American Ballet Theater returns to the Metropolitan Opera House for the first time in three years for its summer season, June 13-July 16, 2022.
The season will feature New York premieres of Alonzo King’s Single Eye and Alexei Ratmansky’s Of Love and Rage, as well as 75th anniversary performances of George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations. Tickets for ABT’s 2022 summer season will go on sale at the Met box office on Monday, April 25 at noon.
Main dancers for the 2022 summer season include Joo Won Ahn, Aran Bell, Isabella Boylston, Skylar Brandt, Herman Cornejo, Thomas Forster, Gillian Murphy, Calvin Royal III, Hee Seo, Christine Shevchenko, Cory Stearns, Devon Teuscher and Cassandra Trenary. Daniel Camargo and Daniil Simkin join the Company as guest artists for the summer season.
The New York premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s Of Love and Rage is scheduled for Monday evening, June 20, 2022, with Catherine Hurlin and Aran Bell in the lead roles. Based on the historical 1st century AD romance novel Callirhoe by Chariton, Of Love and Rage tells the story of cross lovers Callirhoe and Chaereas in ancient Greece. The two-act ballet is set to music by Aram Khachaturian, arranged by Philip Feeney, with sets and costumes by Jean-Marc Puissant and lighting by Duane Schuler. Of Love and Rage, Ratmansky’s 17th work for ABT, had its world premiere on March 5, 2020 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, Calif., starring Catherine Hurlin (Callirhoe) and Aran Bell (Chaereas). The ballet will have eight performances at the Metropolitan Opera House until Saturday, June 25.
Alonzo King’s Single Eye will premiere in New York on Thursday evening, July 7, and will run four performances through July 9, as part of ABT’s American Splendor repertoire program. Set to music by jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran, with sets and costumes by Robert Rosenwasser and lighting by Jim French, the ballet is inspired by a quote from Scripture: “If your eye is unique, your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22). Single Eye, King’s first work for ABT, received its world premiere on March 16, 2022 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
Opening Night Gala Celebrating Kevin McKenzie and Susan Fales-Hill American Ballet Theater’s summer season will include three additional ballets. The season will open on Monday evening June 13 with a special gala performance of Don Quixote, featuring a different main cast in each act. Will dance the roles of Kitri and Basilio with Christine Shevchenko and Cory Stearns in Act I, Hee Seo and Joo Won Ahn in Act II, and Catherine Hurlin and Aran Bell in Act III. The ABT Opening Night Gala will celebrate Kevin McKenzie’s three decades of leadership as Artistic Director and ABT Administrator Susan Fales-Hill for her tireless stewardship and the advancement of ABT RISE, commitment of society to foster diversity, equity and inclusion at all levels of the organization.
Don Quixote is directed by Kevin McKenzie and Susan Jones, with choreography after Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky. The ballet is set to music by Ludwig Minkus and features sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto and lighting by Natasha Katz. The McKenzie/Jones staging of the current production was first performed by ABT on June 12, 1995 with Paloma Herrera (Kitri) and Julio Bocca (Basilio). After the opening night gala, Don Quixote will give seven performances until June 18.
Twelve performances of Swan Lake will begin on Monday June 27 with Devon Teuscher as Odette-Odile and Cory Stearns as Prince Siegfried. Set to music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake is choreographed by McKenzie after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. The ballet features sets and costumes by Zack Brown and lighting by Duane Schuler. This Swan Lake production premiered March 24, 2000 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC with Julie Kent (Odette-Odile) and Angel Corella (Prince Siegfried).
Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet will have eight performances starting Monday night, July 11 with Hee Seo and Cory Stearns in the title roles. Set to music by Sergei Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet features sets and costumes by Nicholas Georgiadis and lighting by Thomas Skelton. Romeo and Juliet received its world premiere by the Royal Ballet in London on February 9, 1965 and received its premiere by ABT at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC on January 3, 1985 with Leslie Browne and Robert La Fosse in the leading roles.
The summer season will include four performances of the mixed repertoire program American Splendor, July 7-9, featuring the New York premiere of King’s Single Eye, Jessica Lang’s ZigZag and 75th anniversary performances of George’s theme and variations. Balanchine.
Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, to a score of the same name by Tchaikovsky from Suite No. 3 for Orchestra, was premiered for the Ballet Theater and received its world premiere at the City Center in New York on November 26, 1947, danced by Alicia Alonso and Igor Youskevich. A neo-classical masterpiece, Theme and Variations features sets and costumes by Zack Brown and lighting by Brad Fields.
Jessica Lang’s ZigZag, consisting of 11 American Standard songs recorded by Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, received its world premiere on October 26, 2021 at the David H. Koch Theater in New York City. The ballet features sets by Derek McLane, costumes by Wes Gordon and lighting by Nicole Pearce.
American Splendor’s evening program on Saturday, July 9 will be dedicated to McKenzie to mark his final season at the Metropolitan Opera House as ABT’s Artistic Director. A special reminder for McKenzie will include honored guests from ABT’s past and present.
ABTKids, American Ballet Theatre’s one-hour introduction to ballet for families is scheduled for Saturday morning, June 18 at 11:00 a.m. Hosted by ABT principal dancer James Whiteside, the performance will feature short snippets from the season’s works, including Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, and more. All tickets for ABTKids are $25.
Individual tickets for the 2022 American Ballet Theater Summer Season at the Metropolitan Opera House, on sale beginning Monday, April 25 at noon, are available by phone at 212-362-6000 or online at ABT’s website. . Tickets start at $30. The Metropolitan Opera House is located on Broadway between 64th and 65th streets in New York City.
Ticketholders for the 2022 summer season at the Metropolitan Opera House can exchange or refund their tickets until noon on the day of the performance at no additional cost, less any difference in ticket price.
The American Ballet Theater offers advance tickets from $12 to $30 for any full-time student in an undergraduate or graduate program. A valid student card is required. Tickets are subject to availability and require pre-registration on the Met website. Limit of two tickets per person per performance. For more information, please visit the Met’s website.
The American Ballet Theater and the Metropolitan Opera House require specific health and safety protocols for all members of the public attending performances. For more information, please visit the Met’s website.
The American Ballet Theater is one of the largest dance companies in the world. Revered as a national treasure since its founding season in 1940, its mission is to create, present, preserve and expand the great repertoire of classical dance for the widest audience possible. Based in New York, ABT is the only cultural institution of its size and stature to tour extensively, enchanting audiences for eight decades in 50 US states, 45 countries and more than 480 cities worldwide. ABT’s repertoire includes complete 19th century classics, the finest early 20th century works and acclaimed contemporary masterpieces. In 2006, by act of Congress, ABT was designated America’s National Ballet Company.
For more information, please visit www.abt.org.
