ABT Studio Company at NYU Skiball - May 2022

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From the company:

ABT STUDIO COMPANY RETURNS TO IN-PERSON NEW YORK CITY PERFORMANCES
AT NYU SKIRBALL FOR SPRING MOVES, FRIDAY, MAY 20 AND SATURDAY, MAY 21 AT 7:30 P.M.

PERFORMANCES TO INCLUDE A WORLD PREMIERE BY EMILY KIKTA AND NEW YORK CITY PREMIERES BY HOPE BOYKIN, RENA BUTLER, SUNG WOO HAN, JESSICA LANG, YANNICK LEBRUN, AND ANNABELLE LOPEZ OCHOA

NEW YORK, NY (April 27, 2022) — ABT Studio Company presents Spring Moves, two evenings of World and New York City Premieres at NYU Skirball, Friday, May 20 and Saturday, May 21 at 7:30 P.M. ET. Featuring 12 pre-professional dancers, Spring Moves also showcases performances of repertory works by George Balanchine, Mikhail Fokine, Victor Gsovsky, Twyla Tharp, and Rostislav Zakharov.

ABT Studio Company, led by Artistic Director Sascha Radetsky, is a classical ensemble of dancers of outstanding potential aged 17–21. Its central mission is to prepare its dancers for careers in American Ballet Theatre’s main Company or other leading companies worldwide, serving as a crucial vehicle for transitioning from student to professional performer.

 

Approximately 80% of current American Ballet Theatre dancers are alumni of ABT Studio Company, including 12 Principal Dancers and seven Soloists. Each season, ABT Studio Company commissions new work by emerging and established choreographers and engages the broadest possible ballet audience by performing varied repertory in a range of venues around the globe.

“The Spring Moves program reflects ABT’s eclectic canon of ballets, our dancers’ range, and the Company’s commitment to giving voice to a broad spectrum of artists,” said Radetsky. “Our repertory includes classical and neo-classical selections as well as seven newly commissioned works, ranging from a poetic journey through a jazz legend’s piano meditations, a dreamy modern solo set to a Botswanan pop song, to a spirited exploration of the rights and freedoms ofAmerica’s youth.” The 2021-2022 season has seen the return to in-person performances with appearances by ABT Studio Company in 11 cities around the United States and will conclude with performances in The Royal Opera House’s Next Generation Festival in London on

June 9–10, 2022.

ABT Studio Company dancers performing in Spring Moves include Elisabeth Beyer, Tristan Brosnan, Madison Brown, Finnian Carmeci, Kyra Coco, Afonso Coelho, Tillie Glatz, Yuma Matsuura, Jake Roxander, Alejandro Valera Outlaw, Aleisha Walker, and ABT apprentice and ABT Studio Company alumna Kotomi Yamada.

Highlighting the performances of Spring Moves will be the World Premiere of Emily Kikta’s Notes and Letters on Friday evening, May 20. Set to String Quartet No. 2, “Intimate Letters,” IV. Allegro-Andante-Adagio by Leoš Janáček, Notes and Letters, a ballet for four dancers with costumes styled by Kikta, is the choreographer’s second work for ABT Studio Company.

Spring Moves at NYU Skirball will feature the following New York City Premieres:

For What Is It All Worth? by Hope Boykin, with music by Stephen Stills and costumes styled by Boykin.

 

 

Late Registration by Rena Butler, set to an original composition by Darryl Hoffman, with

costumes styled by Butler.

Beyond Belief by Sung Woo Han, set to Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Children’s Songs Dance, choreographed by Jessica Lang to music by the late American jazz composer Chick Corea, and costumes styled by Isabella Boylston.

Lora by Yannick Lebrun, set to music by Mpho Sebina, with costume design by Jermaine Terry. Scurry Night by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, set to Dzovarev by Ara Malikian and Ciocårlia

recorded by Patricia Kopatchinskaja, with costumes by Mark Eric.

Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes Pas de Deux, Fokine’s The Dying Swan, Gsovsky’s Grand Pas Classique, Tharp’s Known By Heart Duet, and Zakharov’s Gopak Variation will complete ABT Studio Company’s Spring Moves performances.

Lighting for Spring Moves will be coordinated by ABT Studio Company Production Manager Luke Woods.

Tickets starting at $39 are available at NYU Skirball box office and the following link:

https://tickets.nyu.edu/overview/abtstudiocompany22
For more information on ABT Studio Company, please visit www.abt.org/abt-studio-company A complete schedule of works for ABT Studio Company: Spring Moves follows.

Friday, May 20, 2022, 7:30 P.M.

Stars and Stripes Pas de Deux © The George Balanchine Trust (Staged by Victoria Simon, after Balanchine)
Children’s Songs Dance (Lang) – New York City Premiere
The Dying Swan (after Fokine)

Notes and Letters (Kikta) – World Premiere
Gopak Variation (Staged by Sascha Radetsky, after Zakharov)
Late Registration (Butler) – New York City Premiere
Scurry Night (Lopez Ochoa) – New York City Premiere
Grand Pas Classique (Staged by Radetsky, after Gsovsky)
Lora (Lebrun) – New York City Premiere
Known By Heart Duet © Choreography by Twyla Tharp (Staged by Stacy Caddell, after Tharp) For What Is It All Worth? (Boykin) – New York City Premiere

Saturday, May 21, 2022 7:30 P.M.

Stars and Stripes Pas de Deux Children’s Songs Dance
The Dying Swan
Notes and Letters

Gopak Variation
Late Registration
Beyond Belief (Han) – New York City Premiere Grand Pas Classique
Lora
Known By Heart Duet
For What Is It All Worth?

Programs Subject to Change.

Bank of America – Lead Corporate Partner of ABT Studio Company

American Ballet Theatre recognizes the following donors for their extraordinary giving in support of ABT Studio Company: Rod Brayman, Sofia Elizalde, Bruce Grivetti, Patricia R. Morton, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and The Ted and Mary Jo Shen Charitable Gift Fund. Additional support provided by Edward "Chip" Beam in loving memory of John and Jack, Sandra and Charles Carmeci, Amy and Gary Churgin, Mr. and Mrs. Peter L. Malkin, James M. and Nora C. Orphanides, Karen C. Phillips, The Agnes Varis Fund, Constance A. Woo, and four anonymous donors.

Special thanks to the ABT Education and Training Committee for their bold and steadfast engagement, advancing excellence in all our dancer training and education endeavors: Co-Chairs Carrie Gaiser Casey and Karen C. Phillips; Members Suzanne Hall, Nancy Havens-Hasty, Brian J. Heidtke, Angela Ho, Christian Keesee, Shelly London, Paula Mahoney, Nancy McCormick, and Shari Siadat.

We extend our gratitude to Mark Casey and Carrie Gaiser Casey for their leading support of ABT's Apprentice Program.

Commissions and presentations of new work by women choreographers are supported by the ABT Women’s Movement. Champion support for the ABT Women’s Movement is provided by Jenna Segal. Additional leadership support provided by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

ABT’s Choreographic Innovation and Inspiration and Inclusion programs are generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. Additional major support of ABT’s Innovation and Inclusion programs is provided by Mark Casey and Carrie Gaiser Casey, the Ford Foundation, and through an endowed gift from the Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund.

Special thanks to Denise Littlefield Sobel for her leadership gifts to: ABT’s Media Fund, advancing the Company’s digital endeavors; and ABT RISE, fueling the Company’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

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AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS SCHOOL TO PERFORM AT NYU SKIRBALL, THURSDAY, MAY 19 AT 7:30 P.M.

AND SATURDAY, MAY 21 AT 1:30 P.M.

DANCERS FROM AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE TO PERFORM IN HONOR OF CYNTHIA HARVEY’S FINAL YEAR AS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF THE ABT JKO SCHOOL

NEW YORK, NY (May 4, 2022) — The American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School will appear at NYU Skirball in New York City for two performances, Thursday, May 19 at 7:30 P.M. and Saturday, May 21 at 1:30 P.M.

Students of the ABT JKO School’s Pre-Professional Division will perform excerpts from a variety of repertoire including August Bournonville’s Conservatoriet staged by Petrusjka Broholm, Jota staged by Carmela Gallace after Igor Moiseyev, The Sleeping Beauty staged by Cynthia Harvey, and a suite from Coppélia staged by Gallace, Robert LaFosse, and Rubén Martín. Original choreography by ABT JKO School faculty member and former ABT Principal Dancer LaFosse will feature music composed by ABT JKO School student Charles Chaitman in tribute to his teacher.

The program at NYU Skirball will feature a special appearance by dancers from American Ballet Theatre. Léa Fleytoux, an alumna of the ABT JKO School, and Jarod Curley will perform the Black Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake, in honor of Cynthia Harvey’s final year as Artistic Director of the ABT JKO School. Fleytoux, a member of ABT’s corps de ballet since 2019, was one of the first students to study under Harvey at the ABT JKO School.

The ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, under the direction of Harvey since 2016, currently serves over 250 students and encompasses a Pre-Professional Division for dancers ages 12-18 and a Children’s Division for dancers ages 5-12. The ABT JKO School follows a specific graded curriculum, divided by age, based on ABT’s National Training Curriculum. Classes include classical ballet technique, pointe, men’s and women’s variations, pas de deux, character dance, modern, Pilates, strength training, music, and dance history.

Tickets, starting at $39, are available online at https://tickets.nyu.edu/overview/abtjko22. NYU Skirball is located at 566 LaGuardia Place in New York City.

For more information on the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, please visit

www.abt.org/dancer-training.

ABOUT AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE

American Ballet Theatre is one of the greatest dance companies in the world. Revered as a national treasure since its founding season in 1940, its mission is to create, present, preserve, and extend the great repertoire of classical dancing for the widest possible audience. Headquartered in New York City, ABT is the only cultural institution of its size and stature to extensively tour, enchanting audiences for eight decades in 50 U.S. states, 45 countries, and over 480 citiesworldwide. ABT’s repertoire includes full-length classics from the nineteenth century, the finest works from the early twentieth century, and acclaimed contemporary masterpieces. In 2006, by an act of Congress, ABT was designated America's National Ballet Company®.