Casts Set for American Ballet Theatre's 2024 Fall Season

Casting for American Ballet Theatre’s 2024 Fall season at the David H. Koch Theater from October 16–November 3 has been revealed. General public on sale for the 2024 Fall season begins Wednesday, September 4 at 12:00 P.M. 
 
The season will offer four programs of works, showcasing the breadth and depth of American Ballet Theatre’s classical and contemporary repertoire, including the addition of World Premieres by Gemma Bond and Kyle Abraham and Helen Pickett's Crime and Punishment. The 2024 Fall season will additionally feature two Family Friendly Matinee performances on October 20 and 27. 
 
The first program Innovation Past and Present will celebrate World Premieres by Gemma Bond and Kyle Abraham and Harald Lander’s Études. Choreographers of the 20th and 21st Centuries will follow with George Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial, Alexei Ratmansky’s Neo, and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room. Third, Signature Works is comprised of Natalia Makarova’s The Kingdom of the Shades, Tharp’s In the Upper Room, and a selection of pas de deux including an excerpt from Lynne Taylor-Corbett's Great Galloping Gottschalk, Ratmansky’s Neo, Balanchine’s Sylvia Pas de Deux, and Tharp’s Sinatra Suite. To close out the season, ABT will present the World Premiere of Helen Pickett’s Crime and Punishment.  
 
At the Family Friendly Matinee on Sunday, October 20, ABT will perform Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial and Tharp’s In the Upper Room; while on Sunday, October 27, ABT will present pas de deux from Taylor-Corbett's Great Galloping Gottschalk and Jessica Lang’s Children’s Songs Dance, as well as Balanchine’s Sylvia Pas de Deux and Lander’s Études.  
 
The Fall Gala will take place on Wednesday evening, October 23 at 6:30 P.M. at the Koch Theater. This one-night-only program will showcase ABT’s star Principal Dancers performing a selection of classic and contemporary pas de deux, as well as highlight the talented young dancers from ABT Studio Company and the ABT Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis School. Gala casting will be announced at a later date. For more information on ABT’s 2024 Fall Gala or to purchase tickets and tables, please contact Kristin Sarli, Associate Director of Special Events, at ksarli@abt.org.  
 

Innovation Past and Present  

Innovation Past and Present will run for five performances from October 16–18, at the matinee performance on October 19, and on October 24. The program will feature World Premieres by Gemma Bond and Kyle Abraham and Harald Lander’s Études. 
 
Bond's World Premiere includes music by Ottorino Respighi after Gioachino Rossini, set and costume design by Jean-Marc Puissant, and lighting design by Clifton Taylor. 
 
In an interweaving of classical and contemporary vocabularies, Abraham’s World Premiere includes costume design by Karen Young and lighting design by Dan Scully. 
 
Catherine Hurlin will lead the opening night performance of Études on Wednesday, October 16. Harald Lander’s Études is set to music by Carl Czerny and arranged by Knudåge Riisager. 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. 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, ABT’s second Fall program, will be given three performances on Saturday evening, October 19; Sunday evening, October 20; and Wednesday, October 25. Choreographers of the 20th and 21st Centuries will consist of George Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial, Alexei Ratmansky’s Neo, and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room. 
 
Ballet Imperial will open the second program of the Fall season at the evening performance on Saturday, October 19, led by Christine Shevchenko, Calvin Royal III, and Chloe Misseldine. Ballet Imperial, choreographed by George Balanchine, is 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. 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. 
 
At the evening performance on Saturday, October 19, Neo will receive its Company Premiere danced by Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside. On Friday, October 25, Catherine Hurlin and Jarod Curley will debut in these roles. Alexei Ratmansky’s Neo is set to music by Dai Fujikura with costumes by Moritz Junge and lighting by Brad Fields. The piece was originally created on ABT Principal Dancers James Whiteside and Isabella Boylston for a digital 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  

The third program, titled Signature Works, will include Natalia Makarova’s The Kingdom of the Shades, Tharp’s In the Upper Room, and a selection of pas de deux including an excerpt from Lynne Taylor-Corbett's Great Galloping Gottschalk, Ratmansky’s Neo, Balanchine’s Sylvia Pas de Deux, and Tharp’s Sinatra Suite. Signature Works will be given two performances on Saturday, October 26 and one performance on the evening of Sunday, October 27. 
 
Hee Seo will dance The Kingdom of the Shades at the matinee performance on Saturday, October 26 alongside ABT Guest Artist Isaac Hernandez. Christine Shevchenko will make her debut in the ballet at the evening performance on Saturday, October 26. 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. 
 
SunMi Park and Calvin Royal III will perform the pas de deux from Lynne Taylor-Corbett's Great Galloping Gottschalk at the matinee performance on Saturday, October 26. Cassandra Trenary and Herman Cornejo will debut in this pas de deux at the matinee performance on Sunday, October 27. Great Galloping Gottschalk 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. 
 
At the matinee performance on Saturday, October 26, Chloe Missledine and Aran Bell will make their debuts in Sylvia Pas de Deux. Gillian Murphy and Daniel Camargo will make their debuts at the evening performance that same day. 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. 
 
Cassandra Trenary will make her debut in Sinatra Suite alongside Herman Cornejo at the evening performance on Saturday, October 26. 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. 
 

Crime and Punishment 

The final six performances of ABT’s 2024 Fall season will celebrate the World Premiere of Helen Pickett’s Crime and Punishment with performances from Wednesday, October 30 to Sunday, November 3. 
 
The World Premiere of Crime and Punishment on Wednesday, October 30 will be led by Cassandra Trenary as Raskolnikov. Herman Cornejo will debut as Raskolnikov on Thursday, October 31, while Breanne Granlund will make her debut on Friday, November 1. With choreography, co-direction, and treatment by Helen Pickett and direction and treatment by James Bonas, 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. 
 

Family Friendly Matinees  

American Ballet Theatre will offer two Family Friendly Matinee programs at the matinees on Sunday, October 20 and Sunday, October 27 at 12:30 P.M. 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. Children’s Songs Dance features costume design by Jillian Lewis and lighting by Nicole Pearce. 
 
Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2024 Fall season at the David H. Koch will go on sale beginning Wednesday, September 4 at 12:00 P.M. Tickets begin at $30 and are available online, in person at the Koch Theater box office, or by phone at 212-496-0600. For more information, visit ABT’s website at www.abt.org.