American Ballet Theatre

"Swan Lake"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 11, matinee 2025

After last year’s New York debut in “Swan Lake”, the critics all raved about Chloe Misseldine’s performance and her on-stage promotion to principal.  I didn’t see it so wondered if her 2025 “Swan Lake” would live up to the hype.  The answer is “No”—it far exceeded it.  Not since the old Royal Ballet’s performances

"Crime and Punishment"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 30, 2024

As Oscar Wilde wrote “all bad poetry is sincere”.  The same can be said for all forms of art, as unfortunately Helen Pickett’s “Crime and Punishment”, ABT’s new ballet, shows.  In a recent interview in the “New York Times” Pickett described her fascination with Dostoevsky’s famous novel and talked about her dedication in turning

"The Kingdom of the Shades", "Sylvia Pas de Deux", "Pas de Deux from Great Galloping Gottschalk", "Neo", "In the Upper Room"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 26, matinee 2024

The theater’s dry ice machine got a good workout during this matinee as three of the five works used the fog machine to great effect.  “The Kingdom of the Shades”, the white act from the full length nineteenth century

"La Boutique", "Mercurial Son", "Études"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 8, 2024

ABT opened it’s Fall season with two premieres, Gemma Bond’s “La Boutique” and Kyle Abraham’s “Mercurial Son”, and Harald Landers’ 1948 “Etudes”, a salute to classical ballet that ABT first danced in 1961. Though “Etudes” does have an homage to the grand nineteenth century ballets, especially the works of the Danish choreographer August Bournonville, and “La

"Ballet Imperial", "The Dream"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 26, 2023

ABT’s “Ballet Imperial”, familiar to New York audiences as NYCB’s “Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2”, uses scenery and costumes based on the original Rouben Ter-Arutunian designs for the 1964 NYCB revival of the 1941 ballet when it was still Imperial (the glimpse of old Russia in the background and the elaborate tutus were replaced in 1973 by a

"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
July 4, 2023, matinee

ABT celebrated the 4th of July with their solid version of the Russo/French "Giselle", a ballet with few fireworks though with plenty of drama.  The two American leads, Devon Teuscher (in her New York debut) and Aran Bell, gave rich, detailed, and committed performances.  Teuscher, a tall, regal dancer, is not a typical Giselle (she is a stunning Myrta, a

"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
July 5, 2023 matinee

ABT's policy of giving as many principals as possible a shot at a role limits the opportunities to explore and to grow into a role--one or two performances of "Giselle" every few years makes it difficult to play around with different interpretations and also means that dancers get cast in roles for which they might not seem suited.  But this policy does

"Like Water For Chocolate"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 24, 2023, matinee

Balanchine once famously said that there are no mothers in law in ballet, but that is certainly not true, as his revered "The Sleeping Beauty" proves; no one has trouble figuring out the relation of the Queen to the Prince in Act III.  But his point that ballet is not suited to complex plots is certainly valid, and Christopher

"The Dream", "The Seasons"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 26, 2022

Frederick Ashton choreographed his version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as part of the 400th anniversary celebration of Shakespeare's birth.  The ballet also celebrated the birth on one of the twentieth century's most noted partnerships, as it gave Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell the starring  roles and Ashton's Titania and Oberon are saturated with those dancers' qualities. Alexei

"Whipped Cream"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 21, 2022

Alexei Ratmansky's deceptively frivolous "Whipped Cream" got a bracing performance, led by guest artist Daniil Simkin, the original Boy with the insatiable sweet tooth.  The wisp of a story of a boy celebrating his first communion by sucking up so much whipped cream that he ended up in a hospital where he hallucinated a magical kingdom with a beautiful Princess Praline,

American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
July 16, 2022, matinee

Kenneth MacMillan's "Romeo and Juliet" is an audience magnet and the Met was pointing straight north for Cassandra Trenary's debut as the doomed heroine.  Though the work does have its dry patches--cue those frizzy haired harlots who help pad the second act (and who seem to have had a fresh perm for the occasion)--it is a true tear-jerker, as effective as any

"Theme and Variations", "Single Eye", "Zig Zag"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 22, 2022, matinee

This performance of ABT's only triple bill this season, subtitled (a bit hopefully) "American Splendor", was dedicated to Kevin McKenzie,  after 30 years as Director of ABT.  The evening opened with brief remarks by Gillian Murphy and Herman Cornejo introduced a short film summarizing Mr. McKenzie's career (including adorable pictures of him as a very