American Ballet Theatre 2021-2022 season

[California]

On 10/12/2021 at 3:14 PM, ABT Fan said:

Also, Hee Seo announced on her IG today that they'll be doing Swan Lake in the spring.

Only five weeks in the Met season. I hope they will announce soon. This is the first real information on programminng.

Skylar and Aaron have been rehearsing Swan Lake and Manon in their coaching sessions on Instagram. I'd love to see the up-and-coming principals in Manon!

[abatt]

I received this discount offer for the below performances only:

Theatre, Ballet, and an American Icon
October 28 at 7:30pm
October 29 at 7:30pm
October 31 at 2:00pm

An Afternoon of Appreciation
October 30 at 2:00pm

Rhythm and Rapture
*Pride Nights*
October 27 at 7:30pm
October 30 at 8:00pm

Enjoy 35% off select seats using code: ABTFRIEND
*Subject to availability, limit of two (2) tickets per performance

 

 

[JuliaJ]

I'm so happy they're putting on Giselle, but it's a shame they couldn't come up with more appealing programs for the second week. Pretty typical for ABT's fall season, unfortunately. NYCB even struggled to fill l the house for some programs this fall so I'm not surprised that ABT is running into similar issues with their much-less-exciting mixed-rep shows. 

Looking forward to Pillar of Fire though. And maybe the Jessica Lang/Tony Bennett number will be ....entertaining? 

 

[ABT Fan]

Thanks, abatt, maybe I’ll check out one of those shows.

JuliaJ: the rep programs usually don’t sell extremely well, but imo they should have chosen much better programming after a 2 year hiatus. If they had done a week of Swan Lake instead it probably would have nearly sold out. I am all for mixed rep programs in addition to the classics, but they, like every other business right now, are desperate for cash. Understandably, maybe lack of rehearsal time coupled with getting dancers back into performance shape made that unrealistic. They performed some of these rep pieces on tour this summer so that may have been the easiest choice. If that’s the case, doing SL instead of Giselle might have made more financial sense.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

16 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

the rep programs usually don’t sell extremely well, but imo they should have chosen much better programming after a 2 year hiatus.

They should have chosen better programming after a 2 month hiatus. ABT has some real treasures in its repertory; they could have celebrated their return to the stage by showcasing some of their best jewels. (Pillar of Fire is one of them, of course.) 

[JuliaJ]

For the past few years they've seemed distracted by a social-progress agenda. Of course there should be more works by women and people of color. But yeah, maybe the company's first season after a financially devastating shutdown isn't the best time to take risks on lesser known contemporary artists and make them the program headliners. New commissions are expensive so it can't be much of a cost-saving strategy. Have NYC audiences ever gotten excited about Jessica Lang premieres? The Tony Bennett stuff might have pleased crowds at free bus-tour shows across the midwest, but this is Lincoln Center. I wish they had put the Ratmansky and Tudor ballets on the same program. 

Well, they'll get new directors (artistic and executive) soon enough. Hopefully people with a better sense of how to balance "moving the art forward" with better program selection and an ability to generate more ticket sales for mixed bills. 

Edited October 20, 2021 by JuliaJ

[abatt]

The talent pool  seems to be stretched very thin at ABT.  They are putting someone named Petersen from the corps into the lead role of Myrta on the Sat matinee in place of Fang (who in my opinion was never going to be suitable as Myrta).  I don't recall seeing Petersen in any lead or demi-lead role.   

Edited October 20, 2021 by abatt

[nanushka]

3 minutes ago, abatt said:

They are putting someone named Petersen from the corps into the lead role of Myrta on the Sat matinee...

That's Stephanie Petersen, formerly Williams. She has not danced Myrta before, but she has danced Zulma, according to her bio. Also, Swan Lake PDT, Gold and Fleur de farine in Sleeping Beauty, Lady Capulet, Summer in Cinderella, and a few others. But nothing as big as Myrta before, no.

Edited October 20, 2021 by nanushka

[BalletFan]

Stephanie Petersen, formerly Williams, has been with ABT for almost 10 years now--since January 2012. She got married last year and changed her last name to Petersen. She has danced many roles with ABT (and other companies)--although as Nanushka says, nothing as big as Myrta. This is something of a big break for Stephanie. I've always enjoyed her dancing and I look forward to seeing her as Myrta this weekend.

Edited October 20, 2021 by BalletFan

[nanushka]

There's a lovely article in the Times on Tom Forster's New York debut in Giselle, and his broader career trajectory. I'm not seeing Friday's performance, but I'm really hoping to see his Albrecht (among other new roles) at the Met next summer, if they do it again.

I hope anyone who sees Friday's performance will report on how he does.

[FayBallet]

14 minutes ago, nanushka said:

There's a lovely article in the Times on Tom Forster's New York debut in Giselle, and his broader career trajectory. I'm not seeing Friday's performance, but I'm really hoping to see his Albrecht (among other new roles) at the Met next summer, if they do it again.

I hope anyone who sees Friday's performance will report on how he does.

Thanks for posting, @nanushka. Lots of interesting insights into his personality, his body, and his career.

[ABT Fan]

3 hours ago, abatt said:

The talent pool  seems to be stretched very thin at ABT.  They are putting someone named Petersen from the corps into the lead role of Myrta on the Sat matinee in place of Fang (who in my opinion was never going to be suitable as Myrta).  I don't recall seeing Petersen in any lead or demi-lead role.   

I agree with you regarding Fang, and being that I think Peterson is an even less suitable option I'm quite baffled at their thinking. McBride would have been an excellent choice. Oh, how I've not missed hating on their casting choices.....

1 hour ago, nanushka said:

There's a lovely article in the Times on Tom Forster's New York debut in Giselle, and his broader career trajectory. I'm not seeing Friday's performance, but I'm really hoping to see his Albrecht (among other new roles) at the Met next summer, if they do it again.

I hope anyone who sees Friday's performance will report on how he does.

Thanks for flagging this. I would LOVE to see his Albrecht. Not this time.

[Dale]

From the company:

 

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE’S FIRST PRIDE NIGHTS CELEBRATING THE LGBTQIA+ COMMUNITY
TO FEATURE SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE BY DRAG ARTIST LYPSINKA,
WEDNESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 27
AND SATURDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 30

POST-PERFORMANCE PANEL DISCUSSIONS TO BE MODERATED BY ACTRESS TOMMY DORFMAN

PHOTO EXHIBIT BY QUIL LEMONS TO BE DISPLAYED THROUGHOUT THE DAVID H. KOCH THEATER

John Epperson is Lypsinka. Photos: Steven Menendez.

American Ballet Theatre’s Fall season at the David H. Koch Theater, October 20-31, will present its first-ever Pride Night celebrations, Wednesday evening, October 27 at 7:30 P.M. and Saturday evening, October 30 at 8:00 P.M., with a series of events honoring the LGBTQIA+ community and

 

 

ABT’S PRIDE NIGHTS TO CELEBRATE LGBTQIA+ COMMUNITY – Page 2

LGBT History Month. Both evening’s performances will feature a special guest appearance by drag artist Lypsinka, followed by a panel discussion of ABT’s LGBT works with the creators of the male duet Touché: choreographer Christopher Rudd, ABT Principal Dancer Calvin Royal III, and ABT corps de ballet member João Menegussi. Sarah Lozoff, intimacy director for Touché, will join the panel on Wednesday, October 27 and ABT Principal Dancer James Whiteside joins on Saturday evening,

October 30.
American Ballet Theatre’s Pride Night celebrations will include performances of Alexei

Ratmansky’s Bernstein in a Bubble, set to Leonard Bernstein’s Divertimento; Rudd’s Touché, set to music by Woodkid and Ennio Morricone and lighting by Brad Fields; Clark Tippet’s Some Assembly Required, staged by Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner and set to music by William Bolcom, with costumes by Gary Lisz and lighting by Jennifer Tipton; and Darrell Grand Moultrie’s Indestructible Light, set to recorded music by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Neal Hefti, Billy Strayhorn, and Chuck Harmony, with costumes by Mark Eric and lighting by Fields.

Celebrated drag artist Lypsinka will appear at each of the Pride Night events. A veteran of Off- Broadway, stage, film and television, Lypsinka has won three Drama-Desk nominations (Lypsinka! A Day in the Life and Lypsinka! The Boxed Set.) She is the alter-ego of John Epperson who has served as a rehearsal and class pianist with ABT over the span of 43 years. In her first appearance with ABT and first return to performing since 2018, Lypsinka will introduce the post-performance portion of ABT’s Pride Nights.

The post-performance discussions, free for each evening’s audience, will be moderated by trans- actress Tommy Dorfman. In addition, a free exhibit of the works of photographer Quil Lemons, curated by Sarah Hoover, will be displayed on the lobby and promenade level of the David H. Koch Theater throughout the Fall season. For tickets and more information, please visit www.abt.org/pride.

ABOUT LGBT HISTORY MONTH

 

In 1994, Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher, believed a month should be dedicated to the celebration and teaching of gay and lesbian history, and gathered other teachers and community leaders. They selected October because public schools are in session and existing traditions, such as Coming Out Day (October 11), occur that month. Gay and Lesbian History Month is endorsed by GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Education Association, and other national organizations. In 2006 Equality Forum assumed responsibility for providing content,

promotion, and resources for LGBT History Month. LGBT History Month celebrates the achievements of (more)

JOHN EPPERSON (AKA LYPSINKA) was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. His film work includes Black Swan, Witch Hunt with Dennis Hopper, Wigstock: The Movie, Angels in America, Kinsey, Vampire’s Kiss, and Another Gay Movie. His theater work includes Wallace Shawn’s Evening at the Talk House (Off Broadway, 2017), Once Upon A Mattress (Off Broadway, 2015), John Epperson: Show Trash; Lypsinka! The Trilogy (both 2014), I Could Go On Lip-Synching; Now It Can Be Lip-Synched; Lypsinka! A Day In The Life (2 Drama Desk nominations); As I Lay Lip-Synching; Lypsinka Must Be Destroyed!; Lypsinka IS Harriet Craig!; Lypsinka! The Boxed Set (Washington, D.C. Helen Hayes Award Outstanding Non-Resident Production; L.A. Weekly Theatre Award Best Solo Performance; Drama Desk nomination); The Stepmother in New York City Opera’s production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella at Lincoln Center; The Passion of the Crawford, a fantasia on the personality of Joan Crawford, and a cabaret show John Epperson: The Artist Principally Known As Lypsinka. Epperson has written the play My Deah: Medea For Dummies (Obie-winning production); two stage musicals – Ballet of the Dolls, Dial “M” For Model; and half a play: a rewrite of James Kirkwood’s notorious Legends! produced at Studio Theatre in D.C. Epperson has also written for The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Interview. He was the guest curator of the Club 57 film series “You Are Now One Of Us” at the Museum of Modern Art 2017-18. As a film historian, he has lectured about movies for MoMA, The New School, Anthology Film Archives, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Epperson and Lypsinka are the subjects of an Emmy-winning television documentary for PBS. www.lypsinka.com

ABOUT TOMMY DORFMAN

31 lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender Icons. Each day in October, a new LGBT Icon is featured with a video, bio, bibliography, downloadable images, and other resources.

ABOUT LYPSINKA

 

Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, TOMMY DORFMAN focuses her work on telling stories that give life to a range of interweaving and distinct queer experiences. After graduating Fordham University in 2015, Dorfman booked her first role as Ryan Shaver in the hit Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why. She has since gone on to act in television and film while also shining a light on her experience as a queer person in Hollywood through her work with GLAAD and the Ali Forney Center. She has spearheaded campaigns focused on bringing queer talent front and center with companies like Calvin Klein, Fendi, ASOS, the Body Shop, Ferragamo, and Balmain. She recently photographed and art- directed Pete Davidson as a Staten Island Ken doll opposite Julia Fox for Paper magazine’s break the

internet cover and Zoe Levin for the cover of American Studies. As an actor, she starred alongside Alan Cumming in Jeremy O. Harris’s Off-Broadway hit “Daddy” in 2019. Most recently she wrapped Lena Dunham’s newest experience, Sharp Stick, and Fracture, a limited series in the UK for Channel 4 out this fall.

As a writer, she’s publishing her first collection of essays with Harper Collins in late 2022.

ABOUT QUIL LEMONS Born in South Philadelphia, Quil Lemons is a New York-based photographer with a distinct visual language that interrogates ideas around masculinity, family, queerness, race, and beauty. In 2017, Lemons released a photo series called GLITTERBOY, a portrait and interview series of black boys and men whose faces are painted with glitter. Lemons’s studio portraits of shirtless black boys and men was set against a pink backdrop. The pictures challenge the mainstream media’s misconceptions around their identities and the black community’s policing of black masculinity. His photographs have since been

featured in publications including The New York Times, Variety, The Fader, GQ Middle East, Out Magazine, and Vogue. Lemons’s photograph of Billie Eilish was used on the March 2021 cover of Vanity Fair, making him the youngest person ever to photograph the magazine’s cover image. Lemons is known for creating portraits that often challenge traditional ideas.

 

[Kathleen O'Connell]

42 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

McBride would have been an excellent choice.

I think so too. 

[nycvillager]

I agree with the posts above. After the high coming off NYCB's fall season and Maria K's farewell, I admit that I am not excited about ABT this fall. I'll go to one Giselle performance to see Gillian Murphy and Tom Forster. Unless you all go and come back with raving reviews about the mixed programs, I think I'll save my money for more NYCB this winter. In general, I wish ABT would stop doing so many works by choreographers like Jessica Lang and Cathy Marston, even though they are female. The programming just leaves so much to be desired and it's likely hard to attract new attendees if regular attendees and subscribers aren't even excited about the programs.

[cobweb]

Sadly, I agree with all these assessments of ABT's fall programming. I think they misjudged what the audience wants to see. (To be fair, I have a lot of gripes with NYCB's programming too!) I will be going tomorrow night to see Herman Cornejo and Skylar Brandt. I had hoped to see Catherine Hurlin too, but no complaints with Christine Shevchenko. That's it for the two week season. Hope to see some shakeup with new management. Has there been any news (official only, of course!!) about the process of finding a new AD? To add insult to injury, I just went to the homepage to check on any casting updates, and when I click on the calendar link for tomorrow, I get a message saying "Hi, the page you are looking for does not exist."

[ABT Fan]

42 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Sadly, I agree with all these assessments of ABT's fall programming. I think they misjudged what the audience wants to see. (To be fair, I have a lot of gripes with NYCB's programming too!) I will be going tomorrow night to see Herman Cornejo and Skylar Brandt. I had hoped to see Catherine Hurlin too, but no complaints with Christine Shevchenko. That's it for the two week season. Hope to see some shakeup with new management. Has there been any news (official only, of course!!) about the process of finding a new AD? To add insult to injury, I just went to the homepage to check on any casting updates, and when I click on the calendar link for tomorrow, I get a message saying "Hi, the page you are looking for does not exist."

I’ve seen no news about the AD search. And, I’ve been getting those same error  messages when I click on “get info” next to the fall ballets.

[Becki Lee]

Scout Forsythe posted on her Instagram story that she will have to dance in a mask tonight due to possible exposure. Could be an interesting two weeks!

[vipa]

One thing about ABT tickets. I know a new ballet fan who used the discount code, but was really turned off by the service fee, facility fee & costume restoration fee. The fees cancelled out her discount and she was so annoyed she ended up not buying the ticket. I see her point. Honesty in ticket purchases would be helpful IMO if you want new fans in the seats. What does a newbie care about costume restoration, and why a service charge for an online interaction?

Edited October 21, 2021 by vipa

[ABT Fan]

Did anyone attend opening night last night? 

[nanushka]

10 hours ago, vipa said:

One thing about ABT tickets. I know a new ballet fan who used the discount code, but was really turned off by the service fee, facility fee & costume restoration fee. The fees cancelled out her discount and she was so annoyed she ended up not buying the ticket. I see her point. Honesty in ticket purchases would be helpful IMO if you want new fans in the seats. What does a newbie care about costume restoration, and why a service charge for an online interaction?

It seems like costume restoration would be a great thing to target some donors with — along with an agreement for program credit on any future performances in which restored costumes are used. It just seems too specific yet vague a thing to tack on to all ticket sales. (I imagine people thinking, "Why am I paying a restoration fee for unspecified costumes that are probably not even going to be used in the performance I'm paying to see?")

It was such a pleasant relief to purchase 4 Met Opera tickets recently and have only a single $10 fee added at check-out. A much better way to treat ticket buyers.

[abatt]

Hee Seo was lovely last night.  She is a lyrical dancer, and Giselle is a good fit for her.   I was disappointed with Stearns' Act II solo.  He was underwhelming.  His jumps had no buoyancy and very little elevation. 

The Koch stage looked very cramped.  I'm pretty sure they were using fewer Wilis in Act II because the stage was too small, but maybe others can confirm that.  They also cut down the number of peasant girls who were dancing from 8 to 6 due to space problems.

Hoven looked  a little out of sorts last night in the peasant pas.  He couldn't land in fifth position.   Williams was excellent in the peasant pas.

I thought Teuscher started out a little sluggish, but she quickly dialed up her energy level and was wonderful in her big solo moments.  Fang and Paris did Zulma and Moyna.

This performance was not particularly well attended.  Large numbers of empty seats in the second and third rings. 

McKenzie gave a short opening speech welcoming the audience.

 

 

Edited October 21, 2021 by abatt

[nysusan]

11 hours ago, vipa said:

One thing about ABT tickets. I know a new ballet fan who used the discount code, but was really turned off by the service fee, facility fee & costume restoration fee. The fees cancelled out her discount and she was so annoyed she ended up not buying the ticket. I see her point. Honesty in ticket purchases would be helpful IMO if you want new fans in the seats. What does a newbie care about costume restoration, and why a service charge for an online interaction?

I did the same thing! I have a ticket to 1 mixed rep performance but thought with the discount I'd see if I could add another. Got a seat I like for only $29 but with all of the fees the total came to $44. Really pissed me off and I dodn't buy the ticket.

Also agree with all the posters who are not excited about this ABT season. I'm going to 3 Giselles (Brandt, Trenary & Shevchenko) and the mixed bill that includes Piller. Sorry to miss Murphy & Forster in Giselle but I already had plans for that date.

[JuliaJ]

Someone commented on ABT's most recent Instagram post that Stearns didn't do the entrechats sixs. Is that true? 

[Kathleen O'Connell]

7 minutes ago, nysusan said:

Got a seat I like for only $29 but with all of the fees the total came to $44.

One big problem with the tacked on fees is that they aren't proportional to the base ticket price, so they're effectively like a regressive tax. They make up a MUCH greater proportion of the least expensive tickets than they do of the most expensive tickets. They add an additional 50% to the price of a $29 ticket, but only an additional 7.5% to the price of a $200 ticket. Those less-expensive tickets should function as an attractive way to introduce new audience members to the art form and as a way to reward loyal fans who don't have a lot of disposable income but do have a love for the company and the art form. Effectively doubling the ticket price is no way to reward either their curiosity or their loyalty.