American Ballet Theatre News

Dances Patrelle is pleased to announce its spring 2019 season, including the world premiereof Francis Patrelle's The American Dream: It's Only Business, at New York Live Arts, 219 W 19th Street, NYC 10011. Performances are Friday, April 12 at 7pm, Saturday, April 13 at 2pm and 7pm, and Sunday, April 14 at 12pm. Tickets are $50, with student and senior discounts available, and are currently available at https://newyorklivearts.org/event/dances-patrelle/. 

The Joffrey Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet presents four world premieres in the culmination of Joffrey's national call for ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab and Native American) artists to submit applications for the Joffrey Academy's Ninth Annual Winning Works Choreographic Competition. This year's Competition winners-Tommie-Waheed Evans, Marissa Osato, Xiang Xu and Edgar Zendejas-each have choreographed an original work created on the Joffrey Academy Trainees and Studio Company. Winning Works returns to the Museum of Contemporary Art's Edlis Neeson Theater (220 E. Chicago Avenue) for three performances, Saturday, March 9 at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM and Sunday, March 10 at 2:00 PM. Tickets for Winning Works are $25 and now available for purchase at joffrey.org/winningworks.

American Ballet Theatre (ABT), America's National Ballet Company, brings the Chicago premiere of its new story ballet Whipped Cream to the Auditorium Theatre April 11-14. Whipped Cream features choreography by ABT Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, sensational sets and stunning costumes by pop-surrealist artist Mark Ryden, and a revived 1924 score by composer Richard Strauss (performed by the Chicago Philharmonic).

Seven of the world's leading ballet talents, all dancers with the New York City Ballet, will grace the Township Auditorium stage March 31, as the University of South Carolina Department of Theatre and Dance presents the14th Annual Ballet Stars of New York Gala Performance.

The Actors Fund, a national human services organization that has served all professionals in the performing arts and entertainment industry since 1882, today announced that a kick-off reception for the 2019 Heart & Soul Gala was held recently Palm Beach, FL. The evening was graciously hosted by Sydell Miller at her incredible home, La Reverie. Hearing Mrs. Miller address those in attendance and sharing the history of the home was a special experience.

The Clive Barnes Foundation, under the leadership of former Royal Ballet soloist Valerie Taylor-Barnes, awarded its prizes today for the 9th Annual Clive Barnes Awards, recognizing excellence in Theater and Dance, to Edmund Donovan (Theater, Lewiston/Clarkston) and Zoey Anderson (Dance, Parsons Dance). The awards were presented by Michael Novak, artistic director of Paul Taylor Dance Company and Tony-winner Beth Leavel, currently starring in Broadway's The Prom. The event, hosted by New York Post columnist and WOR radio personality Michael Riedel was held at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center.

Having taken Moscow and Saint Petersburg by storm Diana Vishneva's CONTEXT Festival starts its international tour in London in spring 2019. The audience will have a unique and extremely rare opportunity to see Diana Vishneva perform on a London stage. CONTEXT Festival will perform at Sadler's Wells Theatre on Tuesday 12th March 2019.

Verb Ballets, Northeast Ohio's premiere contemporary ballet company, celebrates the life and work of Ian Horvath (1943-1990) on February 9, 2019 in an evening titled Dance Legacy: Celebrating the Life of Ian Horvath. The three-part performance will honor Horvath's impact on dance in Cleveland and will recognize his work as an AIDS advocate. Tragically, he lost his battle to AIDS at the age of 46.

New York Theatre Ballet announces the company's 2018-19 performances of their critically acclaimed Once Upon a Ballet series geared to audiences ages 3 and up and running time of one hour for young attention spans. This season's offerings include: Keith Michael's The Nutcracker from December 14-16, 2018 and Cinderella February 9 & 10, 2019 at Florence Gould Hall, 55 E 59th St, New York, NY 10022. Single tickets: $27 adults $15 children, for both Nutcracker and Cinderella: $20 adults $12 children, http://nytb.org/calendar-and-tickets.

Amas Musical Theatre and The Amas Musical Theatre Lab, in association with LaVie Productions, will present staged readings of Victory Train, a new musical, with book, music and lyrics by David Buskin and Jake Holmes.

Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts has announced the first performances of Summer 2019 at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, February 23; Wolf Trap members (donors of $80 and up) have access to presales and are beginning to purchase tickets now. A complete calendar of performances may be found at wolftrap.org/calendar and a press release dedicated to Wolf Trap Opera, Symphony and Dance is here. Ticketing information and links to print-ready photography are below.

Ashley Wheater, The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director of The Joffrey Ballet, proudly announces an impressive 2019-2020 season featuring a Chicago premiere from Northern Ballet Artistic Director Cathy Marston, along with a Chicago premiere from Tony Award-winning choreographer and New York City Ballet Resident Choreographer Justin Peck, plus the return of an audience favorite by choreographer Yuri Possokhov, and Christopher Wheeldon's holiday classic The Nutcracker. The Joffrey Ballet begins its 64th season with Marston's modern re-telling of Jane Eyre, October 16-27, 2019, followed by Wheeldon's magical holiday classic The Nutcracker, November 30-December 29, 2019. For its winter engagement, the Joffrey presents a mixed repertory program that includes the Chicago premiere of Peck's acclaimed The Times Are Racing, the Chicago premieres of Mono Lisa and The Sofa by Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili, Wheeldon's Commedia, and Bliss!, a new work from Stephanie Martinez, winner of the Joffrey's 2015 Winning Works choreographic competition, February 12-23, 2020. Closing the season is the return of Possokhov's Don Quixote, April 22- May 3, 2020, which received its world premiere in Chicago in 2011.

Purchase College, State University of New York's Broadway Technical Theatre History Project, will present the Eighth Annual Broadway technical 'Backstage Legends and Masters Award' to esteemed theater legend, David Rosenberg on Monday, April 22, 2019 at 7 p.m.

Renowned dance company Jessica Lang Dance performs the creative and inspiring work of award-winning choreographer Jessica Lang at Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre in Malibu on Tuesday, March 5 at 8 p.m. at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts.

When the American Ballet Theatre came to Washington, D.C. last year, they served up a delectable Whipped Cream at the Kennedy Center. In 2019, the company has returned with a similarly infectious Harlequinade which, even when viewed independent of Whipped Cream, never reaches the technical heights expected of such a revered company. At Tuesday's performance, the murmurs I overheard at intermission were largely mixed with one audience member calling the dance 'enjoyable but so thin it was like looking through cellophane.' Harlequinade is a fun evening-but it plays more as an introduction to ballet then as a truly triumphant production.

Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, today announced that Corps de Ballet members Jeannine Haller (22) and Siphesihle November (20) will represent the company at The Thirteenth International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize on Saturday, March 23, 2019 at 7:30 pm at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Choreographic Workshop alumna Alysa Pires creates a new contemporary work commissioned by the National Ballet for the choreographic prize. #BruhnPrize

The Actors Fund, a national human services organization that has served all professionals in the performing arts and entertainment industry since 1882, today announced that Tony and Emmy Award winning actress/singer/dancer Bebe Neuwirth will serve as Celebrity Host/Emcee at the 10th anniversary Heart & Soul Gala that will be held on Thursday, March 14, at 7 pm, at The Breakers in Palm Beach.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to Chicago March 6-10, commemorating the company's 60th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of its first performances at the Auditorium, its Chicago home. During these special engagements, Ailey gives Midwest premieres to Rennie Harris' Lazarus, the company's first ever two-act ballet; Wayne McGregor's Kairos; and Jessica Lang's EN. The company also performs the Timeless Ailey program, a curated selection of classic pieces by company founder and visionary Alvin Ailey.

New York Theatre Ballet presents Cinderella from February 9-10, 2019 at Florence Gould Hall with performances each day at 11am, 1pm and 3:30pm.