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AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE

ALL-NEW ABT.ORG ENHANCES USER EXPERIENCE WITH STREAMLINED NAVIGATION AND MOBILE OPTIMIZATION

American Ballet Theatre has launched a newly designed and upgraded website at www.abt.org. It was announced today by ABT Executive Director Kara Medoff Barnett.

American Ballet Theatre’s new site, abt.org, was conceived with the Company’s wide variety of users in mind, from ticket buyers and members, to students, families and balletomanes worldwide. The elevated design highlights ABT’s breadth while improving the user experience through streamlined navigation, offering a wealth of Company information at a glance. An overhauled master calendar encapsulates ABT’s array of activities, including performances, educational opportunities and social events, in New York City, on tour and around the world. Members can explore the range of benefits available at each giving level in an interactive chart. Expanded dancer profiles offer images and milestones from their respective careers. New site- wide visual elements, including in-depth photo galleries, video content and testimonials, extend the ABT experience.

The site connects the multiple aspects of the Company, linking upcoming performances to their history in the repertory archive and illustrating how current dancers have advanced through ABT’s training pipeline.

Designed by Ascender Studios, the new abt.org is optimized for all devices. The website has been made possible by Karen Phillips and Infor.

Individual tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2018 Spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House are available now at the Met box office, by phone at 212-362-6000 or online at ABT’s website www.abt.org. Tickets start at $22. The Metropolitan Opera House is located on Broadway between 64th and 65th streets in New York City.

TAP DANCE CHOREOGRAPHER MICHELLE DORRANCE TO CREATE FIRST WORK FOR AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE

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, 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.

WORLD PREMIERES OF AFTERITE BY WAYNE McGREGOR AND HARLEQUINADE BY ALEXEI RATMANSKY TO HIGHLIGHT AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE’S
2018 SPRING SEASON, MAY 14-JULY 7,
AT METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE

GUEST ARTIST NATALIA OSIPOVA TO DANCE TITLE ROLE IN GISELLE, MAY 18

FAMILY MATINEE OF WHIPPED CREAM SCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY, JULY 6

American Ballet Theatre’s 2018 Spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House,
May 14-July 7, will feature the World Premieres of AFTERITE by Wayne McGregor and Harlequinade by ABT Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, it was announced today by ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

Principal Dancers for the 2018 Metropolitan Opera House are Stella Abrera, Roberto Bolle, Isabella Boylston, Jeffrey Cirio, Misty Copeland, Herman Cornejo, Marcelo Gomes, David Hallberg, Sarah Lane, Alban Lendorf, Gillian Murphy, Hee Seo, Christine Shevchenko, Daniil Simkin, Cory Stearns, Devon Teuscher and James Whiteside.

2018 Spring Gala Performance and World Premiere of AFTERITE
American Ballet Theatre’s 2018 Spring Gala on Monday, May 21 will feature the World

Premiere of AFTERITE by Wayne McGregor, Resident Choreographer at The Royal Ballet. In his first work for ABT, McGregor will create a new scenario set to Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. AFTERITE will be brought to the stage by set and costume designer Vicki Mortimer, with video designs by Ravi Deepres and lighting by Lucy Carter, all of whom have previously collaborated with McGregor.

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ABT 2018 SPRING SEASON AT THE MET ANNOUNCED – Page 2

The 2018 Spring Gala will also feature excerpts from Ratmansky’s Harlequinade. The all-new production of Harlequinade, staged by Ratmansky after the original by Marius Petipa, will be given its World Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on June 4, 2018. A comic ballet in two-acts, Harlequinade is set to music by Riccardo Drigo and first premiered in 1900 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The new production will feature sets and costumes by Robert Perdziola and lighting by Brad Fields. Following its World Premiere, the ballet will be given seven performances during the 2018 Spring season. A co-production with The Australian Ballet, Harlequinade is ABT’s first full-length production of the ballet. For more information on ABT’s 2018 Spring Gala, please call the Special Events Office at 212-477-3030, ext. 3310.

McGregor’s AFTERITE will share the program with Ratmansky’s Firebird for seven performances through Saturday, May 26. The one-act Stravinsky classic with original choreography by Ratmansky, features scenery by Simon Pastukh, costumes by Galina Solovyeva, lighting by Brad Fields and projections by Wendall K. Harrington. Ratmansky’s production of Firebird was given its World Premiere at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Costa Mesa, California on March 29, 2012, danced by Natalia Osipova (Firebird), Marcelo Gomes (Ivan), David Hallberg (Kaschei) and Simone Messmer (Maiden). Ratmansky’s Firebird, co- commissioned by American Ballet Theatre and Dutch National Ballet, is American Ballet Theatre’s fourth production of the ballet.

Full-length Ballets

American Ballet Theatre’s 2018 Spring season opens with eight performances of Giselle beginning Monday evening, May 14, led by Hee Seo in the title role, opposite Cory Stearns as Albrecht and Gillian Murphy as Myrta. Guest Artist Natalia Osipova will perform the title role on Friday, May 18 opposite David Hallberg as Albrecht.

Set to music by Adolphe Adam, with scenery by Gianni Quaranta, costumes by Anna Anni and lighting by Jennifer Tipton, Giselle features choreography after Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot and Marius Petipa and has been staged for ABT by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie. The world premiere of Giselle, one of the oldest continually-performed ballets, occurred at the Theatre de l’Academie Royale de Musique in Paris on June 28, 1841. The ballet was first presented by ABT (then Ballet Theatre) at the Center Theatre in New York City on January 12, 1940 with choreography by Anton Dolin and scenery and costumes by Lucinda Ballard. The leading roles were danced by Annabelle Lyon and Anton Dolin. American Ballet Theatre’s sixth production, featuring scenery by Gianni Quaranta and costumes by Anna Anni, was created for the film Dancers, produced in 1987 by Cannon Films. This production’s first public performance was given on March 20, 1987 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, with Marianna Tcherkassky as Giselle and Kevin McKenzie as Albrecht. The current staging is by McKenzie, using the Quaranta and Anni designs.

The first of seven performances of La Bayadère on Tuesday, May 29 will be led by Hee Seo as Nikiya, David Hallberg as Solor and Gillian Murphy as Gamzatti. Choreographed by Natalia Makarova after Marius Petipa, La Bayadère 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 Toshiro Ogawa. The full-length La Bayadère received its World Premiere by the Imperial Ballet at the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg on February 4, 1877. La Bayadère, Act II (The Kingdom of the Shades) was first performed in the West by the Leningrad-Kirov Ballet in 196l. Natalia Makarova first staged The Kingdom of the Shades scene for American Ballet Theatre in 1974, and it received its 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. Makarova subsequently produced and choreographed the complete version of La Bayadère (in three acts) for American Ballet Theatre, which received its World Premiere on May 21, 1980 with Natalia Makarova as Nikiya, Anthony Dowell as Solor and Cynthia Harvey as Gamzatti.

Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet will be given eight performances beginning Monday evening, June 11 with Gillian Murphy as Juliet, Marcelo Gomes as Romeo and Daniil Simkin as Mercutio. Set to the score by Sergei Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet features scenery and costumes by Nicholas Georgiadis and lighting by Thomas Skelton. Romeo and Juliet received its World Premiere by The Royal Ballet in London on February 9, 1965 and was given its ABT Company Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House on April 22, 1985 with Leslie Browne and Robert La Fosse in the leading roles.

Eight performances of Swan Lake, choreographed by Kevin McKenzie after Marius Petipa, will be given beginning Monday, June 18 with Devon Teuscher and Marcelo Gomes leading the opening night cast. Swan Lake is set to the score by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky and features scenery and costumes by Zack Brown and lighting by Duane Schuler. This production of Swan Lake premiered on March 24, 2000 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. with Julie Kent (Odette-Odile), Angel Corella (Prince Siegfried) and Marcelo Gomes (von Rothbart).

Don Quixote will begin the first of eight performances on Monday evening, June 25 led by Isabella Boylston as Kitri, Daniil Simkin as Basilio, Hee Seo as Mercedes and James Whiteside as Espada. The ballet is staged by Kevin McKenzie and Susan Jones, with choreography after Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky. Don Quixote is set to music by Ludwig Minkus and 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 on June 12, 1995.

Last season’s World Premiere production of Whipped Cream returns to the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House for eight performances beginning Monday, July 2 featuring Daniil Simkin, Stella Abrera, David Hallberg and Sarah Lane in the leading roles. Choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky, the ballet features scenery and costumes by artist Mark Ryden and lighting by Brad Fields. Whipped Cream, with a libretto and score by Richard Strauss, is based on the two-act ballet originally created as Schlagobers, which premiered at the Vienna State Opera in 1924. Ratmansky’s production received its World Premiere by ABT on March 15, 2017 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California. Whipped Cream will be given eight performances at the Metropolitan Opera House through Saturday evening, July 7, including a special matinee performance on Friday, July 6 at 2:00 P.M.

ABTKids

ABTKids, American Ballet Theatre’s annual one-hour introduction to ballet, is scheduled for Saturday morning, May 19 at 11:30 A.M. All tickets for ABTKids are $25.

Subscriptions for American Ballet Theatre’s 2018 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House, on sale beginning Wednesday, November 1, are available by phone at 212-362- 6000, or online at ABT’s website www.abt.org.

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.

American Ballet Theatre's performances of Giselle are generously supported through an endowed gift from Sharon Patrick.

La Bayadère is generously supported by an endowed gift from Drs. Philip and Marjorie Gerdine. In loving memory of Caroline Newhouse.

American Ballet Theatre's performances of Romeo and Juliet are generously underwritten through an endowed gift from Ali and Monica Wambold.

Firebird is generously supported through an endowed gift from The Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund.

Swan Lake is generously underwritten by R. Chemers Neustein. Costumes for Swan Lake are generously sponsored through Ellen Everett Kimiatek Costume Preservation Trust.

Don Quixote is generously supported through an endowed gift from Anka K. Palitz in memory of Clarence Y. Palitz Jr.

Leadership support for The Ratmansky Project, including Harlequinade and Whipped Cream, has been generously provided by Avery and Andrew F. Barth, the Blavatnik Family Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton E. James, and The Ted and Mary Jo Shen Charitable Gift Fund. Additional major support has been provided by Linda Allard, Sarah Arison, Lisa and Dick Cashin, Lloyd E. Rigler - Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation, The Susan and Leonard Feinstein Foundation, William J. Gillespie, Brian J. Heidtke, Howard S. Paley, Bernard L. Schwartz, Melissa A. Smith, The H. Russell Smith Foundation/Stewart R. Smith and Robin A. Ferracone, and the Martin and Toni Sosnoff Foundation. ABT gratefully acknowledges Dr. Joan Taub Ades, Steven Backes, Mark Casey and Carrier Gaiser Casey, Linda and Martin Fell, Vicki Netter Fitzgerald, John Leland Sills and Elizabeth Papadopoulos-Sills, and Barbara and Sedgwick Ward for their generosity.

COUNTERPOINT FOR PHILIP JOHNSON BY BENJAMIN MILLEPIED SCHEDULED FOR SELECT PERFORMANCES OF AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE’S FALL SEASON, OCTOBER 18-29, 2017

PERFORMANCES TO TAKE PLACE AT INTERMISSION ON THE PROMENADE OF DAVID H. KOCH THEATER

COSTUMES DESIGNED BY RAG & BONE

American Ballet Theatre has added a new work to its performance lineup for the Fall season, October 18-29, at the David H. Koch Theater. Counterpoint for Philip Johnson, choreographed by Benjamin Millepied, will be performed on the theater’s Promenade during intermission of select evening performances. It was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

Counterpoint for Philip Johnson, an ode to the theater’s architect, is set to Nagoya Marimba by Steve Reich and features 24 dancers from American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. With costumes by American sportswear designer Rag & Bone and lighting by Brad Fields, Counterpoint for Philip Johnson is the first work to be performed by ABT outside the proscenium setting of the Koch Theater. “Ben takes his work off the stage and offers the audience a different point of view,” said McKenzie. “I think it will challenge one’s expectations of how to experience dance.”

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2017 Fall season at the David H. Koch Theater, priced from $25, are available online, 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.

DANIIL SIMKIN TO JOIN STAATSBALLETT BERLIN AT START OF THE 2018-2019 SEASON

SIMKIN TO CONTINUE APPEARANCES WITH AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE

Daniil Simkin, a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre since 2012, will join Staatsballett Berlin as a permanent member at the start of the company’s 2018-2019 season. It was announced today by Staatsballett Berlin. Simkin will continue to perform as a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre as scheduling allows.

“In the time that Daniil has been a member of ABT, he has been a frequent guest at companies around the world,” said American Ballet Theatre Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie. “While Berlin will be his primary residence, I am happy to report that he will now be a frequent visitor to ABT. I look forward to witnessing his continued success and artistry.”

Commenting on his new affiliation, Simkin said, “I am extremely grateful for the ten fantastic years I spent calling ABT ‘home.’ As a new chapter begins, I am thankful to Kevin McKenzie, who not only has been very supportive, but who is also allowing me to return to the wonderful New York audience in the future. Having grown up in Germany, I am looking forward to returning with everything that ABT has taught me and to joining Staatsballett Berlin under the directorship of Sasha Waltz and Johannes Öhman starting in the 2018/2019 season. But as of now, I am just very excited for the Fall season to begin and cannot wait for another great year at ABT!”

Daniil Simkin was born in Russia to a ballet family. In 1990, the family left for the West and, after several international engagements, settled in Wiesbaden, Germany. From the age of six he often appeared onstage, dancing alongside his father Dmitrij Simkin.

At age ten, Simkin began his training under the direction of his mother, Olga Aleksandrova. At 12, he began participating in ballet competitions and galas around the world and, at the same time, he finished his academic education. He joined the ballet company of the Vienna State Opera in 2006 as a demi-soloist and danced many roles in the classical, neoclassical and contemporary repertoire of the company. In 2007, he danced his first principal role, Basilio in Don Quixote, as a guest with the Lithuanian National Opera.

Simkin’s awards include the Senior Gold Medal at the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson 2006, Grand Prix International Ballet Competition Helsinki 2005 and First Prize and Gold Medal at the 21st International Ballet Competition in Varna 2004, among others.

Simkin joined American Ballet Theatre as a Soloist in October 2008. His repertoire with the Company includes the Bronze Idol in La Bayadère, Ballet Dancer in The Bright Stream, Franz in Coppélia, Ali, the slave and Lankendem in Le Corsaire, Basilio and the Lead Gypsy in Don Quixote, Puck in The Dream, the first sailor in Fancy Free, Albrecht, the Flames of Paris pas de deux, Albrecht and the peasant pas de deux in Giselle, Profiteer in The Green Table, Lescaut in Manon, Kolia in A Month in the Country, the Nutcracker-Prince in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, Lensky in Onegin, the Son in Prodigal Son, Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, Boy With Matted Hair in Shadowplay, Prince Désiré and the Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty, the Rose in Le Spectre de la Rose, the pas de deux from Stars and Stripes, Prince Siegfried, Benno and the pas de trois in Swan Lake, Gurn in La Sylphide, Eros and a Goat in Sylvia, the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux and leading roles in Allegro Brillante, Black Tuesday, Company B, The Brahms-Haydn Variations, Duets, In the Upper Room, The Leaves Are Fading, Monotones I, Mozartiana, Piano Concerto #1, Sinfonietta and Symphony in C. He created the Chinese Dance in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, the Bluebird in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, Ariel in The Tempest, The Boy in Whipped Cream and roles in Everything Doesn’t Happen at Once, Serenade After Plato’s Symposium and Troika.

Throughout his international career, Simkin received acclaim performing throughout North and South America, Asia and the Middle East. He organized International Ballet Galas in Greece in 2009 and in Japan in 2012. In 2015, together with The Joyce Theater in New York, Simkin spearheaded and produced INTENSIO, an evening of original contemporary choreography, which toured the United States and internationally. His latest endeavor is the production of Falls the Shadow, a multi-disciplinary dance installation at the Guggenheim

Museum in New York which involves generative video projections and costumes by Dior.

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2017 Fall season at the David H. Koch Theater, priced from $25, are available online, 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

VERONIKA PART TO GIVE FINAL PERFORMANCES WITH AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE

FAREWELL PERFORMANCE SCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY MATINEE, JULY 8
AT METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE

Veronika Part, a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre since 2009, will retire from the Company on the final day of the 2017 Spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House. For her farewell performance, Part will dance the Preghiera in George Balanchine’s Mozartiana opposite Blaine Hoven and Arron Scott on Saturday, July 8 at 2:00PM.

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Veronika Part began her early training in artistic
gymnastics before entering the Vaganova Ballet Academy in 1988. Part graduated in 1996 and joined the Kirov Ballet. She was promoted to soloist in 1998. Her repertoire with the Kirov included Nikiya in La Bayadère, the Queen of the Dryads in Don Quixote, Myrta, Moyna and Zulma in in Giselle, Raymonda and Henrietta in Raymonda, the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping
Beauty and Odette-Odile in Swan Lake. She also danced roles in Balanchine’s Apollo (Terpsichore), Jewels (Emeralds and Diamonds), Symphony in C (second movement) and Serenade, and in John Neumeier's The Sounds of Empty Pages. She was the winner of the BALTIKA Prize in 1999.

Part joined American Ballet Theatre as a Soloist in August 2002 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in May 2009. Her roles with the Company include Terpsichore in Apollo, Nikiya in La Bayadère, Zina in The Bright Stream, the Fairy Godmother in Frederick
Ashton's Cinderella, Twig in James Kudelka's Cinderella, Prayer in Coppélia, Medora in Le Corsaire, Kitri, Mercedes and the Queen of the Driads in Don Quixote, the Glove Seller in Gaîté Parisienne, Myrta in Giselle, Queen of Shemakhan in The Golden Cockerel, An Episode in His Past in Jardin aux Lilas, Manon in Lady of the Camellias, Lescaut's Mistress in Manon, His Wife in The Moor's Pavane, the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Snow Queen in Kevin McKenzie's The

WORLD PREMIERES BY ALEXEI RATMANSKY, JESSICA LANG AND BENJAMIN MILLEPIED TO HIGHLIGHT AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE’S FALL SEASON
AT THE DAVID H. KOCH THEATER,
OCTOBER 18-29, 2017

BOX OFFICE TO OPEN JULY 17

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.

CASSANDRA TRENARY AND JAMES WHITESIDE TO DEBUT AT LINCOLN CENTER’S MIDSUMMER NIGHT SWING ON JUNE 30, 2017

American Ballet Theatre Soloist Cassandra Trenary and Principal Dancer James Whiteside will be special guests at Lincoln Center’s annual Midsummer Night Swing on Friday, June 30. Trenary and Whiteside will dance a rhumba to Sway at Lincoln Center’s ballroom- themed evening at 8:15 PM, accompanied by Brooklyn-based band Margi & the Dapper Dots playing golden age classics by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter and more.

Midsummer Night Swing, Lincoln Center’s premier summer dance party in Damrosch Park, presents 15 evenings of social dance under the stars, featuring a lineup of artists who reflect the various music styles New York City has to offer. Salsa, disco, ballroom, rhythm and blues, jazz, boogaloo, nu disco, tango and Western swing will be featured throughout the summer. Each evening of Midsummer Night Swing is a ticketed event, beginning at 6:30 pm with a dance lesson for people of all skill levels by some of New York’s foremost instructors.

Live music begins at 7:30 pm and lasts until 10:00 pm. Tickets and passes can be purchased through CenterCharge, by calling 212.721.6500, at MidsummerNightSwing.org or at The Swing box office in the lobby of David Geffen Hall or the box office in Damrosch Park.

American Ballet Theatre’s 2017 Metropolitan Opera House season runs though July 8. Tickets, beginning at $22, are available online, at the Met box office or by phone at 212-362-6000. The Metropolitan Opera House is located on Broadway between 64th and 65th streets in New York City. For more information, visit ABT’s website at www.abt.org.