ABT Met Season 2024

[MarzipanShepherdess]

On 6/1/2024 at 4:19 PM, Drew said:

Last year I saw the Park, Trenary, and Teuscher casts--I found much to enjoy and admire in all three performances.  I will mention that Camargo was really terrific as Pedro (and if "sexy" is allowed as a balletic criterion, then even better than Cornejo), and Sun MiPark is a gorgeous young dancer. Last season she wasn't as dramatically intense as the other casts I saw, but I enjoyed her performance and found it moving.  Brandt is Gertrudis in the Park/Camargo cast--last year I didn't think the rose-petal stripper scene suited her physically or temperamentally, but she was very good in the scene with the revolutionaries. (I thought Hurlin was incomparable in that role, but enjoyed Coker and Brandt.) Davidson and Royal round out the Park/Camargo cast.

I'm an out-of-towner, but if you are seeing the company regularly in New York, then you have plenty of other opportunities to see Camargo in a dramatic/romantic role, so it may be less of a big deal to see him in this. But Pedro is a great role for him.

(If you do opt for the Brandt cast, I will say that I quite liked Fang as Mama Elena. Unfortunately I did not see Brandt as Tita.)

 

Thanks for your thoughts @Drew, really helpful!

[Dale]

From the company: 

 

CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR FIRST TWO WEEKS OF AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE’S 2024 SUMMER SEASON AT METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE 

 

NEW YORK PREMIERE OF WAYNE MCGREGOR’S WOOLF WORKS ON TUESDAY, JUNE 25 AT 7:30 P.M.  

 

FORMER ABT PRINCIPAL DANCER ALESSANDRA FERRI TO APPEAR AS GUEST ARTIST IN WOOLF WORKS 

 

NEW YORK, NY (Tuesday, June 4, 2024) – Casting for the first two weeks of American Ballet Theatre’s 2024 Summer season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced today by Artistic Director Susan Jaffe.  

 

Returning to the Metropolitan Opera House stage, John Cranko’s Onegin will be given seven performances, beginning Tuesday, June 18 at 7:30 P.M. with Devon Teuscher as Tatiana, Daniel Camargo as Onegin, Jake Roxander as Lensky, and Zimmi Coker as Olga in their debuts, as well as Roman Zhurbin as Prince Gremin. Additional debuts include Christine Shevchenko (Tatiana), Joo Won Ahn (Lensky), and Joseph Markey (Prince Gremin) at the matinee performance on Wednesday, June 19; James Whiteside (Onegin), Calvin Royal III (Lensky), and Andrii Ishchuk (Prince Gremin) at the Wednesday, June 19 evening performance; and Chloe Misseldine (Tatiana), Thomas Forster (Onegin), Aran Bell (Lensky), Catherine Hurlin (Olga), and Jarod Curley (Prince Gremin) on Thursday, June 20.  

 

Set to music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, arranged and orchestrated by Kurt-Heinz Stolze, Onegin is based on the verse novel Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin. Onegin received its World Premiere on April 13, 1965, by Stuttgart Ballet in Stuttgart, Germany. The ballet received its Company Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on June 1, 2001, at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York led by Julie Kent (Tatiana), Robert Hill (Onegin), Vladimir Malakhov (Lensky), and Maria Riccetto (Olga). This new production, with sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by James F. Ingalls, was premiered by National Ballet of Canada on June 19, 2010, at the Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts, Toronto, Canada, and was first performed by ABT on June 4, 2012, at the Metropolitan Opera House. Onegin is staged for ABT by Reid Anderson and Jane Bourne. 

 

ABT will present the New York Premiere of Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works on Tuesday, June 25 at 7:30 P.M. featuring ABT Guest Artist and former Principal Dancer Alessandra Ferri making her Company debut in the principal role she created with The Royal Ballet in London, alongside Herman Cornejo in his debut. Over the seven performances, New York debuts will include Gillian Murphy and Joo Won Ahn at the matinee performance on Wednesday, June 26, and Devon Teuscher and James Whiteside at the evening performance on Wednesday, June 26. Hee Seo and Aran Bell will make their New York debuts on Thursday, June 27.  

 

Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works, an award-winning ballet triptych, re-creates the emotions, themes, and fluid style of three of Virginia Woolf’s novels: Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando, and The Waves. Enmeshed with elements from Woolf’s letters, essays, and diaries, Woolf Works expresses the heart of an artistic life driven to discover a freer, uniquely modern realism. It brings to life Woolf’s world of “granite and rainbow,” where human beings are at once both physical body and uncontained essence.  

 

Woolf Works has received notable recognition and outstanding critical acclaim. The full-length contemporary ballet won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production, and McGregor was awarded the Critics Circle National Dance Award for Best Classical Choreography for the work. 

 

Created for The Royal Ballet in 2015, Woolf Works is structured into three acts: “I now, I then,” “Becomings,” and “Tuesday,” each starkly distinct in visual design and choreography. Woolf Works features concept, direction, and choreography by Wayne McGregor and music by Max Richter, with set design by Ciguë (“I now, I then”), We Not I (“Becomings”), and Wayne McGregor (“Tuesday”); costume design by Moritz Junge; lighting design by Lucy Carter; film design by Ravi Deepres; and dramaturgy by Uzma Hameed. Woolf Works is produced in association with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. This production was first seen at the Royal Opera House, London, on May 11, 2015. The ballet received its North American Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on April 11, 2024, at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California.  

 

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2024 Summer season at the Metropolitan Opera House begin at $30 and are available online, at the Met box office, or by phone at 212-362-6000. The Metropolitan Opera House is located on Broadway and 64^th street in New York City. For more information, visit ABT’s website at www.abt.org. 

 

Complete casting follows. 

*All casting, programming, and pricing are subject to change.  

[California]

ABT Flash Sale for tickets purchased June 7 - 16. 50% off orchestra and side orchestra for selected performances. Only available to ABTMEMBER

Onegin: Wednesday, June 19 MAT Thursday, June 20 EVE Friday, June 21 EVE Wayne McGregor's Woolf Works: Wednesday, June 26 MAT Thursday, June 27 EVE Saturday, June 29 MAT Swan Lake: Wednesday, July 3 MAT Wednesday, July 3 EVE Romeo and Juliet: Wednesday, July 10 MAT Thursday, July 11 EVE Friday, July 12 EVE Like Water for Chocolate: Wednesday, July 17 MAT Thursday, July 18 EVE Saturday, July 20 EVE

[ABT Fan]

16 hours ago, California said:

ABT Flash Sale for tickets purchased June 7 - 16. 50% off orchestra and side orchestra for selected performances. Only available to ABTMEMBER

Onegin: Wednesday, June 19 MAT Thursday, June 20 EVE Friday, June 21 EVE Wayne McGregor's Woolf Works: Wednesday, June 26 MAT Thursday, June 27 EVE Saturday, June 29 MAT Swan Lake: Wednesday, July 3 MAT Wednesday, July 3 EVE Romeo and Juliet: Wednesday, July 10 MAT Thursday, July 11 EVE Friday, July 12 EVE Like Water for Chocolate: Wednesday, July 17 MAT Thursday, July 18 EVE Saturday, July 20 EVE

Thanks, California. The July 3 matinee is Misseldine’s debut, paired with Bell. That’s one to grab if anyone hasn’t already! 

[California]

1 hour ago, ABT Fan said:

The July 3 matinee is Misseldine’s debut, paired with Bell. That’s one to grab if anyone hasn’t already! 

Technically, Misseldine's New York debut. I think they did this at the Kennedy Center earlier this year, although I don't recall any reports here.  And, yes - I already have my ticket for that one! She's been posting a few Instagram rehearsal clips on IG Stories.

Edited June 8 by California

[ABT Fan]

34 minutes ago, California said:

Technically, Misseldine's New York debut. I think they did this at the Kennedy Center earlier this year, although I don't recall any reports here.  And, yes - I already have my ticket for that one! She's been posting a few Instagram rehearsal clips on IG Stories.

Correct, her NY debut. Her debut debut was at KC. Can't wait to see her. Some of her clips on IG have been glorious.

[theo]

There are some reports of Chloe's debut at Kennedy center in the discussion titled  ABT Swan Lake at Kennedy Center 2024.

I was there for her debut and I thought she was spectacular.  Also, she an Aran Bell make a good partnership.  

 

[abatt]

Fluff piece on Susan Jaffe in today's paper

Susan Jaffe Wants to Build a New Era at American Ballet Theater - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

 

[matilda]

The Times article puts some of the recent repetitive program choices into perspective, although the revelations weren't exactly surprising. Sounds like desperate times. It's still boggling to me why Like Water for Chocolate was brought back if it's official attendance rate last year was only 65%. 

ETA: The article doesn't make an explicit connection between the shortened Met season and declining subscription numbers, but those things are clearly related. It's hard to justify getting a full subscription for only five weeks of programming, especially when it's as repetitive as the last few years. And fall programming is not included in subscription packages since those tickets are sold by the Koch. 

Edited June 10 by matilda

[California]

45 minutes ago, abatt said:

Fluff piece on Susan Jaffe in today's paper

Susan Jaffe Wants to Build a New Era at American Ballet Theater - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

 

I was fascinated by the dramatically different ticket sales for the old warhorses vs. the new things last season:

“Swan Lake” had 93 percent attendance last summer and “Romeo and Juliet” had 86 percent attendance. (By contrast Christopher Wheeldon’s extravagant new ballet, “Like Water for Chocolate,” had 65 percent attendance.)

[abatt]

Additionally, it bears emphasis that there were substantial and numerous discount opportunities for Like Water for Chocolate, so the price per ticket was often lower than the normal price.  In contrast, Swan Lake is never discounted, and those tickets are sold at a premium price compared to other warhorse ballets.

Their problem with losing subscribers has a lot to do with the dancers.  Their ticket sales were off the charts when they had big international stars.  The numbers tell the story.  I rolled my eyes at various points in the article.  Does Jaffe really believe her current roster of dancers is so fabulous. Across the plaza, NYCB has an embarrassment of riches as far as quality dancers. 

Why is the article identifying Copeland as a company member. She hasn't danced there since before the pandemic. She is de facto retired, even if they keep her photo up on the website.  

I wish Jaffe luck.  She needs it.

 

[nysusan]

19 minutes ago, abatt said:

Their problem with losing subscribers has a lot to do with the dancers. 

 

Wake up Ms. Jaffe - the reason ABT is losing subscribers is the dancers and the repertory. The shortened season may be a factor, but it's a small one. New works are essential but in a 5 week season 1 is enough. There was no reason to bring back LWFC (well maybe they have to to justify it's cost). And are they now going to do R&J every year? Bring back Bayadere and Sleeping Beauty and Corsaire or Raymonda with Coppelia or DQ. Throw in some Ashton full lengths like Fille and Sylvia and bring in  guests like Osipova, Smirnova or Nunez and let's see what those numbers look like. Want to do works that are new to NY? Have someone reconstruct The Awakening of Flora or Pacquita.

 

ABT is actually building a base of great male dancers (Cornejo, Camargo, Bell, Roxander) but its female principals are quite mediocre. I like Brandt and Hurlin and have high hopes for Missildine but there is not one, not one single woman at ABT who is anywhere near the level of Ferri, Annanishvili or Vishneva. Or comparable to their stars of the 70's. I used to see Makarova, Kirkland, Fracci and Gregory all in the same season. Todays ABT "ballerinas" are not even close to that level.

[abatt]

Jaffe clearly had to put on a happy face for the article and praise her roster of dancers, but I'm sure she knows that in general their level is now far below what existed in the Golden Age of ABT.

I was also surprised that she lamented the departure of Ratmansky.  I did not think that the Ratmansky rep was something she was interested in continuing.  I think his fit with NYCB is much better than with ABT.  SAlso, I'm sure he wanted a bundle to continue with ABT, and David Koch, his biggest financial supporter at ABT, is no more.  

Edited June 10 by abatt

[its the mom]

47 minutes ago, nysusan said:

 

Wake up Ms. Jaffe - the reason ABT is losing subscribers is the dancers and the repertory. The shortened season may be a factor, but it's a small one. New works are essential but in a 5 week season 1 is enough. There was no reason to bring back LWFC (well maybe they have to to justify it's cost). And are they now going to do R&J every year? Bring back Bayadere and Sleeping Beauty and Corsaire or Raymonda with Coppelia or DQ. Throw in some Ashton full lengths like Fille and Sylvia and bring in  guests like Osipova, Smirnova or Nunez and let's see what those numbers look like. Want to do works that are new to NY? Have someone reconstruct The Awakening of Flora or Pacquita.

 

ABT is actually building a base of great male dancers (Cornejo, Camargo, Bell, Roxander) but its female principals are quite mediocre. I like Brandt and Hurlin and have high hopes for Missildine but there is not one, not one single woman at ABT who is anywhere near the level of Ferri, Annanishvili or Vishneva. Or comparable to their stars of the 70's. I used to see Makarova, Kirkland, Fracci and Gregory all in the same season. Todays ABT "ballerinas" are not even close to that level.

With a shortened season, bringing in guests has even more of a negative effect on the current roster. It's bad enough the principals get one, maybe two shows of a ballet. Dancers can't progress if they don't get the chance to dance. That was the problem with the whole guest artist situation ... dancers didn't progress at the rate they should have. 

 

 

[volcanohunter]

Since it's a co-production, undoubtedly ABT invested heavily in Like Water for Chocolate, and it needs to recoup the investment. 

Ashton, sadly, doesn't sell well in New York. Past runs of La Fille mal gardée and Sylvia attest to this. I could just cry about that.

Filling 3,800 seats is a tall order. Even in the past I had little difficulty buying tickets in person at a late date to see big names. (I'm thinking of the days when I was no longer living in New York and there was no such thing as online sales. I didn't buy tickets over the phone. In those days long distance wasn't cheap either.)

[Kathleen O'Connell]

5 minutes ago, volcanohunter said:

Filling 3,800 seats is a tall order.

IMO, the Met is simply not congenial for dance. The house is too big; tickets for the few seats that have genuinely good views of the stage cost a fortune; the stage itself is best suited to eye-popping spectacles; etc etc etc. It takes a special talent to command that space—even very good dancers can seem diminished there and intimate works that aren't showpieces can fall flat. I can't help but think that some of the jewels in ABT's rep would shine brighter in a smaller, more dance-friendly theater, and that the combination of a better theater and a more varied rep would allow the company to better cultivate its talent.

[Papagena]

2 hours ago, nysusan said:

 

Wake up Ms. Jaffe - the reason ABT is losing subscribers is the dancers and the repertory.

She can't trash talk her dancers in the article directly, but internally she is obviously scoping out newer, more exciting performers. I have a feeling we will see many retirements next year. Also it's clear she is looking for better rep options. 

And are we sure she personally asked for a second run of LWFC? If not why is everyone jumping on her for it, they may have had a multi year contract? I don't want to see R&J every year either but none of us are beholden to budget sheets like she is, and if R&J sells, they're going to keep doing it until they can leverage other strategies. 

Quote

Bring back Bayadere and Sleeping Beauty and Corsaire or Raymonda with Coppelia or DQ. Throw in some Ashton full lengths like Fille and Sylvia

The last time they did La Fille Mal Gardee the theater was very bare. Same with most of these other mentioned ballets besides Sleeping Beauty. My most disheartening evenings at ABT were 1/2 empty theaters for comedic ballets. 

[abatt]

1 hour ago, its the mom said:

With a shortened season, bringing in guests has even more of a negative effect on the current roster. It's bad enough the principals get one, maybe two shows of a ballet. Dancers can't progress if they don't get the chance to dance. That was the problem with the whole guest artist situation ... dancers didn't progress at the rate they should have. 

 

 

Part of the reason for the reduced schedule is that ticket sales are down. But ticket sales are down because the dancers they currently have generally do not draw a huge crowd.  So the dancers got their wish of no guest artists, but the result is fewer opportunities in any event.  Corella, Carreno, Ferri and so on were regular company members, not guest artists.  They simply trained and gained experience elsewhere before joining as regular members of ABT.  These are the types of exquisite dancers they need to regain their subscription base, in my opinion.  

They also don't know how to effectively use major talent in their ranks.  Jake Roxander was hailed in the NY Times as a major talent, but there is no principal role for him in the Spring season.  Still stuck with Mercutio and peasant pas's.  Revive Don Q with him in the lead.  

Edited June 10 by abatt

[FauxPas]

I am a broken record but City Center is an ideal space for a ballet company of ABT's size.  Also, the K*ch/NY State Theater works well for many full lengths.  They need to program a longer season at the State Theater and schedule a season at City Center of two to three weeks.  Leave the Metropolitan Opera House for blockbuster full-length warhorses like "Swan Lake" and "Romeo and Juliet" for the five weeks.

As for retirements, many of these principal dancers spent most of their twenties stalled in Kevin McKenzie's corps.  Then five years ago, in their late twenties and early to mid-thirties these recently created soloists got promoted en masse to principal dancer.  They are now mid to late thirties, retirement is not far away. 

Misseldine, Roxander and Park are all special super promising dancers but they can't fill in all the empty principal spots in five years.  Yet that McKenzie era stagnation persists - corps dancers Andrew Robare, Elisabeth Beyer and apprentice Takumi Miyake need to be seen front and center in leading roles.  I am not familiar with Finian Carmeci and Madison Brown but I've heard great things about them as part of the studio company.  Zimmi Coker, recovered from an injury, is getting some soloist roles this year.  Misseldine is getting the fast track big push into principal roles.  She will be the first promoted to principal in a year or two.

Meanwhile lots of dead wood on the roster.  Is Misty coming back or not?  When?  I suppose she isn't drawing a salary?  Gillian Murphy is approaching the end - we'll see how she does this season.   Cory Stearns is experienced but aging and constantly injured.   Joo Won Ahn is a boring dancer who doesn't compensate with personality or virtuoso technique.  More dead wood in the soloist ranks:  Luciana Paris, Blaine Hoven, Zhong-Jing Fang (sadly).  Katherine Williams (who I like) is retiring.

Edited June 10 by FauxPas
structure

[MarzipanShepherdess]

Jaffe has certainly got a hard road ahead. I'd speculate the limited performance opportunities are partly to blame for a phenomenon I notice with some of the rising ballerinas: they are technically quite accomplished but can lack charisma and depth on stage, coming across a bit flat. I've observed this with Brandt, Fangqi Li, Park, and Misseldine. I imagine that really the only way to learn how to hold the stage is to BE on stage and ABT just offers fewer opportunities to dance than peer companies do (or than itself in earlier years). Yet, increasing performance opportunities isn't straightforward when you're having a hard time selling tickets. And I'm sure the pervasive sense that City Ballet is where the buzz is also makes things harder on the major donor front, but the decline in donations makes it harder to take the kind of risks in commissioning that have made City Ballet feel exciting. 

Though Jaffe laments Ratmansky's departure, I think it's really for the best. I admire Ratmansky and love his work for City Ballet a lot, but ABT was not getting the best of him in recent years. 

I also think they really need to figure out how to market the company to people under 40, which means having an influencer marketing strategy. I don't know why, especially for ballets like LWFC that aren't selling through, they aren't inviting influencers to rehearsal previews, doing costume shop tours with them, comping some tickets to the opening nights. I talk to so many people under 40 who live in New York City and have never even heard of ABT (but do know City Ballet). 

[NinaFan]

I can’t imagine that the decline in subscription sales has much to do with a shortened season. IMO it is the repetitive rep and generally lackluster dancing.

Yes, there are a few dancers that I will go out of my way to see, but not like in the old days when I could not get enough of incredible casts in a wide assortment of ballets. And many of these dancers were permanent members of ABT. The guests were the icing on an already scrumptious cake. I can’t imagine that they can bring those glory days back unless the rep and casting have a major overhaul. Sadly, Crime and Punishment is not the overhaul I was hoping to see.

 

Edited June 10 by NinaFan
typo

[abatt]

 I'm not even sure whether they have the funding to pay an international star to join ABT.  I don't know how that works, but I presume that someone like Smirnova commands a high payment rate for an appearance as compared to the salaried payments to an ABT principal. 

 

 

[NinaFan]

3 minutes ago, abatt said:

 I'm not even sure whether they have the funding to pay an international star to join ABT.  I don't know how that works, but I presume that someone like Smirnova commands a high payment rate for an appearance as compared to the salaried payments to an ABT principal. 

 

 

I agree.  So maybe it's time to try to rebuild their own company. Right now they're in a rut.

[matilda]

16 minutes ago, NinaFan said:

I can’t imagine that the decline in subscription sales has much to do with a shortened season. IMO it is the repetitive rep and generally lackluster dancing.

As one example, they used to offer fixed subscriptions with as many as 6-8 shows. Now they can only offer 5 ballets max. If you're only interested in seeing two or three of those five ballets, you're less likely to subscribe. In the past, there was more to choose from even if you didn't like a few things on the lineup. 

I still subscribe, but it used to be for four performances and now it's "build your own" with three. Every other subscription-selling performing arts organization in the city has multiple shows to choose from throughout the year, with the ability to space out events if desired. 

Edited June 10 by matilda

[FauxPas]

Guest appearances can be paid for by monied donors.  I think ABT should invest in a permanent dance mistress/coach.  That would also take some pressure off of Jaffe.

Agree about rebuilding the roster.  

Also, subscriptions are down everywhere.  Opera, theater, concerts and ballet.  Sales are down for the classical arts.  First of all, people subscribe because they want to lock in tickets for shows that will sell out.   When nothing is selling, no reason to subscribe.  The younger generation isn't into tying themselves down with subscriptions and prefer more flexibility and last-minute decisions.  Star power is also lacking - in opera as well as ballet.

As for Jaffe's loyalty to these lackluster dancers - she was a ballet mistress at ABT after retirement 20 something years ago.  She nurtured them as kids new to the company and helped develop them.   The tough decision to weed them out may be difficult for her as she has a long relationship with them.

Edited June 10 by FauxPas