This summer, American Ballet Theatre went on a major road trip. On June 28, the company embarked on its ABT Across America Tour, chartering six sleeper buses and three production trucks to travel to eight U.S. cities. Corps de ballet dancer Abbey Marrison documented her experience as she and 19 other dancers performed across the […]
The last year has been one of change for former American Ballet Theatre principal Sarah Lane. Not only has she seen her career interrupted by the pandemic, she has also had to adjust to life without ABT, the company she danced with for 18 years, her last three as a principal. Lane and ABT parted […]
When I signed my first professional contract with Eugene Ballet, one of the last things I anticipated was the opportunity to dance beside a member of American Ballet Theatre. Flash forward to the start of our spring season this year, and suddenly I’m chatting in the hallway and rehearsing the Cinderella fairy variations next to […]
The dominant narrative of how a young ballet dancer gets into a professional company generally goes something like this: You’re accepted into a prestigious summer session at a company school, and then get invited to stay year-round. You perform a bit with the company for The Nutcracker and, if you’re lucky, in a few other […]
Gabe Stone Shayer, American Ballet Theatre’s newest soloist, has long been a standout onstage. But the 27-year-old dancer—the first African-American male to graduate from Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet Academy—is also branching out into choreography and spearheading a flurry of creative projects. Shayer has big ideas for ballet’s future. “I want to be the person who facilitates […]
What does it take to succeed as a dancer? Susan Jones—the American Ballet Theatre regisseur who first joined the company as a dancer on January 11, 1971—has 50 years of experience in watching what it takes to create a fulfilling ballet career. Jones was first hired by ABT co-founder Lucia Chase when the company needed […]
While the coronavirus pandemic has brought live performances to a halt worldwide, American Ballet Theatre principal Christine Shevchenko has used the gap in her schedule to realize another dream—and help her colleagues at the same time. Shevchenko teamed up with former ABT corps de ballet dancer Melanie Hamrick and choreographer Joanna DeFelice to found Live […]
One of Gabe Stone Shayer’s favorite collaborations happened thanks to his agent, Henri Lemic. In August 2019, Shayer—frustrated after being passed over yet again for a promotion at American Ballet Theatre—started to think about the company’s fall gala. He wanted to make a defiant sartorial splash on the red carpet. Lemic worked some magic, persuading […]