A signature event on New York City’s post-summer social calendar, is American Ballet Theater’s Annual Fall Gala.
ABT’s Fall Gala Returns & Premieres New Work: Lifted
October 31, 2022 6:59 PM
A signature event on New York City’s post-summer social calendar, is American Ballet Theater’s Annual Fall Gala. The gala marks the opening of American Ballet Theater’s performances, while the June Gala celebrates the season’s close for that year. This glamorous event brings together esteemed patrons of the arts,
On Thursday, October 27th the doors of the David H Koch theater opened to welcome the gala guests. Celebrity guests, major benefactors, members of the company, and lovers of ballet showcased their love of stye as well as their support on the red carpet and at the welcome reception.
ABT honored long term trustee, Patricia R. Morton with the Melville Straus Leadership Achievement Award, and the first act saw a performance of Sinfonietta (a ballet in five movements for fourteen dancers). Performing in Sinfionietta were a number of talented principals such as : Joo Won Ahn, Gillian Murphy, Aran Bell, Christine Shevchenko, Skylar Brandt, Cassandra Trenary, Devon Teuscher, Herman Cornejo, and Thomas Forster.
After intermission, the highly anticipated world premiere of Lifted was performed after a brief speech celebrating the transition of Artistic Director of the American Ballet Theater Company. After thirty years, Kevin MCKenzie will retire, with Susan Jaffe taking up the prestigious role.
Lifted is ABTs first all-Black production (cast & creative team), showcasing choreography by Christopher Rudd and costumes by fashion designer Carly Cushnie. The performance was comprised of five dancers, Principal dancer Calvin Royal III, Erica Lall, Courtney Lavine, Melvin Lawovi, and Jose Sebastian.
Without a doubt, the center of attention of ABT’s Fall Gala was the premiere of Lifted. The performance opened with principal Calvin Royal III surrounded by mirrors, with movements and accompanying music communicating a pressured reality. Smoke effects accompanied the movement of other mirrors to reveal additional cast members, with each character’s interactions representing an array of emotions, relationships, and overcoming obstacles. The dancers' movements were not always synchronized, especially when the five dancers split off into two couples with the remaining dancer performing their solo.
Each of the five costumes was different in shade of brown, in structure, and in the movement of the material throughout the performance. Overall, while this is a modern performance that can be described as “pushing boundaries”, the costumes did nothing to add to bring Lifted to life. From the writer’s perspective, the costumes came across as dramatized athletic wear. A standout in this performance, was the conductor, Roderick Cox. The foundation and concept of this production is inspired, and should be fully realized with iterations across performance, and costumes.
The performance was followed by a lovely dinner and dancing where guests were joined by many of the performers in formal attire. Prominent attendees were Alessandra Ferry, Amy Astley, Carly Cushnie, Nicky Hilton-Rothschild, Coco Rocha, Keith Lieberthal, Antoni Porowski, Anh Duong, Misty Copeland, and Sutton Stracke with many members of the company, and of course ABT CEO & Executive Director, Janet Rolle.
WRITTEN BY MARIELE MARKI
EDITED BY KAREN YABUTA
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