American Ballet Theatre Announces Casting for Fifth & Sixth Weeks of 2016 Spring Season

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

The American Premiere of Alexei Ratmansky's The Golden Cockerel will open the fifth week of performances on Monday evening, June 6, with Veronika Part (Queen of Shemakhan), Skylar Brandt (Golden Cockerel) and Gary Chryst (Tsar Dodon) leading the first cast. On Tuesday evening, June 7, Stella Abrera, Cassandra Trenary and Victor Barbee will debut in the roles of Queen of Shemakhan, Golden Cockerel and Tsar Dodon, respectively. The Wednesday matinee cast on June 8 will feature Hee Seo (Queen of Shemakhan), Sarah Lane (Golden Cockerel) and Roman Zhurbin (Tsar Dodon) performing the roles for the first time, and Wednesday evening's performance will feature debuts by Misty Copeland (Queen of Shemakhan), Maria Kochetkova (Golden Cockerel) and Alexei Agoudine (Tsar Dodon). Set to music by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov with sets and costumes by Richard Hudson, Ratmansky's The Golden Cockerel is inspired by Michel Fokine's original production. Anne Holm-Jensen Peyk staged the ballet for ABT. Based on Alexander Pushkin's folktale, The Golden Cockerel was first presented on May 21, 1914 at the Théâtre Nationale de l'Opera, Paris, with choreography by Michel Fokine and scenery and costumes by Natalia Goncharova. Ratmansky's choreography for The Golden Cockerel received its World Premiere by the Royal Danish Ballet on September 29, 2012 at the Copenhagen Opera House, Denmark.

The sixth week will feature eight performances of Swan Lake, June 13-16. The performance on Monday evening, June 13 will be led by Gillian Murphy as Odette/Odile, Marcelo Gomes as Prince Siegfried and Cory Stearns as von Rothbart. Swan Lake is set to the score by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky and features scenery and costumes by Zack Brown and

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FIFTH AND SIXTH WEEKS CASTING ANNOUNCED - Page 2

lighting by Duane Schuler. This production of Swan Lake premiered on March 24, 2000 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. with Julie Kent (Odette-Odile), Angel Corella (Prince Siegfried) and Marcelo Gomes (von Rothbart).

American Airlines is the Official Airline of American Ballet Theatre. ?Northern Trust is the Leading Corporate Sponsor of the American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. ?ABT is supported, in part, with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

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.

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