American Ballet Theatre Unveils 2024 Fall Season Featuring a World Premiere & More

American Ballet Theatre's 2024 Fall season has been revealed. The season will run from October 16–November 3 at the David H. Koch Theater and will feature four programs: Innovation Past and Present, Choreographers of the 20th and 21st Centuries, Signature Works, and Helen Pickett's full-length Crime and Punishment. Within the programs, featured ballets include World Premieres by Kyle Abraham and Gemma Bond, Harald Lander's Études, George Balanchine's Ballet Imperial and Sylvia Pas de Deux, Alexei Ratmansky's Neo, Twyla Tharp's In the Upper Room and Sinatra Suite, Natalia Makarova's The Kingdom of the Shades, and pas de deux from Lynne Taylor-Corbett's Great Galloping Gottschalk and Jessica Lang's Children's Songs Dance.  

Principal Dancers for the 2024 Fall season include Joo Won Ahn, Aran Bell, Isabella Boylston, Skylar Brandt, Daniel Camargo, Herman Cornejo, Thomas Forster, Catherine Hurlin, Chloe Misseldine, Gillian Murphy, Calvin Royal III, Hee Seo, Christine Shevchenko, Cory Stearns, Devon Teuscher, Cassandra Trenary, James Whiteside, and Roman Zhurbin. Isaac Hernández will join ABT as a Guest Artist for the 2024 Fall season. 

Fall Gala 

The 2024 Fall Gala will take place on Wednesday evening, October 23 at 6:30 P.M. at the Koch Theater. For more information on ABT's Fall Gala, please contact the Special Events Office at specialevents@abt.org.  

World Premieres 

ABT's Fall season will feature three World Premieres from choreographers Helen Pickett, Kyle Abraham, and Gemma Bond.  

With choreography, co-direction, and treatment by Helen Pickett, and direction and treatment by James Bonas, Crime and Punishment will receive its World Premiere on Wednesday, October 30 at 7:30 P.M. and will run for six performances. Based on Dostoyevsky's 1866 modern psychological thriller, Crime and Punishment follows Raskolnikov in a story about an unstable human being in roiling turmoil resulting from a deadly, catastrophic choice. 

Raskolnikov's duality as a human capable generosity and loyalty and a fraught murderer, provides a startling source from which to create a ballet. Crime and Punishment is a harrowing journey towards redemption, holding a mirror up to one's humanity and to the world today. 

Crime and Punishment features music by Isobel Waller-Bridge, set and costume design by Soutra Gilmour, lighting design by Jennifer Tipton, and video design by Tal Yarden. 

Both Abraham and Bond's World Premieres will be presented on Wednesday, October 16 at 7:30 P.M. and will run throughout Innovation Past and Present, the first program of the Fall season.  

In an interweaving of classical and contemporary vocabularies, Abraham's World Premiere includes costume design by Karen Young and lighting design by Dan Scully. 

Described as an “abstract tutu ballet,” Bond's World Premiere brims with emotion, ranging from rapture to yearning to sorrow. The new work includes music by Ottorino Respighi after Gioachino Rossini, set and costume design by Jean-Marc Puissant, and lighting design by Clifton Taylor.  

Innovation Past and Present 

Innovation Past and Present will be offered October 16–18, at the matinee performance on October 19, and on October 24, 2024. This first program will consist of Abraham and Bond's World Premieres and Harald Lander's Études. 

An exhilarating tribute to the art form of classical ballet, Harald Lander's Études is set to music by Carl Czerny and arranged by Knudåge Riisager. Études ingeniously illustrates the development of a dancer's technique and artistry, from the regimen of exercises at the barre to the dazzling heights of balletic proficiency. Created in 1948 at the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen for the Royal Danish Ballet, Études was later staged for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1952 and has been performed by other leading companies in Moscow and London, among others. American Ballet Theatre first presented Études at the 54th Street Theatre, New York, New York, on October 5, 1961, with the cast headed by Toni Lander, Royes Fernandez, and Bruce Marks. Études was staged for ABT by Thomas Lund. 

Choreographers of the 20th and 21st Centuries 

Choreographers of the 20th and 21st Centuries is the second program of the 2024 Fall season, which will be performed at the evening performances on October 19, October 20, and October 25. Choreographers of the 20th and 21st Centuries will include George Balanchine's Ballet Imperial, Alexei Ratmansky's Neo, and Twyla Tharp's In the Upper Room.  

Ballet Imperial, choreographed George Balanchine, set to Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 2 in G for Piano and Orchestra with scenery and costumes by Jean-Marc Puissant and lighting by Mark Stanley, evokes the era of Russia's Imperial Ballet with its grandeur. The ballet received its World Premiere by American Ballet Caravan at the Hunter College Playhouse, New York, New York, on May 27, 1941, danced by Marie-Jeanne, Gisella Caccialanza, and William Dollar. The American Ballet Theatre Company Premiere of Ballet Imperial was given on February 10, 1988, at the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, danced by Susan Jaffe, Ross Stretton, and Amanda McKerrow. Ballet Imperial was staged for ABT by Colleen Neary. 

Alexei Ratmansky's Neo is a demanding pas de deux, challenging its dancers to perform a work that is fevered and sensuous, daring and stunning. Neo is set to music by Dai Fujikura with costumes by Moritz Junge and lighting by Brad Fields. The October 19 performance marks Neo's Company Premiere. The piece was originally created on ABT Principal Dancers James Whiteside and Isabella Boylston for an online performance presented by The Joyce Theater, New York, New York, on May 19, 2021. 

In the Upper Room is a ballet in nine parts, choreographed by Twyla Tharp and set to music by Philip Glass with costumes by Norma Kamali and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. In the Upper Room was given its World Premiere by Twyla Tharp Dance on August 28, 1986, at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois, and received its American Ballet Theatre Premiere on December 10, 1988, at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, California. The ballet is staged for ABT by Shelley Washington and Blaine Hoven. 

Signature Works 

Signature Works will be offered at the matinee performance on Saturday, October 26, the evening performance on Saturday, October 26, and the evening performance on Sunday, October 27. This third program will feature The Kingdom of the Shades, a selection of iconic pas de deux, and Twyla Tharp's In the Upper Room.  

Choreographed by Natalia Makarova after Marius Petipa, The Kingdom of the Shades is set to music by Ludwig Minkus, specially arranged by John Lanchbery, and features scenery by PierLuigi Samartitani, costumes by Theoni V. Aldredge and lighting by Toshiro Ogawa. The Kingdom of the Shades was first performed in the West by the Leningrad-Kirov Ballet in 1961. Makarova first staged The Kingdom of the Shades for American Ballet Theatre in 1974, and it received its Company Premiere at the State Theater in New York, New York, on July 3 of that year, danced by Cynthia Gregory as Nikiya and Ivan Nagy as Solor. 

At the matinee performance on Saturday, October 26 and at the evening performance on Sunday, October 27, the selection of iconic pas de deux will include Twyla Tharp's Sinatra Suite and George Balanchine's Sylvia Pas de Deux.  

With choreography by Twyla Tharp, Sinatra Suite features music by Frank Sinatra, costume design by Oscar de la Renta, and lighting design by Jennifer Tipton. Nine Sinatra Songs, from which Sinatra Suite is excerpted, was given its world premiere by Twyla Tharp Dance on October 14, 1982, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Sinatra Suite was given its American Ballet Theatre Premiere on December 6, 1983, at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., featuring Elaine Kudo and Mikhail Baryshnikov. 

Sylvia Pas de Deux features choreography by George Balanchine, music by Léo Delibes, lighting by Nananne Porcher, and staging by Marina Eglevsky. This production features costumes by Santo Loquasto. Sylvia Pas de Deux received its world premiere by New York City Ballet at City Center 55 Street Theater, New York, New York, on December 1, 1950. It received its Company Premiere on August 20, 1964, at Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with Sonia Arova and Royes Fernandez.  

During the evening performance on Saturday, October 26, in addition to The Kingdom of the Shades, Sylvia Pas de Deux, and In the Upper Room, a pas de deux from Great Galloping Gottschalk and Alexei Ratmansky's Neo will be performed.  

Great Galloping Gottschalk, choreographed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, was given its World Premiere on January 12, 1982, at Miami Beach Theater of the Performing Arts in Miami Beach, Florida. The excerpted pas de deux is set to music by Louis Moreau Gottschalk with costume design by Gretchen Warren and lighting design by Brad Fields based on the original lighting design by Edward M. Greenberg. 

Family Friendly Matinees 

American Ballet Theatre will offer two Family Friendly Matinee programs on Sunday, October 20 and Sunday, October 27 at 12:30 P.M. These programs are geared towards families as an entry point to ABT's repertoire, introducing them to a shorter form afternoon at the ballet.  

At the matinee performance on Sunday, October 20, ABT will perform George Balanchine's Ballet Imperial and Twyla Tharp's In the Upper Room. At the matinee performance on Sunday, October 27, ABT will perform pas de deux from Lynne Taylor-Corbett's Great Galloping Gottschalk and Jessica Lang's Children's Songs Dances, Balanchine's Sylvia Pas de Deux, and Harald Lander's Études.  

Lang's Children's Songs Dance is set to selections from Children's Songs by the late American jazz composer Chick Corea. The ballet was created on ABT Studio Company in January 2020 and received its ABT Company Premiere on August 9, 2022, as part of Lincoln Center's BAAND Together Dance Festival. According to Lang, Children's Songs Dance “draws its inspiration from the transition in life between being a child and becoming an adult, with the goal of never losing the spirit of play.” Children's Songs Dance features costume design by Jillian Lewis and lighting by Nicole Pearce. 

Ticket Policies 

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre's 2024 Fall season at the David H. Koch Theater will go on sale beginning Wednesday, September 4 at 12:00 P.M. Tickets can be purchased by phone at 212-496-0600, in person at the Koch Theater box office, or online at ABT's website. Tickets start at $30. During the 2024 Fall season, ABT will offer audience members the opportunity to exchange tickets up until Noon the day of the performance at no charge, minus any difference in ticket price. We regret that there are no refunds or cancellations. 

Donor Advance Sale will begin Tuesday, August 20 at 12:00 P.M. Visit ABT's website to learn more and become a member.