American Ballet Theatre

“Petal,” “Petite Mort,” “Paquita”
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 25, 2026

In programming Helen Pickett’s stripped-down, richly hued “Petal” and Jiří Kylián’s curious “Petite Mort” with Natalia Makarova’s tired staging of “Paquita,” ABT, perhaps inadvertently, made the best case yet for a slick (and sensual) modern direction. The dancing was most multilayered and revealing of the dancers in those works, and while the company danced the lone classical offering well

"Birthday Offering", "Mercurial Son", "Ballet Imperial"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026, matinee

Perhaps coincidentally, the “Neoclassical Works” program with ballets from three very different choreographers (Sir Frederick Ashton, Kyle Abraham, and Balanchine) all featured glimpses of men alone on stage searching yearningly or restlessly for something.  Ashton’s “Birthday Offering” (1956), a radiantly abstract celebration of classical ballet, had an anonymous cavalier looking longingly around the empty

"Petal", "Petite Mort", "Paquita"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 22, 2026

ABT’s optimistically named “Fresh Visions and Timeless Classics” program included ABT’s first performances of Helen Pickett’s “Petal”, originally choreographed in 2008 for the Aspen/Santa Fe Ballet, Jiří Kylián’s “Petite Mort”, first danced in 1991 by the Nederlands Dans Theater, and a revival of Natalia Makarova’s 1983 staging for ABT of the final act of Petipa’s “Paquita”

“Swan Lake”
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 18, 2026

At the closing performance of American Ballet Theatre’s 2026 summer season, Catherine Hurlin and Isaac Hernández stripped the myth out of "Swan Lake" and danced the leads like two people who could plausibly live down the street from you. Whether the choice was calculated or simply fatigue setting in on a long season, the effect was a unique, if not wholly compelling, reading of the

“Don Quixote”
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 7, 2026

Though it was promoted as a new production, Susan Jaffe’s new staging of “Don Quixote” for American Ballet Theatre proved to be more of a touch-up, and mostly in the wrong spots. It may have tied the ballet more closely to its titular character – something no one had really complained was missing over the last century – but Jaffe, working together with Susan Jones, missed

“Swan Lake”
American Ballet Theatre
The Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 19 and July 18 (matinee), 2026

Much has been written about the splendor of Chloe Misseldine's dancing in American Ballet Theatre's "Swan Lake" over the past couple of years, including the debut that led to her onstage promotion, but little of it prepares one for the nuance of the live experience. In her third season dancing the dual roles of Odette/Odile, Misseldine has refined

"Sylvia"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 10, 2026 matinee and evening and July 11, 2026 matinee and evening

The high-class circus of “Don Quixote” week was followed by the stylish exaltation of Ashton’s “Sylvia”; both ballets are joyful explosions of dancing with large casts which allow ABT to show off its many dancers, but “Sylvia”, with its cohesive and coherent style is first-class art as well as first-class entertainment.  The

"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 3, 2026

It was only July 3rd, but the audience seemed primed for an evening of fireworks when Jake Roxander made his highly anticipated complete “Don Quixote” debut—he had danced Act III in the all-hands-on-deck emergency “Don Quixote” the previous Wednesday.  The applause began during the overture (so great to hear Minkus getting his due for the wonderfully danceable score) and continued all

"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 1, 2026, matinee

Cy Doherty first performed the Don in 2022 as an apprentice, creating a remarkably vivid picture, both comic and tragic, of a befuddled but sincere visionary searching for an ideal.  He was equally vivid in this performance, though the new production has turned the iconic dreamer into a silly old man who just wants a young wife.  The traditional ballet is about the

"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 29, 2026

ABT’s newish version of “Don Quixote”, overseen by Director Susan Jaffe and regisseur Susan Jones, uses the lovely 1978 sets by Santo Loquasto and most of the costumes, though the corps’ charming character shoes have been replaced by point shoes which meant that the corps’ Spanish flair in Act III lost the dynamic contrast with the more formal point work. Though the men have kept

"Onegin"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 27, 2026, evening

ABT’s final performance this season of John Cranko’s “Onegin” , based on the poem by Alexander Pushkin, was a feast of fine dancing, with Christine Shevchenko as Tatiana, Zimmi Cocker as her sister Olga, Jake Roxander as Lensky, and Jarod Curley debuting as the tortured Onegin.  This was a bitter-sweet debut, since the program was originally scheduled as Cory Stearns’ farewell before an

"Raymonda: Grand Pas Hongrois", "Firebird"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
March 21, 2026, matinee

There were feathers in both ballets danced at the Saturday matinee—lots of feathers in Ratmansky’s “Firebird” and a feather in Raymonda’s hair in Susan Jaffe’s new staging of the Grand Pas from Petipa’s “Raymonda”. The feathers in “Firebird” (costumes by Galina Solovyeva) had a flashy exoticism, so appropriate for Ratmansky’s post modern take on the