The American Ballet Theatre Fall 2023 Season presents seven ballets in three programs that provide an epic tour of periods in ballet history; at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center; from October 18-29, 2023. 🇧🇷 🇦🇷 🇺🇸
This is Susan Jaffe‘s first full season as Artistic Director.
Latin Principal Dancers
This season’s Latin principal dancers include Daniel Camargo (Brazil), Herman Cornejo (Argentina), and Calvin Royal III (USA). 🇦🇷 🇧🇷 🇺🇸
American Ballet Theatre Fall 2023 Season Programs
Returning ballets include “Petite Mort,” “Études,” and “Ballet Imperial.”
Classics Old and New
Alexei Ratmansky’s “Piano Concerto No. 1” (2013) is set to music by Dmitri Shostakovich. Ratmansky is one of the choreographers whose work is steeped in classical ballet.
Jiří Kylián’s “Petite Mort” (1991). The “Little Death” is French slang for an orgasm. It’s set to the slow movements of two of Mozart’s most popular piano concertos. The best petite mort is definitely a slow one. Kylián is a Czech contemporary dance choreographer known for his work at the Stuttgart Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater.
Harald Lander’s “Études” (1948) is set to music by Carl Czerny. Lander turned barre exercises into a ballet. The Danish choreographer was artistic director of the Royal Danish Ballet. Denmark was one of the places where ballet was preserved after the fall of the French royal court in 1789.
20th Century Works: Balanchine and Ashton
George Balanchine’s “Ballet Imperial” (1941) is set to Tchaikovsky’s “Concerto No. 2 in G for Piano and Orchestra.” It’s a reference to Balanchine’s Russian Imperial Ballet training. Balanchine is the founder of New York City Ballet and the godfather of ballet in the Americas. Russia was one of the places where ballet was preserved after the fall of the French royal court in 1789.
Frederick Ashton’s “The Dream” (1964) is set to Felix Mendelssohn. Created for London’s Royal Ballet, it is a comic telling of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” about the illusion of love. As Joni Mitchell once sang, “it’s love’s illusions I recall.”
21st Century Works: King and Ratmansky
Alonzo King’s “Single Eye” (2022) is a jazz piece set to Jason Moran that was premiered by ABT. It’s a call for peace and harmony in trying times. The single eye may be a reference to the life-giving sun and the singularity of humanity and Mother Earth. No matter who you are or where you are, we all live under the same sun. Alonzo King is an African American dancer and choreographer from Georgia. Based in San Francisco, King is the founder of LINES Ballet. He is an NEA Fellow, and 2020 Dance Magazine Award winner.
Alexie Ratmansky’s “On the Dnipro” (2009) is set to Prokofiev who wrote the music in a 1932 commission for the Paris Opera Ballet. The Dnipro is Ukraine’s Great River. Ratmansky, ABT artist in residence from 2008-2023, is a former director of Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet. Born in St Petersburg, he was raised in Kyiv, Ukraine and is a vocal supporter for Ukraine.
Gala
The American Ballet Theatre Fall 2023 Gala features a Pièce d’Occasion and excerpts from “Sleeping Beauty,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Swan Lake,” “The Leaves are Falling,” “Don Quixote,” and a James Whiteside World Premiere of “Danzón No. 2, (Cuban Danzón?); at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center; on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 at 6:30pm. 🇦🇷 🇧🇷 🇺🇸
Get Tickets
For more information, tickets, and gala tickets, visit abt.org