Cory Stearns News

Petipa, who of the three choreographers listed in the program has the most influence on American Ballet Theatre's Le Corsaire, knows how to create a dramatic excuse for dance. With a few notable exceptions, 'Giselle' and 'Romeo and Juliet' come instantly to my mind, declarative dance which spends twenty minutes to hammer out an 'I love you' through pirouettes can be draining and leave the audience thinking 'Just spit it out.' Petipa, clearly seeing this dramatic shortcoming, forms his ballets around vast pageants, processionals, and presentations. The Black Swan seduces by exhibition at a banquet, the last glorious act of The Sleeping Beauty is a virtually plotless celebration, and practically the entire Nutcracker is a series of vignettes formed around a presentation. Le Corsaire is no different. The first act features the presentation of several ballerinas. The second act is centered around the principal dancers performing to 'entertain the group'. Then, in act three, a pasha spends a lengthy amount of time in a dream sequence which features, what else, women and flowers. Superficially, this all works wonderfully and the dancers shamelessly take this opportunity to exploit their most acrobatic technique. The piece's issues begin upon the introduction of the words 'slave girls.'

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.

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

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

American Ballet Theatre's 2017 Spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House, May 15-July 8, will feature the New York Premiere of Alexei Ratmansky's Whipped Cream and the Company Premiere of Ratmansky's Souvenir d'un lieu cher. Tickets for ABT's Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House go on sale at the box office on Sunday, March 26 at 12 Noon.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts will present the World Premiere of American Ballet Theatre's new production of Whipped Cream, choreographed by ABT Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, with sets and costumes by pop-surrealist Mark Ryden. ABT will give seven performances of the full-length work March 15-19, 2017 in Segerstrom Hall.

As with all classic ballets in order to bring it to the stage you must breathe new life into it, and create a narrative that balances fidelity to the original with the genius of the modern choreographer. Not to mention the unique talents and personalities of each dancer. Kevin McKenzie, ABT's Artistic Director, brings this 19th-century classic into the 21st century with great sensitivity, but also with a sense of fun and celebration.

American Ballet Theatre marks its annual engagement with one of the most beloved full-length classical ballets, Swan Lake, January 25-29 for seven performances in the Opera House.

Casting for American Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker, co-presented by Segerstrom Center for the Arts and ABT, was announced today by Kevin McKenzie, ABT Artistic Director and Terry Dwyer, Segerstrom Center President. Choreographed by ABT Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, The Nutcracker will be given 12 performances at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, December 9-18, 2016. The Nutcracker, set to music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, features choreography by Alexei Ratmansky, scenery and costumes by award-winning designer Richard Hudson and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. The Pacific Symphony performs the beloved holiday score. In the Los Angeles Times review from last year's inaugural Center performance, it declared, "Choreographer Alexei Ratmansky has made his own Christmas miracle: a joyful 'Nutcracker' ballet that is ravishing and clever enough to inspire multiple viewings."

American Ballet Theatre marks its annual engagement with one of the most beloved full-length classical ballets, Swan Lake, January 25-29 for seven performances in the Opera House.

American Ballet Theatre's 2017 Spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House, May 15-July 8, will feature the New York Premiere of Alexei Ratmansky's Whipped Cream and the Company Premiere of Ratmansky's Souvenir d'un lieu cher, it was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.  

Casting for American Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker, co-presented by Segerstrom Center for the Arts and ABT, was announced today by Kevin McKenzie, ABT Artistic Director and Terry Dwyer, Segerstrom Center President. Choreographed by ABT Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, The Nutcracker will be given 12 performances at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, December 9-18, 2016. The Nutcracker, set to music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, features choreography by Alexei Ratmansky, scenery and costumes by award-winning designer Richard Hudson and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. The Pacific Symphony performs the beloved holiday score. In the Los Angeles Times review from last year's inaugural Center performance, it declared, "Choreographer Alexei Ratmansky has made his own Christmas miracle: a joyful 'Nutcracker' ballet that is ravishing and clever enough to inspire multiple viewings."

World-renowned ballet artists will share the stage for one spectacular night of dance at Festival Ballet Theatre's Gala of the Stars on Today, August 12, 2016 at 6pm.

Programming for American Ballet Theatre's 2016 Fall Season, October 19-30, at the David H. Koch Theater was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.  The season will feature a World Premiere by Jessica Lang, the Company Premiere of Daphnis and Chloe by Benjamin Millepied and revivals of George Balanchine's Prodigal Son and Frederick Ashton's Symphonic Variations.

Alexei Ratmansky's 2015 version of 'Sleeping Beauty,' based on the Stepanov notation of the original 1890 version, as well as Diaghilev's production in 1921, has always posed a problem for me. I saw it last year with a friend, and our reaction was the same: why do we need this new 'Sleeping Beauty?' It's beautiful to look at, lavish to the extreme, but is there anything really new in this 'Sleeping Beauty' that we have not seen before? With every new version of this classic we want to see the choreographer's mind and heart at work; why was this warhorse tackled again? What speaks to the soul, how can the ballet literally take wings and have us fly with it? That is the problem with 'Sleeping Beauty.' For all its beauty, it remains earthbound. It's better to read about than view. History is indeed interesting, but not at these prices, especially if you're trying to build a new audience as the baby boomers are now in their sixties and moving on. Who will take their places at the ballet, especially at these prices?

World-renowned ballet artists will share the stage for one spectacular night of dance at Festival Ballet Theatre's Gala of the Stars on Friday, August 12, 2016 at 6pm.

ABT's Resident Choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, who created the version of 'The Golden Cockerel' that had its company premiere on June 6th 2016, is quoted in a Playbill article by Caroline Hamilton as saying, 'This production is overwhelmingly theatrical'. Ah, so that explains why there is virtually no dancing in the entire first act and very little in the second act! A little research reveals that Ratmansky reportedly added more dancing after getting less than laudatory reviews in 2012 when his 'Cockerel' opened in Copenhagen. Yet mime still predominates, which is the legacy of the unwieldy and heavy original costume designs by avant-garde artist Natalia Goncharova for the 1914 and 1937 Ballet Russes opera ballet productions of 'Le Coq d'Or' with choreography by Fokine. (In 1914, 'baby ballerina' Tamara Karsavina danced the role of the Queen of Shemakhan with Enrico Cecchetti as the Astrologer. The Cockerel was a stage prop.)

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

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.

On the evening of May 16th 2016 at the Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center, the beloved troupe that was recognized as 'America's National Ballet Company' in 2006 by the United States Congress proved once again that the American Ballet Theatre is indeed a treasure. Dancegoers in dazzling formal attire were treated to a Spring Gala that eschewed traditional staples and showcased instead an appetite-whetting smorgasbord of excerpts from the spring season as well as a world premiere and the one-act Firebird.