For eight weeks starting this month, American Ballet Theatre will stage a new performance every week at the Metropolitan Opera House for its spring 2018 season: an annual event in which three recently promoted ballerinas will make their big debuts as principal dancers. It’s the highest rank a dancer can achieve within a professional company and a major accomplishment that requires years of work. Sarah Lane, Christine Shevchenko, and Devon Teuscher each danced with ABT for at least ten years before they were named principal dancers last fall.
Each dancer will star in several different roles throughout the season, performing new choreography week after week. “To embody those characters, it’s not just snap your fingers, and it’s done,” Lane explained. “It takes so much time and imagining and figuring out all the details in order for you to do it the way you imagine. It can be a huge task, but the beauty and love of the art, that is what drives all of us here at American Ballet Theatre, to just continue to be dedicated.”
Below, in the three dancers’ own words, you’ll find a guide to ABT’s spring season at the Met. In interviews with the Cut, they shared their favorite costumes, music, and famous scenes you won’t want to miss. Don’t forget to book your tickets here.
Devon Teuscher
Who she is: Teuscher is from Vermont and joined ABT in 2007. On Instagram, she posts pictures of her dog navigating ballet studio life under the hashtag #thelifeofri. (This is the best video.)
Firebird (May 22-26): She wears an incredible amount of eyeshadow in the lead role, Firebird.
“The really fun thing about Firebird is that the entire cast, all the women, get to wear crazy makeup: red-painted eyes and these big red headpieces. It takes about an hour to get it all on, and another hour to get it off, and it’s a 40-minute ballet. That is the magical part of it – you really feel like you’re transforming into that bird person as you’re putting on the makeup and the wigs.” Set to a score by Igor Stravinsky, the Firebird helps two lovers defeat an evil sorcerer. Choreography is by ABT’s artist in residence, Alexei Ratmansky.
As Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (June 11-16), she wants you to pay close attention to the music.
“There are incredible parts of the score where certain instruments will only be used for Romeo and certain instruments will be used for Juliet. They’re literally telling their story through the music, so it’s really magical. The music creates the atmosphere and tells the story for the dancers. It’s been my dream role since I joined ABT, the ballet I’ve always wanted to do. I think it’s my favorite ballet ever.” ABT dancers move to a lyrical score by Sergei Prokofiev in Shakespeare’s classic romance, with choreography by Kenneth MacMillan.
Teuscher also plays Nikiya in La Bayadère (more on the ballet below).
Photo by Renata Pavam
Sarah Lane
Who she is: Lane is from San Francisco and joined ABT in 2003. She was the dancing double for a certain Hollywood actress in a ballet film, and on Instagram she too has a ballet dog: a Shiffon named Cora, who really likes to lounge.
La Bayadère (May 29 to June 2): The title means “temple dancer,” starring an Indian woman named Nikiya, her lead role.
“It’s such a sacred ballet. There’s one amazing moment in the second act with the corps de ballet called the ‘Kingdom of Shades.’ About 24 girls wear white tutus, and they all dance in unison. [Everyone starts at ABT] as a corps de ballet dancer. The scene is very challenging and you have to have really, really solid technique.” The Russian ballet is set in India and centers on a love triangle, starring Nikiya, a doomed temple dancer; Solor, the warrior who betrays her; and Gamzatti, another woman battling for his love. Natalia Makarova choreographed the ballet after archival notes by Marius Petipa, with a score by Ludwig Minkus.
Harlequinade (June 4-9): As a maiden named Columbine, she gets to wear especially stylish tutus.
“I’m really excited about the costumes, particularly my character’s costumes. I have about three tutus and they’re so French but so stylish and pretty – sort of like My Fair Lady. The ballet is cool because it features the company’s school dancers from the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. A lot of ballets feature students, but now that we have such a great school of our own it’s interesting to see them out there. They’re probably between 10 and 13 years old.” It’s an Italian comedy: Columbine’s father wants to marry her off to a rich suitor, but her true love is Harlequin. Alexei Ratmansky choreographed the ballet using archival notes by Marius Petipa and music by Riccardo Drigo, which promises to deliver “madcap humor.”
Lane also plays Kitri in Don Quixote (more below).
Photo by Rosalie O’Connor
Christine Shevchenko
Who she is: Shevchenko is from Ukraine and joined ABT in 2007. She’s playing five lead roles this season and has danced a few of them before in past performances, some photos of which she’s posted to Instagram. This season marks her debut as a principal dancer in those roles.
Swan Lake (June 18-23): She calls her character “a princess trapped in a swan’s body,” playing both Odile, the black swan, and the white swan, Odette.
“It’s one of the hardest ballets there is. There’s so much to the character, because you’re playing Odette – she’s so open, humble, and pure – and then you have to switch and play Odile, the vivacity and fierceness and strength of her character. They’re so opposite. As the white swan, every step you do has to be so slow and precise and so clean. It has been a dream role of mine since I fell in love with ballet and one I’ve always wanted to perform.” This is Shevchenko’s New York City debut as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. The ballet is set to a score by Tchaikovsky with choreography by Kevin McKenzie, after Marius Petipa.
Don Quixote (June 25 to June 30): “A confident, sexy older woman” is how she describes her character, Mercedes.
“Mercedes wears a black and red dress – it’s very sexy. You use the skirt and play with it to be flirtatious, so it gives you this sexy feeling to move your body. … Don Q was one of the very first variations I learned while I was little, when I was 12. I grew up rehearsing every variation of that ballet, and it’s just so close to me. I’m really looking forward to dancing it again.” Based on the 1615 Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes, this fiery ballet depicts the chivalrous misadventures of a knight and his squire attempting to aid a maiden, Kitri. Choreography was modeled after notes by Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky, with music by Ludwig Minkus.
Shevchenko also plays Firebird in Firebird, Gamzatti in La Bayadère, and Pierrette in Harlequinade.
Photo by Alex DiMattia
American Ballet Theatre’s 2018 spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House runs May 14 to July 7. Find tickets here.
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