American Ballet Theatre News

It's easy to find big Broadway-type productions in gorgeous old theaters carrying hefty ticket prices. But what's harder to unearth are the off-Broadway gems, those rare performances that come through the city for a night or two every couple of months.

Oscar-nominated actor and founding Wooster Group member Willem Dafoe and legendary performer Mikhail Baryshnikov are a dapperly dressed odd couple, forced to deal with the most inconsiderate of corpses in this surreal melding of absurdism, pitch- black comedy, and vaudeville from iconic director Robert Wilson, THE OLD WOMAN.

Dance Against Cancer raised more than $200,000 for the American Cancer Society on Monday, May 5, 2014. Proceeds from the evening will benefit research initiatives and patient and family service programs. More than 500 guests attended the fourth annual Dance Against Cancer. VIP guests enjoyed cocktails, preferred seating, and a gift bag in addition to the performance and post-event reception. The performance featured new work by Brian Reeder created for American Ballet Theatre's Isabella Boylston with New York City Ballet's Chase Finlay and Amar Ramasar, Paul Taylor Dance Company in its first appearance at the benefit, Charles 'Lil Buck' Riley performed with students from National Dance Institute, and included the NYC premiere of Justin Peck's Sea Change. Scroll down for photos from the performances!

The Harris Theater for Music and Dance today unveiled the world-class dance performances of its 2014-2015 season-a sublime lineup of Chicago debuts and Harris Theater premieres from four national and international sensations, all presented as part of the acclaimed Harris Theater Presents series.

Hilda Morales was born in N.Y. City, and grew up in Puerto Rico. Her early training was with Ana Garcia of the Ballet San Juan. At 14 years of age, Ms. Morales received a Ford Foundation Scholarship to study at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet. She danced as a principal dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet, soloist with American Ballet Theatre, artist-in-residence with the Colorado Ballet and guest appearances with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Albuquerque Ballet and Jacksonville Ballet. During her dancing career, Ms. Morales performed in full-length classic ballets as well as works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor, John Butler, Alvin Ailey, and Jose Limon. Ms. Morales was featured in the movie The Turning Point, in the role of Sandra, directed by Herbert Ross. She guest teaches and is on the faculty of the Central Pennsylvania summer programs, and joined The Hartt School faculty in 1998.

Tickets for the new Broadway revival of ON THE TOWN - the musical-comedy love letter to New York City - are now available exclusively to Audience Rewards members through Sunday, May 11 (www.audiencerewards.com). Beginning Monday, May 12, tickets will be available for purchasewith a special pre-sale code sent to Ticketmaster customers. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Monday, May 19 and will be available at Ticketmaster.com.

Ballet San Jose will conclude its 2014 repertory season-the first under the leadership of new Artistic Director José Manuel Carreño-with Roland Petit's iconic story ballet, Carmen, and Twyla Tharp's masterful In the Upper Room in three performances this weekend, May 9-11 at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts.

Yuriko Kajiya and Jared Matthews, both Soloists with American Ballet Theatre since 2007, will give their farewell performances with the Company on Saturday, July 5 at the Metropolitan Opera House. Kajiya will debut in the role of Swanilda in Coppélia at the matinee, opposite Joseph Gorak as Franz, and Matthews will dance the role of Franz at the evening performance, opposite Paloma Herrera as Swanilda.

New York City Ballet hosts its 2014 Spring Gala tonight, May 8 at 7pm, featuring a special one-time-only program designed by NYCB's Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins to pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of the opening of the New York State Theater (now the David H. Koch Theater) at Lincoln Center, as well as celebrate its future with a World Premiere ballet by choreographer Justin Peck and composer Sufjan Stevens.

Pacific Symphony's critically-acclaimed American Composers Festival (ACF) continues for the 14th year with 'From Screen to Score: New Concert Music by Famous Film Composers'-who happen to be four of today's biggest Hollywood heavy-hitters: John Williams ('Star Wars,' 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' 'E.T., the Extra Terrestrial'), Howard Shore ('Lord of the Rings,' 'The Hobbit,' 'Hugo'), James Horner ('Titanic,' 'Star Trek,' 'Apollo 13') and Elliot Goldenthal ('Alien 3,' 'Batman Forever' and 'Batman and Robin'). Together, these iconic composers boast 11 Oscars and countless billions of box office dollars. They also hold the ironic position of simultaneously being the most-heard orchestral composers ever (the soundtrack for 'Titanic' sold 30 million copies), yet their music is the least performed.

Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch announced today that Jared Matthews and Yuriko Kajiya, currently soloist dancers with American Ballet Theatre (ABT), will join Houston Ballet as first soloists for the 2014-15 season beginning in August 2014.

The world's most celebrated dancing partners, Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev are re-united for this summer's hottest ticket, at the London Coliseum, Wednesday 6th - Saturday 9th August in producer Sergei Danilian's presentation of SOLO FOR TWO.

The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) congratulates the 50th class of U.S. Presidential Scholars, announced today by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The 20 Scholars in the Arts, all 2014 YoungArts Winners, were nominated to The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars by YoungArts, and selected based on academic, civic and artistic achievement. The award, presented on behalf of the President of the United States, is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon an artistically talented graduating high school senior. Each year, up to 141 high school seniors are recognized as U.S. Presidential Scholars for their accomplishments.

Ballet San Jose Artistic Director José Manuel Carreño has announced that the Company has been invited to tour with celebrated former Bolshoi Ballet starsNatalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev in performances in Southern California, Moscow and London this summer. The tour repertoire will feature Osipova and Vasiliev's debuts in Roland Petit's Carmenwith Ballet San Jose with the balance of the program comprising pas de deux to be performed by the former Bolshoi artists. Performances will be given July 25-27 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA; July 31 and August 1-3 at the Stanislavsky Theatre in Moscow, Russia; and August 6-9 at the London Coliseum in London. The tour is presented by Ardani Artists. For more information, visit www.balletsj.org or www.ardani.com.

Co producers, Erin Fogarty and Daniel Ulbrict of the New York City Ballet, present The 4th Annual Dance Against Cancer, the American Cancer Society's signature dance event dedicated to raising funds and supporting the fight against cancer. Guests enjoy cocktails and passed hors d'oeuvres, as well as world premiere dance performances from companies including New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Alvin Ailey, Martha Graham, Norwegian National Ballet, Broadway's finest, many more. Since its inauguration, Dance Against Cancer has raised over $200,000.00 in support of the American Cancer Society.

After collaborations in 2012 and 2013 with an all-male cast, Tina Croll and Jamie Cunningham's The Men Dancers: From the Horse's Mouth make their return to New York May 30 through June 1 in honor of ballet great Frederic Franklin (1914-2013) in what would have been his centenary year. This celebration will take place at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts (3 Spruce Street, between Park Row and Gold Street) and is presented by Pace University.

Birdland Jazz Club has announed its schedule for May 12 - 18, featuring Joey DeFrancesco Organ Quartet with guest George Coleman, Miss Coco Peru: Have You Heard?, Jason Graae's "49½ Shades of Graae," the Jay Leonhart Duo, and more!

Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and an incredible cast of singers and dancers in a production of works by the award-winning, four-decade songwriting duo John Kander and Fred Ebb on Thursday, May 15 at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore, Friday, May 16 at 8 p.m., Saturday, May 17 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 18 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The evening will include a series of showstoppers, from Cabaret, Chicago, New York, New York, Kiss of the Spider Woman and more.

Casting for the third and fourth weeks of American Ballet Theatre's 2014 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

From the singing, to the staging, and the multimedia effects, every song was a performance work of art and captivated me from beginning to end!