ABT Met Season
Casting Announced

ABT announced casting for the 2015 Met season, the company’s 75th season. The bill is very conventional ABT fare, consisting of Othello, Giselle, La Bayadère, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Cinderella, and a mixed rep program, with Alexei Ratmansky’s premier of The Sleeping Beauty the big event of the season.

Highlights:

• The big news is the return of Natalia Osipova. She performed for ABT in the 2013 season, but then jumped to The Royal Ballet. Apparently, ABT fit into her schedule in 2015. She will appear in five performances in Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, and La Bayadère (2 performances).
• Other guest artists for the season include Semyon Chudin of the Bolshoi Ballet, Maria Kochetkova of San Francisco Ballet, Denys Nedak, of the National Ballet of Ukraine, Marianela Nuñez, of The Royal Ballet, Evgenia Obraztsova of the Bolshoi Ballet, and Olga Smirnova of the Bolshoi Ballet. Semyon and Olga performed in New York with the Bolshoi at Koch Theater last July. I enjoyed their performances very much.
• There are fewer guest artists in 2015 relative to 2014. The six guest artists (seven counting Natalia) appear in seven performances (12 performances including Natalia). Natalia is listed as a Guest Artist, but I think of her as a returning ABT dancer. Guest artists are most prominent in La Bayadère (three performances). In 2014, there were 12 guest artists performing 14 times. Ivan Vasiliev is not scheduled to perform.
• Nice to see that Sarah Lane will star in Sleeping Beauty with Herman Cornejo on Friday, May 30 and Thursday, June 11. Sarah also performs in Theme and Variations with Herman on May 13.
• Diana Vishneva will perform four times: Sleeping Beauty (two performances), Giselle, and Romeo and Juliet.
• Veronika Part escapes matinee duty as she performs Swan Lake Wednesday evening, June 24. She will also perform the lead role in La Bayadère and will appear in the mixed rep program in the first week.
• Stella Abrera will be Cinderella in matinee performances on July 1 and July 4.
• Misty Copeland will be Juliet in the matinee performance on Saturday, June 20 and Swan Lake, Wednesday matinee, June 24.
• The ageless wonder Roberto Bolle will dance the lead in four performances in Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, and Swan Lake.
• ABT mainstays Marcelo Gomes and Herman Cornejo will be busy again in 2015, each appearing in 11 performances. However, David Hallberg will be the busiest male dancer this season, scheduled to appear in 15 works. He had foot surgery in August.
• My favorite, Polina Semionova will be in seven performances.
• Recently promoted Soloist Joseph Gorak will dance the lead in Cinderella (2 performances), Sleeping Beauty, and Romeo and Juliet.
• Casting for Giselle is boring. Disappointing that Veronika Part and Stella Abrera are not cast in the lead role after Veronika danced the role in August for the Mariinsky Ballet and Stella for Ballet Philippines. Likewise, Swan Lake casting is very similar to last year.
• Principal Dancers Paloma Herrera, Julie Kent, and Xiomara Reyes will give their final ABT performances this season. Paloma is scheduled to dance in only two performances; her final is Sleeping Beauty on June 9. Xiomara’s final performance will be in Giselle on May 27. Julie’s final performance will be June 20 in Romeo and Juliet.