ABT 2015 Met season

[mussel]

It wasn't very long ago that Gomes stepped in for an injured Stearns to partner her, though I can't recall exactly when or whether it was SL or perhaps Bayadere. Anyone recall? Maybe it was 2 years ago?

Nutcraker 2013-12-13 & 12/21

Sylvia 2013-06-26

Beauty 2013-07-06, Part & Gomes premiered and closed the production.

[kaskait]

I think McKenzie objects to Lane.

I think so as well. It has to do with that whole film fiasco. Because Lane wouldn't sit tight and allow a third rate actress hijack her career and lie her way to an Oscar. Now he won't let her dance SW because it would further prove Lane right, that she did the bulk of the dancing in the film.

[volcanohunter]

It's too bad the film has largely been forgotten by now, because there could have been a PR opportunity in presenting a Lane Swan Lake.

[sidwich]

I think so as well. It has to do with that whole film fiasco. Because Lane wouldn't sit tight and allow a third rate actress hijack her career and lie her way to an Oscar. Now he won't let her dance SW because it would further prove Lane right, that she did the bulk of the dancing in the film.

I think McKenzie steers away from casting Sarah Lane as well, but I honestly think it's more to do with her height. My feelings has been that he just feels she's too short. Lane herself alluded to it in this article from several years back: http://www.timeout.com/newyork/dance/life-in-the-fast-lane.

Perhaps Murphy and Part are older or present partnering problems, perhaps some of the other principals are too expensive/present scheduling problems, but I'm not sure why McKenzie didn't didn't give Isabella Boylston one of the extra Swan Lakes. I know she's not a favorite either, but it would have at least eased some of that punishing load on Hee Seo.

[NinaFan]

ABT’s website is no longer listing Osipova/Sarafanov for the June 10 evening Sleeping Beauty. Does anyone know when they were removed from the schedule? Fingers crossed that nothing happens to their La Bayaderes.

[kaskait]

Osipova sustained an injury while at RB in March. I don't know if she fully recovered. If she is pulling out of performances, maybe she is still ailing.

[Dale]

3rd and 4th week casting release:

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE

Metropolitan Opera House – Spring 2015

THIRD WEEK

Mon. Eve., May 25, 7:30 P.M. GISELLE – Kent, Bolle, Murphy

Tues. Eve., May 26, 7:30 P.M. GISELLE – Vishneva, Gomes, Abrera

Wed. Mat., May 27, 2 P.M. GISELLE – Herrera, Bolle, Teuscher

Wed. Eve., May 27, 7:30 P.M. GISELLE – Reyes, Cornejo, Abrera

Thurs. Eve., May 28, 7:30 P.M. GISELLE – Osipova, McRae*++, Part

Fri. Eve., May 29, 7:30 P.M. THE SLEEPING BEAUTY (New York Premiere) – Murphy, Gomes, Abrera, Salstein, Boylston, Simkin, Trenary

Sat. Mat., May 30, 2 P.M. THE SLEEPING BEAUTY – Lane+, Cornejo+, Teuscher+++,

Raffa+++, Brandt+++, Hoven+++, Abrera+++

Sat. Eve., May 30, 8 P.M. THE SLEEPING BEAUTY – Boylston+++, Gorak+++, Shevchenko+++, Gomes+++, Trenary+++, TBA+++, TBA+++

FOURTH WEEK

Mon. Eve., June 1, 7:30 P.M. LA BAYADÈRE - Seo, Kim*++, Murphy

Tues. Eve., June 2, 7:30 P.M. LA BAYADÈRE – Kochetkova*++, Cornejo, Copeland

Wed. Mat., June 3, 2 P.M. LA BAYADÈRE – Seo, Stearns, Abrera

Wed. Eve., June 3, 7:30 P.M. LA BAYADÈRE – Osipova*++, Sarafanov*++, Boylston

Thurs. Eve., June 4, 7:30 P.M. LA BAYADÈRE – Part, Nedak, Murphy

Fri. Eve., June 5, 7:30 P.M. LA BAYADÈRE - Cojocaru, Cornejo, Copeland

Sat. Mat., June 6, 2 P.M. LA BAYADÈRE – Seo, Kim, Murphy

Sat. Eve., June 6, 8 P.M. LA BAYADÈRE – Osipova, Sarafanov, Boylston

*Guest Artist

+Editors please note first time in a role

Sat. Mat., 5/30 – Lane (Princess Aurora), Cornejo (Prince Désiré) in The Sleeping Beauty

++Editors please note first time in a role with ABT

Thurs. Eve., 5/28 – McRae (Albrecht) in Giselle

Mon. Eve., 6/1 – Kim (Solor) in La Bayadère

Tues. Eve., 6/2 – Kochetkova (Nikiya) in La Bayadère

Wed. Eve., 6/3 - Osipova (Nikiya), Sarafanov (Solor) in La Bayadère

+++Editors please note first time in a role in New York

Sat. Mat., 5/30 –Teuscher (Lilac Fairy), Raffa (Carabosse), Brandt (Diamond Fairy), Hoven (Bluebird),

Abrera (Princess Florine) in The Sleeping Beauty

Sat. Eve., 5/30 –Boylston (Princess Aurora), Gorak (Prince Désiré), Shevchenko (Lilac Fairy), Gomes

(Carabosse), Trenary (Diamond Fairy) in The Sleeping Beauty

[Dale]

Text release:

CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR THIRD AND FOURTH WEEKS OF

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE’S 2015 SPRING SEASON

AT METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE

Gillian Murphy and Marcelo Gomes to Lead New York Premiere of

All-New Production of The Sleeping Beauty on Friday, May 29

Kimin Kim and Leonid Sarafanov to Debut as Guest Artists

Casting for the third and fourth weeks of American Ballet Theatre’s 2015 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

The third week will feature five performances of Giselle, May 25-28. Monday night’s performance, May 25, will be led by Julie Kent in the title role opposite Roberto Bolle as Albrecht and Gillian Murphy as Myrta. Guest Artist Steven McRae will make his ABT debut in the role of Albrecht on Thursday, May 28 opposite Guest Artist Natalia Osipova as Giselle and Veronika Part as Myrta. On Wednesday, May 27, Paloma Herrera will dance her final performance with American Ballet Theatre in the title role at the matinee, and Xiomara Reyes will have her ABT farewell at the evening performance, also in the title role. 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 New York Premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty will take place on Friday evening, May 29 led by Gillian Murphy as Princess Aurora, Marcelo Gomes as Prince Désiré, Stella Abrera as the Lilac Fairy, Craig Salstein as Carabosse, Isabella Boylston as the Diamond Fairy, Daniil Simkin as the Bluebird and Cassandra Trenary as Princess Florine. Sarah Lane and Herman Cornejo will debut in the roles of Princess Aurora and Prince Désiré, respectively, on Saturday afternoon, May 30. This all-new production set to the classic score by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, with choreography by Marius Petipa and staging and additional choreography by Alexei Ratmansky, received its World Premiere on March 3, 2015 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California. The Sleeping Beauty features scenery and costumes by Tony Award®-winning designer Richard Hudson and lighting by James F. Ingalls. Hudson’s designs are based on the historic work of Léon Bakst, who created a seminal version of The Sleeping Beauty for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in 1921. This is American Ballet Theatre’s fourth production of the full-length ballet. The Sleeping Beauty received its World Premiere by the Imperial Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg on January 15, 1890. ABT presented its first full-length production of the ballet with choreography by Mary Skeaping from the original of Marius Petipa and the staging of Nicholas Sergeyev, at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, on June 15, 1976. The Sleeping Beauty, with choreography after Petipa and staging and additional choreography by Kenneth MacMillan, received its World Premiere by American Ballet Theatre at the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, on February 11, 1987. A new production, with choreography after Petipa and additional choreography and staging by Kevin McKenzie, Gelsey Kirkland and Michael Chernov received its World Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House on June 1, 2007.

The first of eight performances of La Bayadère begin Monday, June 1 featuring Guest Artist Kimin Kim in his ABT debut as Solor opposite Hee Seo as Nikya and Gillian Murphy as Gamzatti. Guest Artist Maria Kochetkova will make her ABT debut in the role of Nikiya on Tuesday evening, June 2 opposite Herman Cornejo as Solor and Misty Copeland as Gamzatti. Guest Artist Leonid Sarafanov will debut with ABT on Wednesday evening, June 3 in the role of Solor opposite Guest Artist Natalia Osipova in her ABT debut as Nikiya with Isabella Boylston in the role of 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 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.

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.

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2015 Metropolitan Opera House season, beginning at $20, are available online, at the Met box office or by phone at 212-362-6000. The Metropolitan Opera House is located on Broadway between 64^th and 65^th streets in New York City. For more information, visit ABT’s website at www.abt.org.

[fondoffouettes]

ABT’s website is no longer listing Osipova/Sarafanov for the June 10 evening Sleeping Beauty. Does anyone know when they were removed from the schedule? Fingers crossed that nothing happens to their La Bayaderes.

It's now listed as Boylston/Gorak. This must have happened very, very recently, because I was just looking at the Osipova/Sarafanov Sleeping Beauty this weekend.

[abatt]

Seo and Stearns are taken out of the premiere weekend of SB (May 30 evening) and replaced by Boylston Gorak. Interesting.

[volcanohunter]

I don't think Osipova has pulled out of any of her recent performances with the Royal Ballet. There have been multiple performances of Swan Lake, La Fille mal gardée and Woolf Works. Perhaps, like Herrera, she isn't keen on Ratmansky's approach to Sleeping Beauty.

[kaskait]

It seems the guest artist bookings are all falling apart this year. All the more reason for ABT to concentrate on their own dancers and groom many of them not just 2 or 3 favorites.

[fondoffouettes]

Seo and Stearns are taken out of the premiere weekend of SB (May 30 evening) and replaced by Boylston Gorak. Interesting.

So when were Boylston/Gorak originally slated to dance it if they've been scheduled to now replace both Seo/Stearns and Osipova/Sarafanov? I can't keep up with all of these changes!!

[abatt]

Yes, Boylston and Gorak were scheduled to lead the SB on the Wed matinee. Talk about false advertising. How do you advertise Osipova and Sarafanov SB for months and months, and then remove both of them from SB only a few weeks before. Unreal. Really tacky for ABT to engage in this kind of bait and switch. Cast changes due to injury and illness are part of life. But those cast changes are completely unrelated to illness and injury. It was just a big lie that they were going to perform SB.

[fondoffouettes]

Yes, Boylston and Gorak were scheduled to lead the SB on the Wed matinee. Talk about false advertising. How do you advertise Osipova and Sarafanov for months and months, and then remove both of them. Unreal. Really tacky for ABT to engage in this kind of bait and switch.

Did ABT really think that Osipova and Sarafanov were going to fly in and instantly learn Ratmansky's production and tone down their dancing so that it resembles the 19th-century aesthetic? I had my doubts ...

[nanushka]

Really tacky for ABT to engage in this kind of bait and switch.

Maybe the tackiness was ABT's, maybe it was Osipova's and Sarafanov's.

[CTballetfan]

All of these cast changes, and overloading one dancer to cover so many of the vacated ballerina roles, reinforces my decision this year not to take a subscription. You study the casting before you select the ballets and casts you want to see, but you know that chances are that maybe half of your cast choices will not dance and that substitutes you enjoy less will be given the roles. Big disappointment. It seems as if disaster is dogging this company. From the mess-up with Herrera's farewell appearance to the injuries and cast changes today, the company seems unstable and the leadership rickety. What a comedown from a great ballet company. I am looking forward to the responses on this board from those who attend tonight's gala. Will it be a triumphant evening showcasing the best of American ballet or an embarrassment?

[Plisskin]

No offense, but I feel kinda sorry for the poor souls who will sit through a Hee Seo performance. Wonder how many technical mishaps or falls she will have now that KM has given her all of these performances she can't handle...

[kaskait]

I think McKenzie steers away from casting Sarah Lane as well, but I honestly think it's more to do with her height. My feelings has been that he just feels she's too short. Lane herself alluded to it in this article from several years back: http://www.timeout.com/newyork/dance/life-in-the-fast-lane.

But Lane isn't and wasn't the only small Ballerina ever. There have been plenty of greats that were tiny (Kirkland). Plus once Lane is on pointe that jacks her up to almost 5'5. Her limbs are well proportioned, she doesn't look small.

It comes down to the fact that she just isn't popular right now. I was hoping to see her in Swan Lake.

[Helene]

Changes in schedule will impact the rehearsal schedule as well. According to the ABT contract, there is a limit to the number of hours a dancer can rehearse each rehearsal day and on the days when he or she is performing.

I thought it was questionable that Osipova would learn the reconstruction for a single performance, but Ratmansky gave her early opportunities at the Bolshoi, and she seems loyal to him. Also Ratmansky is planning more reconstructions -- "Swan Lake" is next -- and understanding the style and expectations could mean more opportunities in the future.

[fondoffouettes]

But Lane isn't and wasn't the only small Ballerina ever. There have been plenty of greats that were tiny (Kirkland). Plus once Lane is on pointe that jacks her up to almost 5'5. Her limbs are well proportioned, she doesn't look small.

It comes down to the fact that she just isn't popular right now. I was hoping to see her in Swan Lake.

If a ballerina can dance Aurora -- and dance it very, very well -- it seems kind of ridiculous that she's not dancing other principal roles. Underutilized talent.

[California]

Also Ratmansky is planning more reconstructions -- "Swan Lake" is next -- and understanding the style and expectations could mean more opportunities in the future.

Any indication where those reconstructions will happen? Plenty of unhappiness with the McKenzie Swan Lake, but also the Anthony Dowell version at Royal Ballet and the Peter Martins version at NYCB (although I can't imagine the latter accepting anything changed by Ratmansky).

[Classic_Ballet]

No offense, but I feel kinda sorry for the poor souls who will sit through a Hee Seo performance. Wonder how many technical mishaps or falls she will have now that KM has given her all of these performances she can't handle...

This obsessive compulsion of KM with Seo is getting offensive for a very large number of loyal ABT fans. I can only speak for myself; I will never pay a ticket again to see this dancer, at least in a few years, after 7-9 huge disappointments. I have numerous friends who have been attending at ABT for years and all are really pissed off. Why are they treating their educated ballet audience like this ? Does he really thinks that he can force the audience to like a dancer that cant dance Petipa ?

Why is he even forcing this ballerina to so many shows and putting her at so much risk and under so much pressure? Really, this is ridiculous. Why not give this opportunity to Sarah Lane who I would be very happy to see, or to Gillian in a Bayadere, for example, since she has danced it before. Its so disrespectful.

She messed up on opening night, once again and as usual....she didnt even get a good review in the nytimes for the Jardin aux Lilas show, that is merely acting.... and this is how he responds…it is so embarrassing, I can barely believe that the company that I have adored for so long, who offered shows every week of such high quality, has turned into this, how sad is this really. I guess I will save a lot of money this year. I feel so bad with the standards that they are setting for the new audience members, who never had the chance to see the greatest old times.

[sidwich]

But Lane isn't and wasn't the only small Ballerina ever. There have been plenty of greats that were tiny (Kirkland). Plus once Lane is on pointe that jacks her up to almost 5'5. Her limbs are well proportioned, she doesn't look small.

It comes down to the fact that she just isn't popular right now. I was hoping to see her in Swan Lake.

That's true, but that was under a different administration. Also, Gelsey Kirkland was the right size to dance with Baryshnikov which no doubt helped in casting her alongside him. And Baryshnikov was no doubt sympathetic to casting smaller dancers.

Kevin McKenzie was a tall dancer, and he seems to favor taller dancers, as Lane herself commented. Sarah Lane is allegedly the shortest dancer they've hired in quite some time. I'm just saying, I don't think her short stature is doing her any favors in the casting area.

And believe me, I am very sympathetic to Sarah's plight. I'm probably shorter than she is, and when I was dancing, I just had to suck it up that there were dances I just was never going to do as well in as taller dancers.

[Classic_Ballet]

That's true, but that was under a different administration. Also, Gelsey Kirkland was the right size to dance with Baryshnikov which no doubt helped in casting her alongside him. And Baryshnikov was no doubt sympathetic to casting smaller dancers.

Kevin McKenzie was a tall dancer, and he seems to favor taller dancers, as Lane herself commented. Sarah Lane is allegedly the shortest dancer they've hired in quite some time. I'm just saying, I don't think her short stature is doing her any favors in the casting area.

And believe me, I am very sympathetic to Sarah's plight. I'm probably shorter than she is, and when I was dancing, I just had to suck it up that there were dances I just was never going to do as well in as taller dancers.

Kochetkova is the same high than Lane, if not shorter, I believe.....she has been brought to dance SL so, its not a matter of size, I think.

btw, it looks like Gillian is now doing the Thursday night SL, and prima H Seo only two shows (Tuesday and Sat night)