Spring is in the air, and performance calendars are (dare we say it?) almost as busy as they ever have been, if still largely housed on the internet. This mix of online screenings, outdoor events and indoor performances for limited audiences caught our eye this month. Caged In Stefanie Batten Bland’s Kolonial Maria Baranova, Courtesy […]

American Ballet Theatre soloist Gabe Stone Shayer’s latest project will inspire some serious travel envy. From March to April of this year, Shayer has been an artist in residence at Palm Heights Grand Cayman—a resort in the Cayman Islands—where he is choreographing an African-themed narrative ballet, performing solos that will become part of the upcoming […]

Here are the latest promotions, appointments and departures, as well as notable awards and accomplishments, from the last month. Comings & Goings American Ballet Theatre artistic director Kevin McKenzie will step down at the end of 2022. The search for his successor will begin this summer. At BODYTRAFFIC, co-founder Lillian Barbeito has stepped down as […]

Kevin McKenzie, American Ballet Theatre’s longtime artistic director, announced yesterday that he will retire at the end of 2022, after three decades at the helm. He will continue to oversee the company’s 2021–22 season while a search for his successor begins this summer. In an interview with The New York Times’ Rosalyn Sulcas, McKenzie noted […]

The Australian Ballet has long been a home away from home for David Hallberg. During a two-year struggle with an ankle injury that required two surgeries, he spent the most pivotal time of his recuperation in Melbourne, working with TAB’s in-house medical and physical therapy team. Combined with a decade of guest performances there, including […]

American Ballet Theatre typically schedules a long layoff after its marathon season at the Metropolitan Opera House, a moment for its tired artists to breathe. But Skylar Brandt doesn’t really do downtime. After moving out of the Met’s basement dressing rooms each July, she books sessions with her coaches, the former ABT stars Irina Dvorovenko […]

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 […]

November 21 marks Natalia Makarova’s 80th birthday. The ballerina made international headlines in September 1970 when she defected from the Soviet Union while on tour with the Kirov Ballet in London. That December, she made her American Ballet Theatre debut, an association that altered the company’s trajectory. “In ballet, stardom doesn’t come overnight as it […]