American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today. A writer for London's The Observer describes the ABT along with the New York City Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet to be a "triumvirate of great classical companies defining the American style on the world stage today". [1] There are three levels within the company (in rising order): ABT's corps de ballet [2], the soloists [3] and the principals [4]; there is also ABT II, formerly known as the ABT Studio Company. [5]

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE TICKETS EVENT DATE AVAILABILITY American Ballet Theatre: The Nutcracker Tickets 12/12 Dec 12, 2024 Thu, 7:00 PM American Ballet Theatre: The Nutcracker Tickets 12/13 Dec 13, 2024 Fri, 7:00 PM American Ballet Theatre: The Nutcracker Tickets 12/14 Dec 14, 2024 Sat, 2:00 PM American Ballet Theatre: The Nutcracker Tickets 12/14 Dec 14, 2024 Sat, 7:00 PM American Ballet Theatre: The Nutcracker Tickets 12/15 Dec 15, 2024 Sun, 12:30 PM

History

The company was founded in 1937 as the Mordkin Ballet , and then reorganized in 1940 with a new name as the Ballet Theatre . For 40 years Lucia Chase directed it, working with many choreographers and ballet masters. In 1956, it was renamed the American Ballet Theatre , and has kept that name ever since. American Ballet Theatre performs at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in New York. In 1960, the company became the first American ballet company to dance in the Soviet Union.

Artistic Directors

• Lucia Chase and Oliver Smith (1940-1980)
• Mikhail Baryshnikov (1980-1989)
• Jane Hermann and Oliver Smith (1989-1992)
• Kevin McKenzie (1992-present)

Dancers

Notable Dancers of ABT's Past (partial listing)

Ivan Allen Alicia Alonso Nina Ananiashvili Mikhail Baryshnikov Patrick Bissell Julio Bocca Gabrielle Brown

Leslie Browne Erik Bruhn Fernando Bujones Anton Dolin Alexander Godunov Alessandra Ferri Cynthia Gregory

Cynthia Harvey Melissa Hayden Susan Jaffe Gelsey Kirkland Robert La Fosse Charles Maple

Alexander Filipov Natalia Makarova Vladimir Malakhov Dame Alicia Markova Kevin McKenzie Amanda McKerrow Kirk Peterson

Danilo Radojevic Johan Renvall Amy Rose Christine Sarry Marianna Tcherkassky Antony Tudor Martine van Hamel

Dancers of the Present

Principal Dancers

Maxim Beloserkovsky Roberto Bolle Jose Manuel Carreno Angel Corella

Herman Cornejo Irina Dvorovenko Marcelo Gomes David Hallberg

Paloma Herrera Julie Kent Gillian Murphy Veronika Part

Ethan Stiefel Diana Vishneva Michele Wiles

Soloists

Stella Abrera Kristi Boone Misty Copeland

Yuriko Kajiya Sarah Lane Carlos Lopez

Jared Matthews Maria Riccetto Craig Salstein

Gennadi Saveliev Daniil Simkin Cory Stearns

Corps de Ballet

Alexei Agoudine Eun Young Ahn Gemma Bond Kelley Boyd Isabella Boylston Julio Bragado-Young Marian Butler Maria Bystrova Nicola Curry Gray Davis Edward Pearce Julie Pearce

Grant Delong Roddy Doble Tobin Eason Kenneth Easter Karin Ellis-Wentz Zhong-Jing Fang Thomas Forster Jeffrey Golladay Nicole Graniero Alexandre Hammoudi Melanie Hamrick

Blaine Hoven Mikhail Ilyin Carrie Jensen Vitali Krauchenka Isadora Loyola Daniel Mantei Elizabeth Mertz Simone Messmer Elina Miettinen Anne Milewski Patrick Ogle Luciana Paris

Renata Pavam Joseph Phillips Lauren Post Jacquelyn Reyes Luis Ribagorda Jessica Saund Arron Scott Hee Seo Christine Shevchenko Sarah Smith Isaac Stappas

Sean Stewart Eric Tamm Devon Teuscher Melissa Thomas Mary Mills Thomas Leann Underwood Karen Uphoff Jennifer Whalen Katherine Williams Roman Zhurbin

Special Repertoire

Many choreographers have staged works especially for ABT, including George Balanchine, Adolph Bolm, Michel Fokine, Léonide Massine, and Bronislava Nijinska. The great British choreographer Antony Tudor made his American debut with ABT. The legendary Agnes de Mille staged the majority of her ballet works with them. Other renowned choreographers include Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, and Alvin Ailey.

ABT's 1976 production of The Nutcracker starring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland was televised the following year and has become a broadcast classic.

The main season is held during eight weeks in the spring at New York City's Metropolitan Opera House. The 2008 spring season will include The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Don Quixote, The Merry Widow, Swan Lake, Le Corsaire, La Bayadère, Etudes , and a new Twyla Tharp ballet premiere.

Today, ABT encourages the growth of dance and choreography by holding a summer intensive session for young people from across the country. Its Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School teaches throughout the year the style and techniques specifically used by ABT. Tony Award-winner David Alvarez, one of the original Billys in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot the Musical ^[6], is a student on full scholarship at the JKO School and has danced feature roles in the ABT's productions of The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty ^[7].

Ballets Performed

Below is a list of works which have been performed by American Ballet Theatre. Not all of the works are currently in the company's repertory, listed alphabetically.

Adagio for Strings , Afternoon of a Faun (Robbins), Afternoon of a Faun (Nijinsky), Airs , Aleko , Amazed in Burning Dreams , Americans We , Amnon V'Tamar , L'Amour et son Amour , Anastasia , Angrismene , Annabel Lee , Apollo , Appalachian Spring , Artemis , At Midnight , Awakening

Bach Partita , Le Baiser de la Fée (John Neumeier), Baker's Dozen , Le Bal , Balladen der Liebe , Ballet Imperial , Barn Dance , Baroque Game , La Bayadère , Beatrice , The Beloved , Billy the Kid , Birthday Offering , Bitter Rainbow , Black Ritual (Obeah), Black Tuesday , Blood Wedding , Bluebeard , Bolero (solo), Bolero , Bourrée Fantasque , Brahms Quintet , A Brahms Symphony , The Brahms-Haydn Variations , Brief Fling , Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 , The Bull Dancers , Bum's Rush

The Capital of the World , Capriccio Espagnol , Capriccioso , Caprichos , The Careless Burghers , Carmen (Alberto Alonso), "Carmen" (Roland Petit), Carnaval , The Catherine Wheel , Cinderella , Cinderella (Kudelka), Circo de Espana , Clair de Lune , Clear , The Combat , Concerto (Dollar/Chopin), Concerto (Dollar/Mendelssohn), Close to Chuck , Concerto (MacMillan), Concerto (Ross), Concerto no. 1 for Piano and Orchestra , Concerto Six Twenty-Two (duet), Concert Waltzes , Configurations , Conflict , Continuum , Conterdances , Coppélia , Corbaille de Fleurs , Le Corsaire (full-length ballet), Le Corsaire Pas de Deux , Cruel World

Dancing with Monet , Danses Concertante , Catie Stillwell , Danza del Molinero , Dark Elegies , Death and the Maiden , Les Demoiselles de la Nuit , Designs with Strings , Desir (pas de deux), Dialogues , Diana and Actéon (pas de deux), Dim Lustre , Disposition , Diversion of Angels , Divertimento-Rossini , Divertissement D'Auber , Don Domingo de Don Blas , Donizetti Variations , Don Quixote (ballet) , Don Quixote (Grand pas de deux), Don't Panic! , Dorian , The Dream , Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes , Duets

Eccentrique , Echoing of Trumpets , Eden (pas de deux), Electra, Elegy, The Elements, The Enchanted, The Encounter, Enough Said, Ensayo Sinfonica, Epilogue , Esmeralda (pas de deux - after Perrot), Esmeralda (pas de deux - Stevenson), La Esmeralda (Beriosoff), Espana, Estuary, The Eternal Idol, Etudes, Everlast

Facsimile, Fair at Sorochinsk, Fall River Legend , Fancy Free , Fandango, Fantaisie Serieuse , The Fantastic Toyshop , Festa, Fest Polonaise, Field Chair and Mountain , La Fille Mal Gardée , Firebird , Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan, Five Sketches , Flames of Paris , Flower Festival in Genzano , Follow the Feet, The Four Marys, Francesca da Rimini , From Here on Out , The Fugue

Gaîté Parisienne , Gala Performance, The Garden of Villandry, Gartenfest, Gayaneh (pas de deux), Gemini, Getting Closer, Gift of the Magi, Giselle, Glinka Pas de Trois, Glow-Stop, Gong , Goya Pastoral, Goyescas, Graduation Ball, Grand Pas Classique, Le Grand Pas de Deux, Grand Pas (Glazunov), Grand Pas Romantique, Le Grand Spectacle, Grand Tarantella, Grass, Graziana, The Great American Goof, Great Galloping (Gottschalk), The Green Table, The Guards of Amager (Bournonville)

Hamlet Connotations, Harbinger, Harlequinade (pas de deux - Balanchine), Harlequinade (Pas de deux - Stevenson), The Harvest According, Harvest Time , Helen of Troy, Hereafter, Las Hermanas, Hommage a Lucia, How Near Heaven, The Howling Cat, Huapango

In a Country Garden, In Volo, L'Inconnue, The Informer, Interludes, Intermezzo, Interplay, In The Upper Room, Italian Suite (four dances)

Jabula, Jack And Jill (Pas de deux), Jardin Anime (from Le Corsaire, Act II), Jardin aux Lilas, Jeu D’Esprit (Pièce d’Occasion), Le Jeune Homme et la Mort, Jeux, Jeux des Cartes, Journey, Jubilee, Judgment of Paris, Jump Start

Kaleidoscope, Known by Heart, Kontraste

Lady From the Sea, Lady into Fox, The Leaf and the Wind, The Leaves Are Fading (pas de deux), Legende (pas de deux), Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Lilting Fate, The Little Ballet, Little Improvisations, The Love Song

Mademoiselle Angot, The Maids, Manon, Marimba, Meadow, Mechanical Ballet, Medea (pas de deux), The Meeting, Mendelssohn Symphony, The Merry Widow, Minkus Pas de Trois, The Miraculous Mandarin, The Mirror, Miss Julie, The Mollino Room, Momentum, Monument for a Dead Boy, Moondance, Moonlight Sonata, Moon Reindeer, The Moor's Pavane, La Muerte Enamorada, Murder, My Funny Valentine

Napoli Divertissements , N.Y. Export: Op. Jazz , Night Journey , Nimbus , Nine Sinatra Songs , Les Noces , The Nutcracker (Baryshnikov), The Nutcracker (McKenzie)

Odalisque , Ode to Glory, Offenbach in the Underworld, Once More Frank, On Stage!, Eugene Onegin, Ontogeny, Othello, The Other, Other Dances, Ovid Metamorphoses

Paean, Paquita, Paquita (pas de deux), The Parliament of the Birds, Pas de Deux (Anatole Oboukhoff), Pas de Deux Holberg, Pas de Deux Imperiale (from Anastasia, Act II), Pas de "Duke", Pas de Quatre, Pas d'Esclave (from Le Corsaire), Pas des Deesses, Pas de Trois (Valentina Pereyslavec), Pas et Lignes, Le Passage Enchante, Les Patineurs, Pavane, La Peri (pas de deux), Petite Mort, Peter and the Wolf (Bolm), Peter and the Wolf (Smuin), Petrouchka, Pièce d’Occasion, The Pied Piper, Pierrot Lunaire, Pillar of Fire, Pleroma, Points of Jazz, Polovtsian Dances, Polyandrion, Prevailing Westerlies, Princess Aurora (excerpt from The Sleeping Beauty ), The Prodigal Son, A Promise, Pulcinella Variations, Push Comes to Shove

Quartet, Quintet

Rabbit and Rogue (Tharp), Raymonda, Raymonda (Act III), Raymonda (Divertissments), Raymonda (Divertissements from Act II & Act III), Raymonda (Grand Pas Classique), The Red Shoes, Remanso, Les Rendezvous, Rendezvous (Pas de deux - Hoff), Rendezvous (pas de deux - Nijinska), Requiem, Le Retour, Reverie, Rib of Eve, Ricercare (pas de deux), Rigaudon, The Rite of Spring, The River, Rodeo, Romantic Age, Romeo and Juliet (MacMillan), Romeo and Juliet (Tudor), Romeo and Juliet (pas de deux - Bruhn), Romeo and Juliet (pas de deux - Nureyev), Romeo and Juliet (pas de deux - Tchernichov), A Rose for Miss Emily , Russian Soldier

Le Sacre du Printemps (see above: The Rite of Spring), Sargasso, Scherzo for Massah Jack, Schubertiade, Schuman Concerto, Sea-Change, Sebastian, Sechs Tänze, Sentient Bach, Serious Pleasures, Seven Faces of Love, Seven Spanish Songs, Shadow of the Wind, Shadowplay, Side Show, Sin and Tonic, Sinatra Suite, Sinfonietta, "...smile with my heart", Slavonika, The Sleeping Beauty, The Snow Maiden, Soirée Musicale, A Soldier's Tale, Solitaire (pas de deux), Solo, Some Assembly Required, Something Special, Some Times'', La Sonnambula, Spartacus (pas de deux, Act III), S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A. , Le Spectre de la Rose, Sphinx, The Sphinx, Spring and Fall, Spring Waters, States of Grace, Stepping Stones, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, A Streetcar Named Desire, Streetcar Royalty, Summer Day (pas de deux), Sunset, Swan Lake, Swan Lake (McKenzie), La Sylphide, Les Sylphides, Sylvia, Sylvia (pas de deux), Symphonic Variations, Symphonie Concertante, Symphony in C

Tales of Hoffmann, Tally Ho- or the Frail Quarry, The Taming (pas de deux), The Taming of the Shrew, Tarantella (pas de deux), Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Texas Fourth, Theatre, Theme and Variations, The Thief Who Loved a Ghost, This Property is Condemned, Three-Cornered Hat, Three Essays, Three Preludes, Three Virgins and a Devil, The Tiller in the Fields, Till Eulenspiegel, Times Past, Top Hat and Tails, Torso, The Traitor, Transcendental Etudes, Triad, Trio a Deux, Triptych, Tristan (pas de deux), Tropical Pas de Deux, Turnstile

Undertow, Unfinished Symphony, Us (pas de deux)

Variations on 'America', Variations for Four, La Ventana, Vestris, Venetian Carnival, Voices of Spring, Voluntaries

Walk This Way, Waltz Academy, The Wanderer (Errante), Way Out, Weren't We Fools?, The Wild Boy, The Wind in the Mountains, Winter's Eve, Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison, Without Words, The Wooden Prince (solo), Workout, workwithinwork

See also

• American Ballet Theatre 2009 Spring repertory

References

1. One step closer to perfection: The best of Balanchine lights up London - but Stravinsky in Birmingham must not be missed
2. ABT corps de ballet
3. ABT soloists
4. ABT principals
5. ABT II
6. http://www.billyelliotthemusical.com/news/archive/Broadway_billys_announced.php
7. http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/whoswho/biography/18003