American Ballet Theatre's Pride Nights to Feature Lypsinka, Tommy Dorfman and More

American Ballet Theatre's Fall season at the David H. Koch Theater, October 20-31, will present its first-ever Pride Night celebrations, Wednesday evening, October 27 at 7:30 P.M. and Saturday evening, October 30 at 8:00 P.M., with a series of events honoring the LGBTQIA+ community and LGBT History Month.

Both evening's performances will feature a special guest appearance by drag artist Lypsinka, followed by a panel discussion of ABT's LGBT works with the creators of the male duet Touché: choreographer Christopher Rudd, ABT Principal Dancer Calvin Royal III, and ABT corps de ballet member João Menegussi. Sarah Lozoff, intimacy director for Touché, will join the panel on Wednesday, October 27 and ABT Principal Dancer James Whiteside joins on Saturday evening, October 30.

American Ballet Theatre's Pride Night celebrations will include performances of Alexei Ratmansky's Bernstein in a Bubble, set to Leonard Bernstein's Divertimento; Rudd's Touché, set to music by Woodkid and Ennio Morricone and lighting by Brad Fields; Clark Tippet's Some Assembly Required, staged by Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner and set to music by William Bolcom, with costumes by Gary Lisz and lighting by Jennifer Tipton; and Darrell Grand Moultrie's Indestructible Light, set to recorded music by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Neal Hefti, Billy Strayhorn, and Chuck Harmony, with costumes by Mark Eric and lighting by Fields.

Celebrated drag artist Lypsinka will appear at each of the Pride Night events. A veteran of Off-Broadway, stage, film and television, Lypsinka has won three Drama-Desk nominations (Lypsinka! A Day in the Life and Lypsinka! The Boxed Set.) She is the alter-ego of John Epperson who has served as a rehearsal and class pianist with ABT over the span of 43 years. In her first appearance with ABT and first return to performing since 2018, Lypsinka will introduce the post-performance portion of ABT's Pride Nights.

The post-performance discussions, free for each evening's audience, will be moderated by trans-actress Tommy Dorfman. In addition, a free exhibit of the works of photographer Quil Lemons, curated by Sarah Hoover, will be displayed on the lobby and promenade level of the David H. Koch Theater throughout the Fall season. For tickets and more information, please visit www.abt.org/pride.