American Ballet Theatre

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre logo.png
General information
Name American Ballet Theatre
Previous names
  • Mordkin Ballet
  • Ballet Theatre
Year founded Approx. 1937
Principal venue Metropolitan Opera House
New York City
 United States of America
Website abt.org
Artistic staff
Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie
Other
Associated schools Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School
Formation
  • Principal
  • Soloist
  • Corps de Ballet
  • Apprentice

American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. It has an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spring and a shorter season at the David H. Koch Theater in the fall; the company tours around the world the rest of the year. ABT was founded in 1937 by Lucia Chase and Mikhail Mordkin and is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. ABT is also the parent company of the American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, and was recognized as "America's National Ballet Company" in 2006 by the United States Congress.[1][2]

History

Mikhail Mordkin, a former dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet, left Russia after the October Revolution and settled in the United States in 1924. He staged the country's first production of Swan Lake in 1924, then later formed the "Mordkin Ballet" in 1937 with students from his New York school, with Lucia Chase, his student, as one of his prima ballerinas. By 1939, former Hollywood agent, Richard Pleasant, came to New York to manage the company. By the summer of 1939, Pleasant and Chase developed big ideas to turn the company into a full-fledged ballet company, and to base it on "a gallery of dance rather than the vision of a single choreographer" and a "living museum of dance" with Russian, American and British "wings", and units for black and Hispanic dances. The pair renamed the company "Ballet Theatre" and Mordkin later departed, finding himself solely in the background.

Chase began developing the company's repertoire of well-known full-length ballets, as well as original works, amidst financial issues, until in 1945 Oliver Smith joined Ballet Theatre and became co-director with Chase. In 1957 the company changed its name to "American Ballet Theatre" and continued to focus on ballet classics with continued financial issues until, during the 1960s and 1970s, financial conditions with the company were favorable due to private funding. During this period, American Ballet Theatre shifted its focus to recruiting ballet stars.

In 1977, the company began its spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House, its new official venue, then in 1980 Mikhail Baryshnikov became Artistic Director for American Ballet Theatre. Baryshnikov staged, restaged, and refurbished numerous classical ballets and, according to the company, strengthened their classical tradition. Baryshnikov was replaced by Jane Hermann and Oliver Smith in 1989, and the pair remained as Artistic Directors until in 1992 Kevin McKenzie was appointed. McKenzie satisfied the demands of the traditional ballet audience by prioritizing full-length narrative ballets as well as succeeding in keeping the company afloat during financially unstable times. He established an official associate school in 2004, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School and appointed Alexei Ratmansky as "Artist in Residence" in January 2009 after a long period of no in-house choreographer.[3][4]

Artistic staff

Artistic directors

Resident choreographers

Dancers

American Ballet Theatre has four levels within the company. The are (in ascending order): Apprentice,[6] Corps de Ballet,[7] Soloist[8] and Principal.[9]

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

See also: Category:American Ballet Theatre principal dancers

Principals

Name Nationality Training Other Companies
(inc. guest performances)
Stella Abrera  United States Le Studio
West Coast Ballet Theatre
Halliday Dance Centre		 Royal New Zealand Ballet
Ballet Philippines
The Australian Ballet
Roberto Bolle  Italy La Scala Theatre Ballet School English National Ballet
Finnish National Ballet
La Scala Theatre Ballet
National Ballet of Canada
Stuttgart Ballet
The Royal Ballet
Isabella Boylston  United States Academy of Colorado Ballet
Harid Conservatory
ABT Studio Company
Misty Copeland  United States San Pedro Dance Center
Lauridsen Ballet Center
San Francisco Ballet School
ABT Studio Company
Herman Cornejo  Argentina Instituto Superior de Arte at Teatro Colón
School of American Ballet		 Ballet del Teatro Argentino de La Plata
Ballet Argentino
Barcelona Ballet (former Corella Ballet Castilla y León)
Compañia de Danza Comtemporánea de Cuba
Boston Ballet
New York City Ballet
Sapporo Ballet
Marcelo Gomes  Brazil Helena Lobato and Dalal Achcar Ballet School
Harid Conservatory
Paris Opera Ballet School
Houston Ballet Academy
Boston Ballet School
Cuballet		 Mariinsky Ballet (former Kirov Ballet)
The Royal Ballet
David Hallberg  United States School of Ballet Arizona
Paris Opera Ballet School
ABT Studio Company		 Bolshoi Ballet
Colon Theater Ballet
Kiev Ballet
Royal Swedish Ballet
Gillian Murphy  United States University of North Carolina School of the Arts
Columbia City Ballet		 Kiev Ballet
Mariinsky Ballet
Royal New Zealand Ballet
Royal Swedish Ballet
Staatsballett Berlin
Veronika Part  Russia Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet Mariinsky Ballet
Polina Semionova  Russia Moscow State Academy of Choreography Berlin State Ballet
Bolshoi Ballet
California Ballet
English National Ballet
La Scala Theatre Ballet
Mariinsky Ballet
Stuttgart Ballet
Tokyo Ballet
Vienna State Opera Ballet
Zurich Ballet
Hee Seo  South Korea Sun-hwa Arts Middle School
Universal Ballet Academy
John Cranko Ballet Academy
ABT Studio Company
Daniil Simkin  Russia Olga Aleksandrova Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre
Vienna State Opera Ballet
Cory Stearns  United States Seiskaya Ballet School
Royal Ballet School
ABT Studio Company
Ivan Vasiliev  Russia Dnipropetrovsk Ballet School
Belarusian State Choreographic College		 Bolshoi Ballet
Mikhaylovsky Theatre
National Opera and Ballet of Belarus
Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre
Diana Vishneva  Russia Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet Bayerisches Staatsballett
La Scala Theatre Ballet
Mariinsky Ballet
James Whiteside  United States D'Valda and Sirico Dance and Music Centre
Virginia School of the Arts
Boston Ballet II		 Boston Ballet
Ballet Philippines

Soloists

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

See also: Category:American Ballet Theatre soloists
Name Nationality Training Other Companies
(inc. guest performances)
Kristi Boone  United States Draper Dance Studio
Rochester City Ballet
San Francisco Ballet School
Chautauqua Institute Ballet
Ellizzette Duvall  France Paris Opera Ballet School
New York City Ballet
Champaign-Urbana Ballet Academy
School of American Ballet
ABT Studio Company
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School
 Twyla Tharp
Joseph Gorak  United States North Central School of Ballet (TX)
Orlando Ballet School
ABT Studio Company		 Orlando Ballet
Alexandre Hammoudi  France Paris Opera Ballet School
School of American Ballet
ABT Studio Company		 Cuban National Ballet
Stars of American Ballet
Sarah Lane  United States Ballet Memphis
Draper Center for Dance Education
Boston Ballet School
Craig Salstein  United States Ballet Academy of Miami
Miami City Ballet School
Joffrey Ballet School
School of American Ballet
ABT Studio Company		 Intermezzo Dance Company
Christine Shevchenko  Ukraine Pennsylvania Ballet Rock School
ABT Studio Company
Devon Teuscher  United States Champaign-Urbana Ballet Academy
Vermont Ballet Theatre School
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School (ballet)
ABT Studio Company
Roman Zhurbin  Russia Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School
Studio Maestro
ABT Studio Company

Corps de Ballet

The American Ballet Theatre's current Corps de Ballet includes:[7]

Apprentices

The American Ballet Theatre's current apprentices includes:[11]

Former dancers

The following is a partial list of former dancers with ABT, listed by their highest rank prior to leaving the company.

Former principal dancers

Former soloists

Former corps de ballet

Repertoire

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Main article: List of works performed by American Ballet Theatre

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, with shorter seasons in the fall previously held at New York City Center, now held at the David H. Koch Theater. Performances of Alexei Ratmansky's The Nutcracker during the holiday season are held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The company tours extensively throughout United States and the world.

The current choreographer in residence for ABT is Alexei Ratmansky.

Production Staff

  • N. James Whitehill III (Director of Production) (current)
  • Richard Koch (Technical Director) (current)
  • Danielle Ventimiglia (Production Stage Manager) (current)
  • Jennifer McGrath (Stage Manager) (current)
  • Jeremiah Bischoff (Assistant Stage Manager) (current)
  • Brad Fields (Lighting Director) (current)
  • Jon Goldman (Assistant Lighting Director) (current)
  • Dan De Prenger (Head Carpenter) (current)
  • Esteban Osorio, Chris Miano (Assistant Carpenters) (current)
  • Brian Zimmerman (Head Electrician) (current)
  • Andrew Blais, Paul Frydrychowski (Assistant Electricians) (current)
  • Paul Wells (Property Master) (current)
  • Steve Dunbar (Property Man) (current)

Music Department

Wardrobe Master

  • Bruce Horowitz (current)
  • Robert Holloway (joined as dancer 1964) (1965-1996) [87]

Wardrobe Mistress

  • Hilarie Jenkins, Caryn Wells (current) [88]
  • May Ishimoto (1974-1990) [89]
  • Dolly Cribben [90]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ http://abt.org/dancers/default.asp?section=apprentice
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  55. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  56. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  57. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  59. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  60. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  61. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  62. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  63. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  64. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  65. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  66. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  67. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  68. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  69. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  70. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  71. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  72. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  73. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  74. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  75. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  76. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  77. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  78. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  79. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  80. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  81. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  82. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  83. ↑ Ormsby Wilkins named Music Director at ABT, Inside ABT, November 22, 2005
  84. ↑ Inside ABT, accessed 1/22/2013
  85. ↑ A Conversation with David LaMarche, American Ballet Theatre Conductor, Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower, May 10, 2010
  86. ↑ AKIRA ENDO Obituary, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 3, 2014, accessed July 9, 2014
  87. ↑ Robert Holloway, 62, Dancer, New York Times, December 11, 1996
  88. ↑ http://[ballettothepeople.com/2011/12/27/the-never-ending-scandal-of-the-tutu/ The Never Ending Scandal of the Tutu, Ballettothepeople.com, December 27, 2011]
  89. ↑ May Asaki Ishimoto dies, created costumes for ballet stars, by Matt Schudel, January 17, 2010
  90. ↑ American Ballet Theatre program, Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan, November 17, 1966

Further viewing

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=American_Ballet_Theatre&oldid=1892707#Education"