American Ballet Theatre News

Casting for the seventh and eighth weeks of American Ballet Theatre's 2017 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

???????The Joffrey Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet, announces a national call for ALAANA (African, Latino(a), Asian, Arab and Native American) artists to submit applications for The Joffrey Academy's Eighth Annual Winning Works Choreographic Competition. The goal of the award is to recognize talented and emerging ALAANA choreographers whose unique perspective will ignite creativity in the form of original works of dance.  The deadline for application is September 1, 2017.

Taylor Quick moved to New York just nine short months ago, but she's already achieved the role of a lifetime: playing the title role in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE alongside some of New York's brightest stars. But, the young actress, who has family ties to the Great White Way, has neither lost her tenacious work ethic nor her adorable southern accent. Taylor and I chatted about how she booked this dream gig, and what working with a Tony Award-nominated director/choreographer has been like.

Works & Process at the Guggenheim announces the World Premiere of Works & Process Rotunda Project: Daniil Simkin Falls the Shadow with choreography by Alejandro Cerrudo

Spearheaded by American Ballet Theatre principal Daniil Simkin, with new choreography by Alejandro Cerrudo, and projection design by Dmitrij Simkin, Falls the Shadow is a new 30-minute work made in and for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum rotunda. 

Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, today announced that MAD HOT BALLET: Northern Lights raised over $1.3 million. The annual fundraising gala took place last night in Toronto at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Eliot Feld's KIDS DANCE, called 'a New York City treasure' by The New York Times, makes its annual visit to The Joyce for six performances, June 8-11.   The remarkably poised, scrupulously schooled, and impeccably rehearsed whiz-kids, numbering 60, ages 11-17, will delight audiences young and old with Feld classics Meshugana Dance and The Jig is Up, along with two Feld works created especially for Kids Dance: Upside Dance and the new Pointing, a premiere for four young ladies en pointe.  And, continuing his commitment to expanding the repertory with works created expressly for youngsters, Feld will present two new dances: The Wild Current by Laura Careless set to a collage of music that ranges from Debussy to the Native Jazz Quartet, and ?It's The Effort That Counts a collaboration by Conner Bormann, Riley O'Flynn, and Stephanie Terasaki, in which the rhythms are provided by a metronome.

“A prolific choreographer of skillfully constructed dances that respectfully mesh with music and striking visual design” (The New Yorker), Jessica Lang and her company return to Jacob's Pillow for the ensemble's first Ted Shawn Theatre engagement, July 5-9. In addition to a Pillow-commissioned world premiere work, the program includes Lang's Thousand Yard Stare, a dance embodying the incredible pride and honor as well as the searing loss experienced by military veterans. The program will also include the East Coast and company premiere of Lang's Lyric Pieces as well as Solo Bach, Sweet Silent Thought, and The Calling. This season, the Pillow has formed a partnership with the Tanglewood Music Center, whereby Tanglewood Fellows and alumni will be providing the music accompaniment for this engagement.

San Francisco Ballet announces ten promotions, eight new Company members, and six apprentices for the 2017-18 Season. Soloist Jennifer Stahl has been promoted to principal dancer, and Isabella DeVivo, Jahna Frantziskonis, Esteban Hernandez, and Steven Morse have been promoted to soloist. In addition, SF Ballet Apprentices Alexandre Cagnat, Shene Lazarus, Davide Occhipinti, Nathaniel Remez, and Isabella Walsh have been promoted to the corps de ballet. Ulrik Birkkjaer and Ana Sophia Scheller join the Company as principal dancers and Solomon Golding, Gabriela Gonzalez, Blake Johnston, Madison Keesler, Wona Park, and Joseph Warton have joined SF Ballet as corps de ballet members. Ethan Chudnow, Anatalia Hordov, Carmela Mayo, Swane Messaoudi, Larisa Nugent, and Benjamin Pearson of San Francisco Ballet School have been promoted to the rank of apprentice.

Capezio, a fourth-generation family-owned and operated business, has named fashion industry veteran, Lynn Shanahan, as its CEO.  Shanahan is the first non-family member to run the dance industry's most revered footwear and apparel brand. She is also the company's first female CEO in its 130-year-old history and is herself, an award-winning, competitive ballroom dancer.

The School Of American Ballet (SAB) held it's annual alumni cocktail reception on June 2, 2017. The SAB event was held at it's Lincoln Center location and was attended by many of it's illustrious alumni.  SAB is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the school of George Balanchine's New York City Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the age of six, with professional vocational ballet training for students aged 11-18.

On Tuesday, June 6, over 3,500 New York City Public School children will attend American Ballet Theatre's Young People's Ballet Workshop at the Metropolitan Opera House at 11:00A.M. Hosted by ABT Studio Company Artistic Director Kate Lydon, the program will include original pieces by students participating in ABT's Make a Ballet program, as well as excerpts from ABT's Spring Season repertoire performed by Company dancers.

Following successful, sold-out ballet festivals in 2013 and 2015, The Joyce Theater Foundation (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) is thrilled to once again present a two-week festival of ballet showcasing some of America's most exciting contemporary companies and choreographers with Joyce commissions on each program. The remarkable Ballet Festival, co-curated by Curatorial Associate John Selya, is designed to recognize dancers and choreographers who are creating work outside the traditional large company setting - and, in many cases, forming their own companies - will take place from July 18 - 29 at The Joyce Theater.

Happy Friday, BWW Dance! Here are the top dance stories from around the BroadwayWorld you might have missed this week!

Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, today announced that special guest Mikhail Baryshnikov will attend this year's annual fundraising gala, MAD HOT BALLET: Northern Lights on June 6, 2017 which celebrates Canada's 150th anniversary.

Eryc Taylor Dance (ETD) will join Paul Taylor Dance and seven other dance companies in performance at the second annual "Dancers for Good" benefit at the Ross School in East Hampton, NY, Saturday June 3 at 7:30pm.

Upcoming events have been announced for Auditorium Theatre. See the full lineup below!

Happy Friday, BWW Dance! Here are the top dance stories from around the BroadwayWorld you might have missed this week!

Michael Jinsoo Lim's capable hands have serenaded music lovers in the top halls of the US

Two internationally acclaimed dance companies, a celebrated choreographer and a Tony Award-winning host have just been added to the already stellar lineup of Fire Island Dance Festival, which takes the stage July 14-16, 2017, in Fire Island, NY.