ABT's Met Season Announced

American Ballet Theatre announced its 2014 Metropolitan Opera House season today, and the lineup includes some lovely surprises.

Perhaps the biggest is the company premiere of Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella, which I’m sure fans are especially excited to see after all the teasing on “Breaking Pointe.” A Shakespeare Celebration evening will feature more Ashton—The Dream—and a reprise of Alexei Ratmansky’s new Tempest, which premieres at the end of this month. Revivals include Léonide Massine’s Gaîté Parisienne and Kenneth Macmillan’s Manon. Alina Cojocaru, Maria Kochetkova and Denis Matvienko will be back as guest artists.

The predictable warhorse classics are still around—fans of La Bayadère, Don Quixote, Giselle, Swan Lake and Coppélia, fear not—but they’re livened by some fresh casting, especially the latter: Misty Copeland will make her Swanilda debut May 30, and October/November cover star Joseph Gorak will dance his first Franz July 5.

The season runs May 1–July 15 at the Met Opera House. Stay tuned for more details!