American Ballet Theatre announces 2023 Fall Season in New York

American Ballet Theatre's Fall Season offers three programmes featuring seven ballets including the return of Petite Mort, Études, and Ballet Imperial at The David H. Koch Theater from 18-29 October 2023

Artistic Director Susan Jaffe announced American Ballet Theatre's Fall season programming today. The season will run from 18–29 October at the David H. Koch Theater and will feature three programmes of works:

Classics Old and New will consist of Alexei Ratmansky's Piano Concerto No. 1, Jiří Kylián's Petite Mort, and Harald Lander's Études.

20th Century Works: Balanchine and Ashton will follow with George Balanchine's Ballet Imperial and Frederick Ashton's The Dream.

To close the season, 21st Century Works: King and Ratmansky will include Alonzo King's Single Eye and Ratmansky's On the Dnipro. 

The Fall Gala will take place on Tuesday 24 October at 6:30 pm at the Koch Theater

Classics Old and New

Classics Old and New will run from Tuesday 18 October until Saturday 21 October and will feature Alexei Ratmansky's Piano Concerto No. 1, Jiří Kylián's Petite Mort, and Harald Lander's Études.

Piano Concerto No. 1 is part of a trilogy of works, choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky and set to the music of Dimitri Shostakovich with scenery by George Tsypin, costumes by Keso Dekker, and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. It was given its World Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on 31 May 2013 under the title Piano Concerto #1, danced by Diana Vishneva, Cory Stearns, Natalia Osipova, and Ivan Vasiliev.

Petite Mort was created by Jiří Kylián for the Salzburg Festival on the second centenary of Mozart's death in 1991, incorporating the slow movements of two of Mozart's most beautiful and popular piano concertos. With costumes by Joke Visser and lighting by Joop Caboort, Petite Mort features six men, six women, and six foils. It was given its American Ballet Theatre Company Premiere at City Center, New York on 30 October 2003.

Last performed by ABT in 2008, Harald Lander's Études is an exhilarating tribute to classical ballet, set to music by Carl Czerny. Created in 1948 at the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen for the Royal Danish Ballet, Études was later staged for the Paris Opera in 1952. American Ballet Theatre first presented Études at the 54th Street Theatre on 5 October 1961, with the cast headed by Toni Lander, Royes Fernandez, and Bruce Marks.

20th Century Works: Balanchine and Ashton

20th Century Works: Balanchine and Ashton, ABT's second Fall program, will be given four performances on Saturday 21 October; Sunday 22 October; Wednesday 25 October; and Thursday 26 October. It will consist of George Balanchine's Ballet Imperial and Frederick Ashton's The Dream.

Ballet Imperial, set to Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 2 in G for Piano and Orchestra, evokes the grand era of Russia's Imperial Ballet. The ballet received its World Premiere by American Ballet Caravan at the Hunter College Playhouse, New York on 27 May 1941, danced by Marie-Jeanne, Gisella Caccialanza, and William Dollar. The American Ballet Theatre Company premiere of Ballet Imperial was given on 10 February 1988 at the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, danced by Susan Jaffe, Ross Stretton, and Amanda McKerrow.

Returning for ABT's 2023 Fall season, The Dream is Frederick Ashton's retelling of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and its comedy of errors set in the magical woods of Victorian England. It is set to a score of music by Felix Mendelssohn arranged by John Lanchbery, sets and costumes by David Walker, and lighting by John B Read. The Dream received its World Premiere by The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 2 April 1964, danced by Antoinette Sibley as Titania, Anthony Dowell as Oberon, and Keith Martin as Puck. The Dream was given its American Ballet Theatre Company premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York on 24 May 2002 with Alessandra Ferri as Titania, Ethan Stiefel as Oberon, and Herman Cornejo as Puck. 

21st Century Works: King and Ratmansky

The final four performances of ABT's 2023 Fall season, titled 21st Century Works: King and Ratmansky, will feature Alonzo King's Single Eye and Ratmansky's On the Dnipro with performances from Friday 27 October to Sunday 29 October.

Single Eye is a subtle entreaty for peace and natural harmony during trying times. The visually stunning ballet is set to music by jazz artist and composer Jason Moran, with choreography by Alonzo King, sets and costumes by Robert Rosenwasser and lighting by Jim French. Single Eye was given its World Premiere by American Ballet Theatre on 16 March 2022 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California, danced by Isabella Boylston, Thomas Forster, Calvin Royal III, Skylar Brandt, and Cory Stearns. 

Ratmansky's production of Sergei Prokofiev's On the Dnipro brings audiences to the banks of the mighty Ukrainian river, the Dnipro, and into the life of young soldier Sergei as he arrives home from the battlefields of war. Ratmansky's On the Dnipro received its World Premiere on 1 June 2009 at the Metropolitan Opera House, under the title On the Dnieper, danced by Veronika Part as Natalia, Marcelo Gomes as Sergei, Paloma Herrera as Olga, and David Halberg as Olga's Fiancé. The production has scenery by Simon Pastukh, costumes by Galina Solovyeva, lighting by Brad Fields, and projections by Wendall K. Harrington. Prokofiev's score for On the Dnipro was originally commissioned by the Paris Opera, and the original production received its World Premiere in 1932 by the Paris Opera Ballet. 

Tickets

Tickets for ABT's 2023 Fall season will be available for the general public from Wednesday 6 September at 10:00 am. Tickets can be purchased by phone at +1 212-496-0600, in person at the Koch Theater box office, or online at ABT's website.

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.