Second Round of Casting Announced for American Ballet Theatre's 2016 Spring Season

Casting for the third and fourth weeks of American Ballet Theatre's 2016 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

The third week will begin on Monday, May 23 with the season's final performance of Alexei Ratmansky's Shostakovich Trilogy, set to music by Dmitri Shostakovich with scenery by George Tsypin, costumes by Keso Dekker and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. Symphony #9 received its World Premiere at New York City Center on October 18, 2012, led by Polina Semionova, Marcelo Gomes, Herman Cornejo, Simone Messmer and Craig Salstein. Chamber Symphony and Piano Concerto #1 both received their World Premieres at the Metropolitan Opera House on May 31, 2013, with Chamber Symphony danced by David Hallberg, Isabella Boylston, Paloma Herrera and Julie Kent, and Piano Concerto #1 led by Diana Vishneva, Cory Stearns, Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev.

American Ballet Theatre's Revival Premiere of Frederick Ashton's La Fille mal gardée is scheduled for Tuesday, May 24, led by Isabella Boylston as Lise, Jeffrey Cirio as Colas, Roman Zhurbin as the Widow Simone and Craig Salstein as Alain. The matinee on Wednesday, May 25 will feature Gillian Murphy as Lise and debuts by Cory Stearns (Colas), Marcelo Gomes (Widow Simone) and Arron Scott (Alain). Misty Copeland and Herman Cornejo will debut as Lise and Colas, respectively, at the evening performance on Wednesday, May 25, and Stella Abrera and James Whiteside will dance these roles for the first time on Thursday evening, May 26. The performance on Saturday evening, May 28 will honor Gillian Murphy as she celebrates her 20th Anniversary with the Company. Staged for ABT by Malin Thoors, La Fille mal gardée is set to music by Ferdinand Hérold, freely adapted and arranged by John Lanchbery from the 1828 version, and features designs by Osbert Lancaster, a scenario by Jean Dauberval and lighting by Brad Fields. La Fille mal gardée received its World Premiere by The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on January 28, 1960, danced by Nadia Nerina (Lise), David Blair (Colas), Alexander Grant (Alain) and Stanley Holden (Widow Simone). The ballet received its United States Premiere by The Royal Ballet at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York on September 14, 1960, danced by the same cast. La Fille mal gardée received its American Ballet Theatre Company Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York on May 31, 2002, danced by Ashley Tuttle (Lise) and Ethan Stiefel (Colas).

The season's first performance of Le Corsaire on Tuesday, May 31 will be led by Maria Kochetkova (Medora), Herman Cornejo (Conrad), Sarah Lane (Gulnare), Daniil Simkin (Lankendem), Jeffrey Cirio (Ali, the Slave) and Craig Salstein (Birbanto). The matinee on Wednesday, June 1 will include debuts by Devon Teuscher as Gulnare, Joo Won Ahn as Lankendem and Gabe Stone Shayer as Birbanto. Exchange Artist Mathias Heymann, an étoile with the Paris Opera Ballet, will make his ABT debut on Wednesday evening, June 1 in the role of Conrad. Gabe Stone Shayer will dance the role of Lankendem for the first time at the same performance. On Friday, June 3 the performance will include debuts by Hee Seo as Medora, James Whiteside as Conrad and Jeffrey Cirio as Lankendem. Based on the Lord Byron poem "The Corsair" (1814), the ballet features choreography by Konstantin Sergeyev after Marius Petipa, and staging by Anna-Marie Holmes after Petipa and Sergeyev, with music by Adolphe Adam, Cesare

Pugni, Léo Delibes, Riccardo Drigo and Prince Oldenbourg. Scenery and costumes are by Irina Tibilova, with additional costume designs by Robert Perdziola and lighting by Mary Jo Dondlinger. Le Corsaire received its Company Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on June 19, 1998 with Nina Ananiashvili (Medora), Giuseppe Picone (Conrad), Ashley Tutttle (Gulnare), Vladimir Malakhov (Lankendem), Jose Manuel Carreño (Ali, the slave) and Angel Corella (Birbanto).

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre's 2016 Metropolitan Opera House season, beginning at $20, are available online, at the Met box office or by phone at 212-362-6000. 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.