American Ballet Theatre Announces Casting and Programming for ABT's March 2020 Performances in Chicago

The Auditorium Theatre and American Ballet Theatre (ABT) have announced casting and programming for ABT's March 2020 performances in Chicago, the second in its four-year residency at the National Historic Landmark.

ABT's mixed repertory program at the Auditorium features the "Kingdom of the Shades" scene from Act II of Natalia Makarova's production of Marius Petipa's classic ballet La Bayadère, Antony Tudor's one-act ballet Jardin aux Lilas, and Twyla Tharp's Deuce Coupe, which had its world premiere at the Auditorium Theatre in 1973. ABT's mixed repertory program replaces the originally scheduled full-length La Bayadère.

The breathtaking "Kingdom of the Shades" scene from Marius Petipa's La Bayadère, restaged by Makarova, opens the program. After the warrior Solor loses his love Nikiya to a deadly snake bite, he hallucinates their reunion in the Kingdom of the Shades, an elaborate scene that features 24 ballerinas dancing in perfect unison. The scene is considered "one of the most famous and poetic expressions in all of classical ballet" (The Washington Post).

Jardin aux Lilas, by ABT founding choreographer Antony Tudor, follows the story of Caroline, a woman attending a party thrown in honor of her wedding. At the party, both Caroline and her future husband - who are marrying for convenience - bid farewell to their former lovers. Tudor's choreography, called "a masterwork of contemporary ballet" (The New York Times) explores human relationships with great subtlety, using quick gestures and movements to convey grand emotions.

Twyla Tharp's Deuce Coupe, set to music by The Beach Boys, juxtaposes ballet movement with contemporary dance, creating a singular theatrical piece of dynamic spontaneity that contrasts classical ballet vocabulary with the playful sounds of the 1960s and 70s. The work was originally created for The Joffrey Ballet and premiered at the Auditorium Theatre in 1973, and ABT introduced the piece into its repertoire in May 2019. Deuce Coupe "melds styles, but never loses its underlying groove. It's wild and reckless, elegant and refined" (The New York Times).

Casting

Thursday, March 19 @ 7:30PM

La Bayadère, Act II - Devon Teuscher, Cory Stearns

Jardin aux Lilas - Hee Seo, Thomas Forster, Christine Shevchenko, Roman Zhurbin

Deuce Coupe - Christine Shevchenko, Isabella Boylston, Misty Copeland, Stella Abrera, James Whiteside, Calvin Royal III

Friday, March 20 @ 7:30PM

La Bayadère, Act II - Hee Seo, Aran Bell

Jardin aux Lilas - Devon Teuscher, Cory Stearns, Katherine Williams, Alexandre Hammoudi

Deuce Coupe - Christine Shevchenko, Isabella Boylston, Misty Copeland, Stella Abrera, James Whiteside, Calvin Royal III

Saturday, March 21 @ 2PM

La Bayadère, Act II - Isabella Boylston, Herman Cornejo

Jardin aux Lilas - Hee Seo, Thomas Forster, Christine Shevchenko, Roman Zhurbin

Deuce Coupe - Katherine Williams, Cassandra Trenary, Luciana Paris, TBA, Blaine Hoven, Thomas Forster

Saturday, March 21 @ 7:30PM

La Bayadère, Act II - Sarah Lane, Joo Won Ahn

Jardin aux Lilas - Devon Teuscher, Cory Stearns, Katherine Williams, Alexandre Hammoudi

Deuce Coupe - Christine Shevchenko, Isabella Boylston, Misty Copeland, Stella Abrera, James Whiteside, Calvin Royal III

Sunday, March 22 @ 2PM

La Bayadère, Act II - Devon Teuscher, Cory Stearns

Jardin aux Lilas - Hee Seo, Thomas Forster, Christine Shevchenko, Roman Zhurbin

Deuce Coupe - Katherine Williams, Cassandra Trenary, Luciana Paris, TBA, Blaine Hoven, Thomas Forster

Photo Credit: Rosalie O'Connnor