Craig Salstein News

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.

'La Fille mal gardee', Frederick Ashton has given us folksy innocence, clever games, and sunny smiles. That smile was perfectly embodied by soloist Jeffrey Cirio, making a splendid debut as Colas in the opening performance of this life affirming ballet. He is more than ably assisted by a cast of tremendous artists who give of themselves completely to making these simple country characters sparkle. And what characters! With an opening danced by five chickens -- four hens and one manic rooster -- how could it be otherwise?

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

For the second time this year, dancers from American Ballet Theatre will be featured in a special ballet category on the television quiz show JEOPARDY!. Today, November 17, 2015, in a category entitled 'Tough Ballet,' ABT Company members will demonstrate iconic excerpts from its repertoire and read the accompanying clues.

For the second time this year, dancers from American Ballet Theatre will be featured in a special ballet category on the television quiz show JEOPARDY!. On Tuesday, November 17, 2015, in a category entitled 'Tough Ballet,' ABT Company members will demonstrate iconic excerpts from its repertoire and read the accompanying clues.

Los Angeles is in for a treat next month! Tony and Grammy-winner Audra McDonald comes to the Hollywood Bowl to sing classics from Broadway and the American Songbook with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the direction of Bramwell Tovey, Tuesday and Thursday, September 1 and 3, at 8 pm. Audiences on both nights will be entertained by McDonald singing famous tunes by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Mancini and Mercer, and others. The evenings also feature gifted American Ballet Theatre dancers on stage to bring Bernstein's Fancy Free to life performing Jerome Robbins' 1944 choreography.

American Ballet Theatre opens its Fall season on Wednesday, October 21 at 6:30 P.M. with a special opening night Gala performance, highlighted by the New York City premiere of a new work by Mark Morris, with music by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (Septet in C Major, No. 2 'Military') and costumes by Issac Mizrahi, and the Company Premiere of Frederick Ashton's Monotones I and II set to music by Erik Satie with costumes by Ashton.

No other ballet dancer has received more publicity than Misty Copeland during the last five years. Her promotion to principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre was announced on June 30, 2015, and picked up immediately by most newspapers and television news shows, including the front page of the New York Times. This long awaited announcement eclipsed the simultaneous promotion of ABT soloist Stella Abrera, another great talent, to principal, who has been waiting longer than Copeland for her promotion.

When the Sadler's Wells (now the Royal Ballet) first performed "Cinderella" on its triumphant 1949 debut performance at the old Metropolitan Opera, John Martin, the eminent New York Times dance critic, was not engrossed. He wrote that it was difficult to be enthusiastic about it, but "if it were stripped of all its dead wood, both musical and choreographic, it would run considerably less than the two and a half hours it now undertakes to fill."

In the wake of Julie Kent's Saturday retirement performance of 'Romeo and Juliet' emerges American Ballet Theatre's week-long run of 'Swan Lake' - their first production without the talents of their three recently retired superstars: Kent, Paloma Herrera, and Xiomara Reyes. Now one of only two American principal ballerinas, Gillian Murphy led the Monday night production as Odette/Odile, bringing new subtlety to the role.

Set in the Royal India of the past, La Bayadere is a story of eternal love, mystery, fate, vengeance, and justice. On Tuesday, June 2nd, at the Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, I was transported to this far away place and time by a marvelous cast, with some of ABT's finest dancers, in a magnificent production, conceived, directed, and choreographed by Natalia Makarova, after Petipa. The rich and memorable music by Ludwig Minkus was specially arranged by John Lanchbery. The lavish scenery for both outdoor and indoor scenes by Pierluigi Samartani, the costumes, designed by Theoni V. Alldredge, and the effective lighting by Toshiro Ogawa, all contributing to the complete transportation to this other world.

Fire Island Dance Festival has captivated audiences for 20 years with a kaleidoscopic mix of famed and fast-rising dancers from ballet to Broadway and everything in between. See dance differently with the Great South Bay as a breathtaking backdrop for some of the most talked-about dance companies and choreographers in the industry

Casting for the third and fourth weeks of American Ballet Theatre's 2015 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

American Ballet Theatre's 75th Anniversary will be the subject of a category on the television quiz show JEOPARDY! today, May 5, 2015. The featured ABT category will include performance footage from several of the upcoming Spring season's iconic ballets, with clues read by ABT dancers.

American Ballet Theatre's 75th Anniversary will be the subject of a category on the television quiz show JEOPARDY! on Tuesday, May 5, 2015. The featured ABT category will include performance footage from several of the upcoming Spring season's iconic ballets, with clues read by ABT dancers.

Casting for the first two weeks of American Ballet Theatre's 2015 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie. 

New York is the home of some of the most renowned and exemplary dance companies in the world, such as New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater. It is quite easy for New York balletomanes to fall into the habit of seeing the same iconic and large-scale works year after year. While there is nothing wrong with seeing particular dancers perform well-known works with their respective companies repeatedly, it is quite refreshing to see some of these New York based dancers perform new works on a much smaller scale.

See some of New York City and the country's most renowned dance companies on Monday, February 16 at 7:30pm at The Joyce Theater (175 8th Avenue), where the NYC Dance Alliance Foundation will present DESTINY RISING, an incredible evening of dance artistry to benefit the NYC Dance Alliance Foundation College Scholarship Program (which to date has awarded $12.5 million in college scholarships to over 200 dancers all over the country). Featuring special performances from prominent professional dance companies from across the United States (plus outstanding NYC Dance Alliance alumni and NYC Dance Alliance faculty), some of the artists and companies taking part include Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, the Intermezzo Dance Company, and Keigwin + Company. There will also be over $50k in college scholarships awarded the night of on 2/16.