American Ballet Theatre Presents World Premiere by Alexei Ratmansky

New York City Center President & CEO Arlene Shuler today announced a new digital program, ABT Live from City Center | A Ratmansky Celebration, featuring American Ballet Theatre (ABT) premiering Tuesday, March 23 at 7 PM, and available on demand through Sunday, April 18. Filmed live on the City Center stage, the program marks ABT's much anticipated return to the historic theater for their first full evening program at City Center since 2012.

Co-presented by American Ballet Theatre and New York City Center, the program will feature many of the company's renowned dancers in works by acclaimed choreographer and ABT Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky. Hosted by author and American Ballet Theatre Co-Chair of the Trustees Emeriti Susan Fales-Hill, highlights include excerpts from The Seasons (2019), Seven Sonatas (2009), and The Sleeping Beauty (2015), and Bernstein in a Bubble, a World Premiere set to the music of legendary composer Leonard Bernstein. The new work, Ratmansky's first since March 2020, was created in January and February of this year during a quarantined "ballet bubble" in Silver Bay, New York. The program features ABT dancers Aran Bell, Isabella Boylston, Skylar Brandt, Herman Cornejo, Patrick Frenette, Carlos Gonzalez, Blaine Hoven, Catherine Hurlin, Tyler Maloney, Luciana Paris, Devon Teuscher, Cassandra Trenary, and James Whiteside.

The program will also feature a special intermission conversation with Ratmansky and the curator of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division at the New York Public Library, Linda Murray. Together, they discuss the program's four pieces, including Ratmansky's approach to choreographing in a bubble.

"City Center has been a valuable creative home to ABT throughout the company's history-hosting them first in the 1940s, shortly after both institutions were founded," said Arlene Shuler, New York City Center President and CEO. "We're delighted to be presenting the company as part of our digital season of great artists and companies performing back on our stage."

"We're so pleased to return to this beloved stage at City Center and to do so with a program that celebrates the artistic imagination and range of Alexei Ratmansky," said Kevin Mckenzie, ABT Artistic Director. "The program reflects ABT's mission of preserving the classics-as exemplified by Alexei's re-staging of Petipa's The Sleeping Beauty-and extending the repertoire with his newest work, Bernstein in a Bubble. This digital presentation allows us to reach an even wider audience."

American Ballet Theatre's relationship with New York City Center began in 1947, headlined by the world premiere of George Balanchine's masterpiece Theme and Variations, created for Ballet Theatre luminaries Alicia Alonso and Igor Youskevitch. Over its 81-year history, ABT's performances at City Center have featured more than 30 World Premieres, 30 Company Premieres, and seven major revivals created by leading choreographers of the 20th and 21st centuries, including Agnes De Mille, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Lar Lubovitch, Kenneth MacMillan, Alexei Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, Antony Tudor, and Christopher Wheeldon. In 1997, after an absence of more than two decades, ABT returned to City Center for regular fall seasons through 2012. ABT's City Center engagements came to be known as a place to see new choreography and established repertoire in an intimate setting. The Company performed in City Center's first Fall for Dance Festival in 2004 and has been a proud participant throughout the festival's celebrated history. Most recently, ABT appeared in Balanchine: The City Center Years as part of City Center's 75th Anniversary Season 2018-2019.

Digital access for ABT Live from City Center starts at $25 and goes on sale at noon on March 1, online at NYCityCenter.org. The program premieres on Tuesday, March 23 at 7 PM ET and will be available on demand through Sunday, April 18.

Produced by American Ballet Theatre, New York City Center, and Nel Shelby Productions.

New York City Center is located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. For information call 212.581.1212 or visit NYCityCenter.org. Programming subject to change.

DETAILS:

ABT Live from City Center | A Ratmansky Celebration
Mar 23 - Apr 18
Digital access $25

"Rose Adagio" from The Sleeping Beauty

Choreography by Marius Petipa, with staging and additional choreography by Alexei Ratmansky, assisted by Tatiana Ratmansky
Music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky
Staging by Nancy Raffa
Costume Design by Richard Hudson, inspired by Léon Bakst
Lighting Design by James F. Ingalls

Featuring Skylar Brandt, Aran Bell, Patrick Frenette, Blaine Hoven, and Tyler Maloney

Originally choreographed by Marius Petipa, The Sleeping Beauty received its world premiere by the Imperial Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on January 15, 1890. ABT's present production was reconstructed from the notations of Petipa's original choreography by ABT's Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky. With steps and style reflecting the original 19th century production, Ratmansky brought the iconic classic to life for modern audiences.

Seven Sonatas Second Movement
Choreography by Alexei Ratmansky
Music by Domenico Scarlatti ("Sonata in E Minor K. 198")
Staging by Nancy Raffa, with special assistance from Stella Abrera
Costume Design by Holly Hynes
Lighting Design by Brad Fields

Featuring Herman Cornejo, Luciana Paris, Carlos Gonzalez, Devon Teuscher

Seven Sonatas was the second ballet that Ratmansky choreographed as Artist in Residence with ABT. Created in 2009 and set to piano sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, the work presents six dancers in various solos, pas de deux, and group sections. In the second movement of the ballet, four of the dancers follow each other in a series of solos that demonstrate Ratmansky's distinctive compositional style and innate musicality.

The Seasons Pas de Deux
Choreography by Alexei Ratmansky
Music by Alexander Glazunov (The Seasons)
Coaching by Irina Kolpakova
Costumes by Robert Perdziola
Lighting Design by Mark Stanley

Featuring Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside

In 2019, as a gift to ABT on the occasion of his tenth anniversary with the company, Ratmansky created The Seasons to the rich and romantic ballet score by Alexander Glazunov. The main pas de deux, danced to the Petit Adagio from the Autumn Section of the music, is a tender duet towards the end of the ballet that unfolds with the warmth and ease of a late summer day.

Bernstein in a Bubble World Premiere
Choreography by Alexei Ratmansky
Music by Leonard Bernstein (Divertimento)
Lighting Design by Brad Fields

Featuring Aran Bell, Skylar Brandt, Patrick Frenette, Blaine Hoven, Catherine Hurlin, Tyler Maloney, and Cassandra Trenary

Four years after the success of his first work to Leonard Bernstein's iconic music, the critically acclaimed Serenade after Plato's Symposium, Ratmansky's new work explores the artistic personas of ABT's world-class dancers. Inspired by the variety, charm, and quintessentially American spirit of Bernstein's Divertimento, this piece-choreographed in a quarantined bubble residency in upstate New York-is an exciting reflection of artistic creativity in these challenging times.