American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre (ABT), based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today. A writer for London's The Observer describes the ABT along with the New York City Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet to be a "triumvirate of great classical companies defining the American style on the world stage today".[1]
There are three levels within the company (in ascending order): ABT's Corps de Ballet,[2] the soloists[3] and the principals;[4] there is also ABT II, formerly known as the ABT Studio Company.[5]
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[edit] History
The company was founded in 1937 as the Mordkin Ballet, and then reorganized in 1940 with a new name as the Ballet Theatre. For 40 years Lucia Chase directed it, working with many choreographers and ballet masters. In 1956, it was renamed the American Ballet Theatre, and has kept that name ever since. American Ballet Theatre performs at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in New York. In 1960, the company became the first American ballet company to dance in the Soviet Union.
[edit] Artistic Directors
- Lucia Chase and Oliver Smith (1940–1980)
- Mikhail Baryshnikov (1980–1989)
- Jane Hermann and Oliver Smith (1989–1992)
- Kevin McKenzie (1992–present)
[edit] Dancers
[edit] Dancers of ABT's Past (partial listing)
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[edit] Current dancers
[edit] Principal Dancers[4]
[edit] Soloists[3]
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[edit] Corps de Ballet[2]
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[edit] Apprentices
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[edit] ABT Studio Company
ABT Studio Company is a small company of young dancers (ages 16–20) handpicked from around the world. These dancers train in the program for one or two years, then join ABT's main company or other leading professional companies.
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[edit] Special Repertoire
Maybe no other choreographer was as closely associated with ABT as the great British choreographer Antony Tudor, who made his American debut with the company. The other continuous creative force was the legendary Agnes de Mille. She staged the majority of her ballet works with them. Many choreographers have mounted works especially for ABT, including George Balanchine, Adolph Bolm, Michel Fokine, Léonide Massine, and Bronislava Nijinska. Other renowned choreographers who have worked at ABT include Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, and Alvin Ailey.
ABT's 1976 production of The Nutcracker starring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland was televised the following year and has become a broadcast classic.
The main season is held during eight weeks in the spring at New York City's Metropolitan Opera House.
[edit] Education
Today, ABT encourages the growth of dance and choreography by holding a summer intensive session for young people from across the country. Its Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School teaches throughout the year the style and techniques specifically used by ABT. Tony Award-winner David Alvarez, one of the original Billys in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot the Musical,[9] was a student on full scholarship at the JKO School and has danced feature roles in the ABT's productions of The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty.[10]
[edit] Ballets Performed
Below is an alphabetical list of works which have been performed by American Ballet Theatre. Not all of the works are currently in the company's repertory.
Adagio for Strings, Afternoon of a Faun (Robbins), Afternoon of a Faun (Nijinsky), Airs, Aleko, Amazed in Burning Dreams, Americans We, Amnon V'Tamar, L'Amour et son Amour, Anastasia, Angrismene, Annabel Lee, Apollo, Appalachian Spring, Artemis, At Midnight, Awakening
Bach Partita, Le Baiser de la Fée (John Neumeier), Baker's Dozen, Le Bal, Balladen der Liebe, Ballet Imperial, Barn Dance, Baroque Game, La Bayadère, Beatrice, The Beloved, Billy the Kid, Birthday Offering, Bitter Rainbow, Black Ritual (Obeah), Black Tuesday, Blood Wedding, Bluebeard, Bolero (solo), Bolero, Bourrée Fantasque, Brahms Quintet, A Brahms Symphony, The Brahms-Haydn Variations, Brief Fling, Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, The Bull Dancers, Bum's Rush
The Capital of the World, Capriccio Espagnol, Capriccioso, Caprichos, The Careless Burghers, Carmen (Alberto Alonso), "Carmen" (Roland Petit), Carnaval, The Catherine Wheel, Cinderella, Cinderella (Kudelka), Circo de Espana, Clair de Lune, Clear, The Combat, Concerto (Dollar/Chopin), Concerto (Dollar/Mendelssohn), Close to Chuck, Concerto (MacMillan), Concerto (Ross), Concerto no. 1 for Piano and Orchestra, Concerto Six Twenty-Two (duet), Concert Waltzes, Configurations, Conflict, Continuum, Conterdances, Coppélia, Corbaille de Fleurs, Le Corsaire (full-length ballet), Le Corsaire Pas de Deux, Cruel World
Dancing with Monet, Danses Concertante, Catie Stillwell, Danza del Molinero, Dark Elegies, Death and the Maiden, Les Demoiselles de la Nuit, Designs with Strings, Desir (pas de deux), Dialogues, Diana and Actéon (pas de deux), Dim Lustre, Disposition, Diversion of Angels, Divertimento-Rossini, Divertissement D'Auber, Don Domingo de Don Blas, Donizetti Variations, Don Quixote (ballet), Don Quixote (Grand pas de deux), Don't Panic!, Dorian, The Dream, Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes, Duets
Eccentrique, Echoing of Trumpets, Eden (pas de deux), Electra, Elegy, The Elements, The Enchanted, The Encounter, Enough Said, Ensayo Sinfonica, Epilogue, Esmeralda (pas de deux – after Perrot), Esmeralda (pas de deux – Stevenson), La Esmeralda (Beriosoff), Espana, Estuary, The Eternal Idol, Etudes, Everlast
Facsimile, Fair at Sorochinsk, Fall River Legend, Fancy Free, Fandango, Fantaisie Serieuse, The Fantastic Toyshop, Festa, Fest Polonaise, Field Chair and Mountain, La Fille Mal Gardée, Firebird, Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan, Five Sketches, Flames of Paris, Flower Festival in Genzano, Follow the Feet, The Four Marys, Francesca da Rimini, From Here on Out, The Fugue
Gaîté Parisienne, Gala Performance, The Garden of Villandry, Gartenfest, Gayaneh (pas de deux), Gemini, Getting Closer, Gift of the Magi, Giselle, Glinka Pas de Trois, Glow-Stop, Gong , Goya Pastoral, Goyescas, Graduation Ball, Grand Pas Classique, Le Grand Pas de Deux, Grand Pas (Glazunov), Grand Pas Romantique, Le Grand Spectacle, Grand Tarantella, Grass, Graziana, The Great American Goof, Great Galloping (Gottschalk), The Green Table, The Guards of Amager (Bournonville)
Hamlet Connotations, Harbinger, Harlequinade (pas de deux – Balanchine), Harlequinade (Pas de deux – Stevenson), The Harvest According, Harvest Time, Helen of Troy, Hereafter, Las Hermanas, Hommage a Lucia, How Near Heaven, The Howling Cat, Huapango
In a Country Garden, In Volo, L'Inconnue, The Informer, Interludes, Intermezzo, Interplay, In The Upper Room, Italian Suite (four dances)
Jabula, Jack And Jill (Pas de deux), Jardin Anime (from Le Corsaire, Act II), Jardin aux Lilas, Jeu D’Esprit (Pièce d’Occasion), Le Jeune Homme et la Mort, Jeux, Jeux des Cartes, Journey, Jubilee, Judgment of Paris, Jump Start
Kaleidoscope, Known by Heart, Kontraste
Lady From the Sea, Lady into Fox, The Leaf and the Wind, The Leaves Are Fading (pas de deux), Legende (pas de deux), Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Lilting Fate, The Little Ballet, Little Improvisations, The Love Song
Mademoiselle Angot, The Maids, Manon, Marimba, Meadow, Mechanical Ballet, Medea (pas de deux), The Meeting, Mendelssohn Symphony, The Merry Widow, Minkus Pas de Trois, The Miraculous Mandarin, The Mirror, Miss Julie, The Mollino Room, Momentum, Monument for a Dead Boy, Moondance, Moonlight Sonata, Moon Reindeer, The Moor's Pavane, La Muerte Enamorada, Murder, My Funny Valentine
Napoli Divertissements, N.Y. Export: Op. Jazz, Night Journey, Nimbus, Nine Sinatra Songs, Les Noces, The Nutcracker (Baryshnikov), The Nutcracker (McKenzie)
Odalisque, Ode to Glory, Offenbach in the Underworld, Once More Frank, On Stage!, Eugene Onegin, Ontogeny, Othello, The Other, Other Dances, Ovid Metamorphoses
Paean, Paquita, Paquita (pas de deux), The Parliament of the Birds, Pas de Deux (Anatole Oboukhoff), Pas de Deux Holberg, Pas de Deux Imperiale (from Anastasia, Act II), Pas de "Duke", Pas de Quatre, Pas d'Esclave (from Le Corsaire), Pas des Deesses, Pas de Trois (Valentina Pereyslavec), Pas et Lignes, Le Passage Enchante, Les Patineurs, Pavane, La Peri (pas de deux), Petite Mort, Peter and the Wolf (Bolm), Peter and the Wolf (Smuin), Petrouchka, Pièce d’Occasion, The Pied Piper, Pierrot Lunaire, Pillar of Fire, Pleroma, Points of Jazz, Polovtsian Dances, Polyandrion, Prevailing Westerlies, Princess Aurora (excerpt from The Sleeping Beauty), The Prodigal Son, A Promise, Pulcinella Variations, Push Comes to Shove
Quartet, Quintet
Rabbit and Rogue (Tharp), Raymonda, Raymonda (Act III), Raymonda (Divertissments), Raymonda (Divertissements from Act II & Act III), Raymonda (Grand Pas Classique), The Red Shoes, Remanso, Les Rendezvous, Rendezvous(Pas de deux – Hoff), Rendezvous (pas de deux – Nijinska), Requiem, Le Retour, Reverie, Rib of Eve, Ricercare (pas de deux), Rigaudon, The Rite of Spring, The River, Rodeo, Romantic Age, Romeo and Juliet (MacMillan), Romeo and Juliet (Tudor), Romeo and Juliet (pas de deux – Bruhn), Romeo and Juliet (pas de deux – Nureyev), Romeo and Juliet (pas de deux – Tchernichov), A Rose for Miss Emily, Russian Soldier
Le Sacre du Printemps (see above: The Rite of Spring), Sargasso, Scherzo for Massah Jack, Schubertiade, Schuman Concerto, Sea-Change, Sebastian, Sechs Tänze, Sentient Bach, Serious Pleasures, Seven Faces of Love, Seven Spanish Songs, Shadow of the Wind, Shadowplay, Side Show, Sin and Tonic, Sinatra Suite, Sinfonietta, "...smile with my heart", Slavonika, The Sleeping Beauty, The Snow Maiden, Soirée Musicale, A Soldier's Tale, Solitaire (pas de deux), Solo, Some Assembly Required, Something Special, Some Times, La Sonnambula, Spartacus (pas de deux, Act III), S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A., Le Spectre de la Rose, Sphinx, The Sphinx, Spring and Fall, Spring Waters, States of Grace, Stepping Stones, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, A Streetcar Named Desire, Streetcar Royalty, Summer Day (pas de deux), Sunset, Swan Lake, Swan Lake (McKenzie), La Sylphide, Les Sylphides, Sylvia, Sylvia (pas de deux), Symphonic Variations, Symphonie Concertante, Symphony in C
Tales of Hoffmann, Tally Ho- or the Frail Quarry, The Taming (pas de deux), The Taming of the Shrew, Tarantella (pas de deux), Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Texas Fourth, Theatre, Theme and Variations, The Thief Who Loved a Ghost, This Property is Condemned, Three-Cornered Hat, Three Essays, Three Preludes, Three Virgins and a Devil, The Tiller in the Fields, Till Eulenspiegel, Times Past, Top Hat and Tails, Torso, The Traitor, Transcendental Etudes, Triad, Trio a Deux, Triptych, Tristan (pas de deux), Tropical Pas de Deux, Turnstile
Undertow, Unfinished Symphony, Us (pas de deux)
Variations on 'America', Variations for Four, La Ventana, Vestris, Venetian Carnival, Voices of Spring, Voluntaries
Walk This Way, Waltz Academy, The Wanderer (Errante), Way Out, Weren't We Fools?, The Wild Boy, The Wind in the Mountains, Winter's Eve, Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison, Without Words, The Wooden Prince (solo), Workout, workwithinwork
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Jennings, Luke (2007-02-18). "One step closer to perfection: The best of Balanchine lights up London — but Stravinsky in Birmingham must not be missed". The Observer. UK: Guardian News and Media Limited. http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2007/feb/18/dance. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
- ^ a b "ABT: Dancers: Corps de Ballet". American Ballet Theatre. http://www.abt.org/dancers/default.asp?section=corpsdeballet. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
- ^ a b "ABT: Dancers: Soloists". American Ballet Theatre. http://www.abt.org/dancers/default.asp?section=soloist. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
- ^ a b "ABT: Dancers: Principals". American Ballet Theatre. http://www.abt.org/dancers/default.asp?section=principal. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
- ^ "ABT: Dancers: ABT II". American Ballet Theatre. http://www.abt.org/dancers/default.asp?page=A§ion=studiocompany. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
- ^ NY Times, Alastair Macaulay and Daniel J. Wakin, September 20, 2011
- ^ Cupcakes & Conversation with Misty Copeland]. Ballet NEWS. April 11, 2011
- ^ Cupcakes & Conversation with Carlos Lopez. Ballet NEWS. August 19, 2011
- ^ Billy Elliott the Musical website
- ^ Playbill
[edit] External links
- Official website
- American Ballet Theatre entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica
- American Ballet Theatre entry in the Columbia Encyclopedia
- Daily Telegraph obituary of Georgina Parkinson, December 20, 2009
- NY Times obituary of Georgina Parkinson, December 18, 2009
- NYPL theatrical lighting database, complete lighting paperwork for Fall River Legend
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