American Ballet Theatre Announces First Two Weeks of 2014 Spring Season Casting

Casting for the first two weeks of American Ballet Theatre's 2014 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

The season will begin on Monday, May 12 at 6:30 P.M. with the Company's Opening Night Gala, featuring excerpts from Leonide Massine's Gaîté Parisienne, led by Herman Cornejo, Veronika Part and Jared Matthews, and the Company Premiere in Ji?í Kylian's Nuages, danced by Diana Vishneva and Marcelo Gomes. The evening will also include Paloma Herrera in an excerpt from Don Quixote, Hee Seo and Marcelo Gomes in the pas de deux from Cinderella, Polina Semionova in an excerpt from Manon, Gillian Murphy and Ivan Vasiliev in the pas d'action from La Bayadère, James Whiteside and Daniil Simkin in an excerpt from The Dream, Julie Kent and Roberto Bolle in the bedroom pas de deux from Manon, Xiomara Reyes in an excerpt from Coppélia and a performance by students of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre. American Ballet Theatre's Spring Gala is sponsored by Lanvin.

The first of eight performances of Don Quixote will take place on Tuesday, May 13, with Polina Semionova and Marcelo Gomes in the leading roles. Guest artist Alban Lendorf, a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet, will dance the role of Basilio for the first time with ABT on Wednesday evening, May 14, opposite Gillian Murphy as Kitri. Guest Artist Maria Kotchetkova will dance the role of Kitri for the first time with ABT on Thursday, May 15, opposite Herman Cornejo as Basilio. Staged by Kevin McKenzie and Susan Jones, with choreography after Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky, Don Quixote is set to music by Ludwig Minkus and features scenery and costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by Natasha Katz. The McKenzie/Jones staging of the current production was first performed by ABT on June 12, 1995. This production is generously supported through an endowed gift from Anka K. Palitz, in memory of Clarence Y. Palitz, Jr.

On Tuesday, May 20, the Revival Premiere of Léonide Massine's Gaîté Parisienne will be led by Hee Seo as the Glove Seller and Marcelo Gomes as the Baron. Veronika Part and Jared Matthews will debut in these roles at the matinee on Wednesday, May 21. Staged for ABT by Lorca Massine, Gaîté Parisienne is set to music by Jacques Offenbach and features costumes by Christian Lacroix, scenery by Zack Brown and lighting by Steven Shelley. The ballet was given its Company Premiere on January 19, 1988 in Tampa, Florida with Cheryl Yeager as the Glove Seller, Victor Barbee as the Baron and Johan Renvall as the Peruvian. Gaîté Parisienne received its World Premiere by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1938 at the Theatre de Monte Carlo in Monaco with Nina Tarakanova as the Glove Seller, Frederic Franklin as the Baron and Léonide Massine as the Peruvian. The ballet was last performed by the Company in 1999. Gaîté Parisienne is generously supported through an endowed gift from The Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund.

Gaîté Parisienne will share the program with George Balanchine's Theme and Variations and Duo Concertant. Polina Semionova and James Whiteside will lead the season's first performance of Theme and Variations on Tuesday, May 20. Guest artist Andrew Veyette, a principal dancer with New York City Ballet, will make his ABT debut in the ballet's leading role opposite Gillian Murphy at the evening performance on Wednesday, May 21. Theme and Variations, set to music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovksy, received its World Premiere on November 26, 1947, danced by Alicia Alonso and Igor Youskevitch. This production, featuring sets and costumes by Zach Brown, with lighting by David K.H. Elliott, received its World Premiere at the David H. Koch Theater on October 30, 2013, led by Gillian Murphy and James Whiteside. ABT gratefully acknowledges Mr. and Mrs. John C. Sites, Jr. for their generous support of Theme and Variations through an endowed gift and a Leading Sponsor gift for costumes. Cindy and Chip Murphy are Leading Sponsors of Theme and Variations. Additional support has been provided by the Lloyd E. Rigler-Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation and Richard S. Ungerleider, M.D.

Misty Copeland and Eric Tamm, in a role debut, will lead the first performance of Duo Concertant on Tuesday, May 20. James Whiteside will debut in the ballet at the matinee on Wednesday, May 21, dancing opposite Paloma Herrera. Set to music by Igor Stravinsky, Duo Concertant received its World Premiere by New York City Ballet at the New York State Theatre on June 22, 1972, danced by Kay Mazzo and Peter Martins. The ballet was first performed by American Ballet Theatre at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on January 18, 2011, with Paloma Herrera and Cory Stearns in the leading roles.

The season's first performances of La Bayadère begin on Friday, May 23 with Diana Vishneva as Nikiya, Marcelo Gomes as Solor and Gillian Murphy as Gamzatti. Choreographed by Natalia Makarova after Marius Petipa, La Bayadère is set to a score by Ludwig Minkus, specially arranged by John Lanchbery. The ballet features scenery by PierLuigi Samaritani, costumes by Theoni V. Aldredge and lighting by Toshiro Ogawa. 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. Le Bayadère is generously sponsored through an endowed gift from Drs. Philip and Marjorie Gerdine. La Bayadère is presented in loving memory of Mrs. Caroline Newhouse. A generous grant from the Rockefeller Foundation has made this production possible. Major funding for this production has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre's 2014 Metropolitan Opera House season, beginning at $20, are available online, at the Met box office or by phone at 212-362-6000. Performance-only tickets for the Opening Night Gala begin at $25. The Metropolitan Opera House is located on Broadway between 64th and 65th streets in New York City. For more information, visit ABT's website at www.abt.org.

CASTING:

FIRST WEEK

Mon. Eve., May 12, 6:30 P.M. GALA

DON QUIXOTE, Act I Entrance - Herrera

JKO SCHOOL

CINDERELLA, Act II Pas de Deux - Seo, Gomes

MANON, Act II Solo and Adagio - Semionova

LA BAYADÈRE, Paa d'Action - Murphy, Vasiliev

THE DREAM, Scherzo - Whiteside, Simkin

MANON, Act I Bedroom Pas de Deux - Kent, Bolle

COPPÉLIA, Act II excerpt - Reyes

NUAGES - Vishneva, Gomes

GAÎTÉ PARISIENNE, Peruvian, Pas de Deux, Can-can -

Cornejo, Part, Matthews

Tues. Eve., May 13, 7:30 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Semionova, Gomes

Wed. Mat., May 14, 2 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Part, Whiteside

Wed. Eve., May 14, 7:30 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Murphy, Lendorf*

Thurs. Eve., May 15, 7:30 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Kochetkova*, Cornejo

Fri. Eve., May 16, 7:30 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Herrera, Vasiliev

Sat. Mat., May 17, 2 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Boylston, Simkin

Sat. Eve., May 17, 8 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Semionova, Gomes

SECOND WEEK

Mon. Eve., May 19 7:30 P.M. DON QUIXOTE - Reyes,Vasiliev

Tues. Eve., May 20, 7:30 P.M. THEME AND VARIATIONS - Semionova, Whiteside

DUO CONCERTANT - Copeland, Tamm+

GAÎTÉ PARISIENNE - Seo+, Gomes+

Wed. Mat., May 21, 2 P.M. THEME AND VARIATIONS - Lane, Cornejo

DUO CONCERTANT - Herrera, Whiteside+

GAÎTÉ PARISIENNE - Part+, Matthews+

Wed. Eve., May 21, 7:30 P.M. THEME AND VARIATIONS - Murphy, Veyette*

DUO CONCERTANT - Copeland, Tamm

GAÎTÉ PARISIENNE - Seo, Gomes

Thurs. Eve., May 22, 7:30 P.M. THEME AND VARIATIONS - Boylston, Simkin

DUO CONCERTANT - Herrera, Whiteside

GAÎTÉ PARISIENNE - Part, Matthews

Fri. Eve., May 23, 7:30 P.M. LA BAYADÈRE - Vishneva, Gomes, Murphy

Sat. Mat., May 24, 2 P.M. LA BAYADÈRE - Part, Whiteside+, Abrera

Sat. Eve., May 24, 8 P.M. LA BAYADÈRE - Cojocaru, Cornejo, Copeland

*Guest Artist

+Editors please note first time in as role with ABT:

Wed Eve. 5/14 - Lendorf (Basilio) in Don Quixote

Thurs. Eve. 5/15 - Kochetkova (Kitri) in Don Quixote

Tues. Eve., 5/20 - Tamm in Duo Concertant; Seo (Glove Seller),

Gomes (The Baron) in Gaîté Parisienne

Wed. Mat., 5/21 - Whiteside in Duo Concertant; Part (Glove Seller), Matthews (The Baron) in Gaîté

Parisienne

Wed. Eve., 5/21 - Veyette in Theme and Variations

Sat. Mat., 5/24 - Whiteside (Solor) in La Bayadère