Ratmansky Fever

How does Alexei Ratmansky keep up with all of his commissions? We’re beginning to think that he has a secret clone. Let’s see: thus far in 2012, he’s made Symphonic Dances for Miami City Ballet, Firebird for American Ballet Theatre, and, running now in Denmark, Golden Cockerel for Royal Danish Ballet, which is by all reports a smash hit—not to mention Pacific Northwest Ballet acquiring his Don Quixote and Pennyslvania Ballet Jeu de Cartes. Already announced, too, are 2013 premieres for San Francisco Ballet and The Royal Ballet, the company premiere of his Cinderella at The Australian Ballet, and Carnival of the Animals at Ballet Arizona. And that’s just the new stuff. My head is spinning just thinking about it.

But there’s no place like home, and this Sunday, Sept. 30, ABT will pay tribute to his body of work for that company as part of Guggenheim’s Works & Process series, livestreamed at www.ustream.tv/worksandprocess at 7:30 EST—and the lineup is pretty great. Marcelo Gomes and Polina Semionova will preview a new piece (yes, another one! It’s actually the first of three, which will make up a full evening next spring. Gulp.) set to Shostakovich, which premieres on Oct. 18. Joseph Phillips, Sarah Lane, Jared Matthews, and Christine Shevchenko will appear in an excerpt from the lovely, lilting Seven Sonatas. The enchanting, tears-of-joy-inducing Snow Scene from The Nutcracker will be brought to life by Athena Petrizzo and Kai Monroe, with their grown-up counterparts Yuriko Kajiya and Alexandre Hammoudi. And, we get to see Veronika Part, Stella Abrera, Sarah Lane, and Craig Salstein in the hilarious and poignant Bright Stream. David Hallberg won’t be performing, but he’ll join Ratmansky and ballet master Nancy Raffa in a discussion moderated by John Meehan. Mark your calendars!