purchase of one adult-priced ticket. Pre-performance workshops are also available on Saturday, May 22 (11:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M.), Saturday, June 5 (9:30-10:30 A.M.) and Saturday, June 26, (11:00 A.M-12:00 P.M). Tickets to the workshops are $20 per person and are available to ticket holders for the performance following the workshop.

ABTalks

ABTalks, 30-minute pre-curtain discussions, are held in List Hall one hour prior to performances and are free to ABT ticket holders. Please see schedule attached for dates.

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2004 Metropolitan Opera House season go on sale March 28 at the Met box office or are available by phone at 212-362-6000. For more information, visit ABT’s website at www.abt.org <http://www.abt.org/> .

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ABT has a terrific calendar on their web site -- it's a pop up, so I can't give you the direct URL but click here and you'll see a link that says View Full Calendar.

There, browse through it month by month. It's got the Cleveland, Chicago and LA casting, and then the full Met casting.

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Zakharova looks interesting as a guest for Bayadere; it will be fun to watch even if its not really someone from the company proper dancing the role. Looks like there are still some slots missing in the casting calendar though, most significantly in who will be dancing the opening night of "Raymonda."

The Balanchine reps look like they will be particularly fun to watch. Some good casting, and great works. Doesn't it seem, though, that the pieces on the programs are very similar to each other? "Theme" and "Imperial" are both very grand tutu affairs, Tchai Pas is showy technical work (which could be said of "Theme" possibly as well), and "Mozartiana" might be a bit different, though still uses a theme and variations format musically - much similar to "Theme and Variations" the ballet. Just doesn't look like the program has that variety that is so sought after on mixed rep programs, especially considering the variety that can be had with Balanchine...looks like very much ABT grand ballet style extravaganzas similar to the story ballets that dominate the Met Season. Not that I really mind that all of these pieces will be on the same program though - just thinking that some might see it as a three hour evening of sameness (all plotless, all tutus, all the time! - and yes I know Tchai Pas doesn't necessarily have tutus...).

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It also looks like marketing to me - "If you like Theme and Variations, you'll love Ballet Imperial and Mozartiana." The 1st rep. night groups that awful Kylian with Within you Without You (which I don't hate, due to its camp fun! And it was practically the only place to see Veronika Part the last two seasons), with Pillar. A couple of years ago they had a Tschiakovsky evening - Theme, Tschiak. Pas, Rose Adagio and Aurora's Wedding. By the end of the evening it was too much of a good thing and Aurora's Wedding always felt flat. Next year they'll have an all-Fokine evening. Wouldn't it better to create the programs the way they used to at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo - a good opener, something meaningful in the middle and a rousing closer.

And I'm not sure about the middle section of Program two. I understand ABT has always used T&V as an opener (and asked specifically for one from Balanchine) and Ballet Imperial is the closer, but should Pas de Deux come before Mozartiana? Whip the audience up into a frenzy and then go right to the calm center opening of Mozartiana? Mozartiana is an opener, so why not open the middle section? The audience will have more concentration for Mozartiana too.

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Re: Dale's post -- Do we know where intermission will go for Program 2? When I first saw the rep I assumed they'd go "Theme and Variations" and Tchaikovsky Pas de deux, intermission, "Mozartiana," intermission, "Ballet Imperial." I thought "Theme" would be short enough to add a pas de deux after that before sending everyone away to the intermission bar, even though "Mozartiana" is pretty short too - but I feel like that is a more standalone than "Theme." Anyone know for sure?

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You will find varying opinions about Dvorovenko. I like her a lot. I haven't seen her in R&J but I'm sure she'd be a wonderful Juliet. On the hand, Ferri is absolutely extrordinary in this role & so my advise would be to find a way to make it to one of her performances (Mon or Tue eve) instead of the Wed mat.

Unfortunately I'm going to be out of town those nights, so I decided to try McKerrow & Steifel at the Wed evening performance. I'm sure Dvorovenko will dance R&J for years to come but you never know when Ferri and/or McKerrow will decide to hang 'em up.

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Some of us thought that McKerrow "hung 'em up" a few years ago--weren't there several "retirements" and "final performances" by her? I know that I have my lapses, but I distinctly recall at least one, if not more.....

Ferri is still the definitive Juliet at ABT, for my money. I thought Vishneva's guest performance last June was remarkable, but if one wants to see Ferri, I wouldn't delay too much longer.

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Thanks for the input. I will try to get tkts for Ferri Mon nite, even tho it means I will be somewhat useless Tuesday (I won't get into Philly until about 1 am). Sounds like it's worth it, and point about not being around to dance much longer taken.

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I have read in the ABT website that Maria Calegari is staging thier new production of Mozartiana. I always thought that S Farrell "owns" the right to the ballet and is the only stager of the ballet.

I loved M Calegari when she was dancing at the NYCB but did she danced the role??How is her staging and coaching record.?If the ABT production of Mozartiana is to suceed,theABT ballerinas would need proper coaching(IMO)

Joe

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I remember Calegari being a terrific in Mozartiana. I believe she was the first dancer to follow Farrell in the role. The Balanchine Trust who administers the "holdings" of many of the rights holders wouldn't send a stager they didn't trust.

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Calegari set Boston Ballet's recent production of Mozartiana, although Ponomorenko was taught the role (maybe 10 years ago or more) by Farrell in an earlier production. I thought it was well done, although I only saw one cast.

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