American Ballet Theatre

Overview

This dazzling company of dancers presents a programme that brings together the work of three different choreographers. Skilfully contrasted in style, it showcases every element of the dancers’ abilities. The offbeat energy and playfulness of Twyla Tharp’s Sextet is followed by the gravely transcendental, intellectual questing of Ratmansky’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium and concludes with Balanchine’s grand classicism in his Theme and Variations, set to Tchaikovsky’s glorious music.

‍

Programme

Twyla Tharp – Sextet

Alexei Ratmansky – Serenade After Plato’s Symposium ‍

George Balanchine – Theme and Variations

Artists

American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is recognised as one of the great dance companies in the world. Few ballet companies equal ABT for its combination of size, scope and outreach. Founded in 1940, ABT is the only major cultural institution that annually tours the United States, performing for more than 300,000 people. The company has also made more than 30 international tours to 45 countries as perhaps the most representative American ballet company and has been sponsored by the United States Department of State on many of these engagements.

When American Ballet Theatre was launched, the aim was to develop a repertoire of the best ballets from the past and to encourage the creation of new works by gifted young choreographers, wherever they might be found. Under the direction of Lucia Chase and Oliver Smith from 1945 to 1980, the company more than fulfilled that mission. Perhaps unmatched in the history of ballet, ABT’s repertoire includes beloved full-length classics from the 19th century, such as Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and Giselle; many of the finest works from the 20th century: Apollo, Les Sylphides, Jardin aux Lilas, Fancy Free, Rodeo, Airs, Push Comes to Shove, In the Upper Room; and acclaimed contemporary masterpieces, including Shostakovich Trilogy and Serenade after Plato’s Symposium. Throughout the curation of this repertoire, ABT has commissioned works by celebrated choreographers of the 20th and 21st centuries: George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Jerome Robbins, Agnes de Mille, Twyla Tharp, Mark Morris, Alexei Ratmansky and Christopher Wheeldon, among others.

In 1980, Mikhail Baryshnikov became Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre. Under his leadership, numerous classical ballets were staged, restaged and refurbished and the company experienced a strengthening and refining of the classical tradition. In 1990, Jane Hermann and Oliver Smith succeeded Baryshnikov and immediately established an agenda that was dedicated to maintaining the great traditions of the past while pursuing a vital and innovative future.

In October 1992, the former American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Kevin McKenzie was appointed Artistic Director. McKenzie, steadfast in his vision of ABT as American, was committed to maintaining the company’s vast repertoire and to bringing the art of dance theatre to the great stages of the world.

Former American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Susan Jaffe was named Artistic Director in December 2022. Jaffe is dedicated to preserving the beauty and depth of classical ballet while moving the company artistically into the future, expanding ABT’s audience and exploring diverse choreographers and styles.

In keeping with ABT’s long-standing commitment to bring the finest in dance to the widest international audience, the company has recently enjoyed triumphant successes with engagements in Abu Dhabi, Brisbane, Paris, Muscat, Oman, Shanghai and Seoul. On 27 April 2006, the United States Congress honoured ABT by recognising its service as ‘America’s National Ballet Company’.