American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is one of the world’s great ballet companies. It dances all forms of ballet, but tends towards grand classical ballets. It is also a world leader in ballet diversity.
ABT Studio Company is a second company of future star dancers and choreographers that dances more contemporary ballet.
American Ballet Theatre in New York City
Fall Season 2024
American Ballet Theatre Fall 2024 Season features World Premieres of Helen Pickett’s “Crime and Punishment,” Gemma Bond and Kyle Abraham; plus classics by Balanchine, Lander, Tharp, and Makarova; at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center; from October 16 – November 3, 2024. 🇺🇸 🇦🇷 🇧🇷 🇨🇳 🇫🇷 🇰🇷 🇪🇸
You may get to see newly promoted soloists: Carlos Gonzalez, Léa Fleytoux, Patrick Frenette, and Fangqi Li. That’s a really exciting moment for a dancer. Congratulations!
World Ballet Day
World Ballet Day 2024 takes you behind the scenes at the world’s leading ballet companies; on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. (🇺🇸 🇧🇷 🇨🇺 🇫🇷 🇨🇦 🇮🇹 🇿🇦 🇪🇸 2023)
BAAND Together Dance Festival 2024
BAAND Together Dance Festival 2024 brings five of New York City’s leading dance companies: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, American Ballet Theatre, Ballet Hispánico, Dance Theatre of Harlem and New York City Ballet; to dance ballet, modern, and contemporary; at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center; from Tuesday-Saturday, July 30 – August 3, 2024. Tickets on sale May 16, 2024 $35 or choose-what-you-pay as low as $5. It sells out immediately. 🇺🇸 🇨🇺 🇫🇷 🇲🇽 🇵🇷
Summer Season 2024
American Ballet Theatre’s Summer 2024 Season explores the many forms of love in Cranko’s “Onegin,” the New York Premiere of McGregor’s “Woolf Works,” McKenzie’s “Swan Lake,” MacMillan’s “Romeo and Juliet,” and Wheeldon’s “Like Water for Chocolate,” and an ABTKids family performance; at the Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center; from June 18 – July 20, 2024.
Onegin
American Ballet Theatre dances John Cranko’s “Onegin” (1965), based on Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin,” to Tchaikovsky, with costumes by Santo Loquasto; at the Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center; from Tuesday-Saturday, June 18-22, 2024. From $33. Calvin Royal III dances Lensky on June 19 and the 22nd matinee. 🇺🇸
Woolf Works
American Ballet Theatre dances the New York Premiere of Wayne McGregor’s “Woolf Works” (2014) to music by Max Richter. The award-winning ballet is based on the works of renowned feminist author Virginia Woolf who pioneered writing in a stream of consciousness that mirrors modern life. Her writing is a kind of dance on paper, so it flows into dance quite naturally. It’s at the Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center; from Tuesday-Saturday, June 25-29, 2024. From $33. 🇺🇸 🇦🇷 🇧🇷 🇮🇹 🇪🇸
Swan Lake
American Ballet Theatre dances Kevin McKenzie’s “Swan Lake” (2000) after Petipa and Ivanov, to Tchaikovsky. “Swan Lake,” the classical ballet of classical ballets, tells a story of love that reaches beyond the limits of death. It’s at the Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center; from Tuesday-Saturday, July 1-6, 2024. From $33. Daniel Camargo, Herman Cornejo, Calvin Royal III, Jose Sebastian, Hee Seo, and Joo Won Ahn dance in various performances. 🇺🇸 🇦🇷 🇧🇷 🇰🇷
Romeo and Juliet
American Ballet Theatre dances Kenneth MacMillan’s “Romeo and Juliet” (1965) to Prokofiev. It’s at the Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center; from Tuesday-Saturday, July 9-13, 2024. From $33. Daniel Camargo, Herman Cornejo, Carlos Gonzalez, Calvin Royal III, Hee Seo dance in various performances. 🇺🇸 🇦🇷 🇧🇷 🇰🇷 🇪🇸
Like Water for Chocolate
American Ballet Theatre dances Christopher Wheeldon’s “Like Water for Chocolate” (2022) to music by Talbot. This is one of the great Magical Realism love stories of all time. The family cook is so powerful that her emotions fill her cooking and those who dine on it. Blocked from marrying her love, her meals are full of emotions, sometimes to comic effect. When she finally spends a night with her love, their entire home is consumed with fiery passion. Many Americans think Magical Realism is a literary construct, but it is the reality of traditional life in the Latin world. It’s at the Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center; from Tuesday-Saturday, July 16-20, 2024. From $33. Daniel Camargo, Herman Cornejo, Carlos Gonzalez, Calvin Royal III, Joo Won Ahn, and SunMi Park dance in various performances. The July 19, 2024 performance celebrates Herman Cornejo’s 25th Anniversary. 🇺🇸 🇦🇷 🇧🇷 🇰🇷 🇪🇸
American Ballet Theatre
The Company formed out of the Mordkin Ballet. Mikhail Mordkin (1880-1944) was a former Bolshoi ballet master. Ballet Theatre was founded by Lucia Chase and Oliver Smith in New York City in 1939. The Company changed its name to American Ballet Theatre in 1957. It moved to the Metropolitan Opera House in 1977. U.S. Congress named it “America’s National Ballet Company” in 2006. Susan Jaffe became artistic director in 2022. @susanjaffeofficial
- Mikhail Baryshnikov was artistic director from 1980-1989.
- Danish Principal Dancer Kevin McKenzie became artistic director in 1992.
- Alexei Ratmansky, former Bolshoi Ballet Director and MacArthur Fellow, was artist-in-residence from 2009-2023. @alexeiratmansky
In 2004, ABT’s ballet school became the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. American Ballet Theatre was designated “America’s National Ballet Company” by the U.S. Congress in 2006.
New York City Venues
- Metropolitan Opera House presents a full summer season at Lincoln Center.
- David H. Koch Theater presents a brief fall season at Lincoln Center.
Latin Dancers
ABT is a leader in ballet diversity. Some dancers achieve global fame and even enter popular culture.
We’re beginning to see dancers promoted by new Artistic Director Susan Jaffe.
2024-2025 Principal Dancers of Color:
- Calvin Royal III is from Tampa, Florida. He does a lot of work with the next generation. 🇺🇸
- Daniel Camargo is from Sorocaba, Brazil. 🇧🇷
- Hee Seo is from Seoul, South Korea. She won the Switzerland’s Prix de Lausanne and New York City’s Youth American Grand Prix (YAGP) in 2003. 🇰🇷
- Herman Cornejo, a student of Julio Bocca, is from Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’s generally accepted that we don’t all experience time in the same way. Cornejo has more seconds in his internal clock than most people. It’s beautiful to watch him stretch and fold time. 🇦🇷
- Joo Won Ahn is from Wonju, South Korea. He won New York City’s Youth American Grand Prix in 2013. After joining ABT Studio Company in 2013, he moved to ABT in 2014, and was promoted to Principal in 2020. 🇰🇷
- Misty Copeland from Kansas City, Missouri became ABT’s first Black Principal Dancer in 2015. She is the most famous American ballet dancer since Baryshnikov. Copeland started ballet impossibly late as a teenager, but danced her way to the top ~ even through a leg fracture, with incredible artistry and poise. She is the “Firebird.” Misty isn’t dancing much now, but broke the mold for all dancers of color and is very generous with the next generation. Thank you Misty! 🇺🇸
2024-2025 Soloists:
- Carlos Gonzalez is an ABT Soloist from Madrid, Spain. He joined ABT Studio Company in 2015, became a main Company apprentice in 2016, corps de ballet in 2017, and Soloist in 2024. 🇪🇸
- Fangqi Li is an ABT Soloist from Zhengzhou, China. She was a 2017 finalist at the Prix de Lausanne. She joined ABT Studio Company in 2017, main company corps de ballet in 2018. She was promoted to Soloist in 2024 🇨🇳
- Léa Fleytoux is an ABT Soloist from Paris, France. After the Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis School, she joined ABT Studio Company in 2017, became a main company apprentice in 2018, corps de ballet in 2019, and was promoted to Soloist in 2024. 🇫🇷
- Sung Woo Han is an ABT Soloist from Seoul, South Korea. He has won lots of awards including placing second and the Prix de Lausanne which provided a full scholarship to the Royal Ballet School. He joined the ABT corps de ballet in 2013 and was promoted to soloist in 2022. 🇰🇷
- SunMi Park is an ABT Soloist from Seongnam, South Korea. She won the Youth America Grand Prix in 2018. She joined ABT Studio Company in 2019, became a main company apprentice in 2021, corps de ballet in 2022, and was promoted to soloist in 2022. 🇰🇷
- Zhong-Jing Fang is an ABT Soloist from Shanghai, China. She won the Prix de Lausanne and the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation Prize in 2000. 🇨🇳
Director of Repertoire Carlos Lopez is from Madrid, Spain. @carloslopeznewyork 🇪🇸
Luciana Paris, Julio Bocca’s former dance partner from Buenos Aires, Argentina, has moved on in 2024. We are sorry to see her go. Editor Kíko Keith: I once danced a tanda of tango (3 songs) with Luciana. It was one of the best dances of my life. She is very light, very musical, and fully expresses every motion. I’ll never forget it. 🇦🇷
ABT Legends
Mikhail Baryshnikov, the iconic ballet dancer of the 1970s and 80s, is Latvian. He danced for ABT from 1974-78 right after defecting from the Soviet Union, and returned as an artistic director from 1980-89. His never-ending leaps stick in the mind. He just stuck in the air. Baryshnikov collaborated with so many artists that he lifted the entire dance scene.
Desmond Richardson became ABT’s first Black Principal Dancer in 1997. He created leading roles in “Othello” and “Remanso.”
Carlos Acosta, 2003 guest artist, was the first Black principal Royal Ballet dancer. 🇨🇺
Julio Bocca (Interview), the “Latin Baryshnikov,” was a Principal dancer from 1985-2006. 🇦🇷
Social Media
X @ABTBallet
Facebook @AmericanBalletTheatre
Instagram @abtofficial @abtschool
ABT Tickets
Tickets are sold by presenting theaters, but you can access them from ABT’s website.