ABT's Fall Season To Celebrate Herman Cornejo, Includes World Premieres by Twyla Tharp and Gemma Bond

June 26, 2019

If like us you’re already mourning the end of American Ballet Theatre’s marathon Met season, don’t fear. The company just announced the lineup for its fall season, and there’s a lot to look forward to.

Running October 16-27 at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater, ABT’s fall lineup includes world premieres by choreographers Twyla Tharp and Gemma Bond. While Tharp has been creating for ABT since 1976 (the company’s Met season included a trio of her works), corps dancer Gemma Bond will be making her choreographic debut for ABT’s main company. The season also shines a spotlight on principal Herman Cornejo, who will be celebrating his 20th anniversary with the company.

Tharp’s ballet will have its premiere at ABT’s October 16 Fall Gala, sharing a program with Jessica Lang’s Let Me Sing Forevermore (in its New York premiere) and George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, as well as a performance by students of ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. Tharp’s new work, her 17th for ABT, will be set to Johannes Brahms’ String Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 111 and will feature Cornejo. It will be given five additional performances throughout the season.

In recent years, Bond has created works for companies including The Washington Ballet, Atlanta Ballet and ABT’s Studio Company, and has received a 2017 Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship among other awards. She’s been a member of ABT’s corp de ballet since 2008, making it all the more exciting to see her home company giving her this major opportunity. Her ballet will have its premiere on October 23, with three additional performances throughout the season. It will be set to Benjamin Britten’s Suite on English Folk Tunes, with costumes by Sylvie Rood.


Herman Cornejo in La Bayadère


Gene Schiavone, Courtesy ABT

October 26 will mark a special all-Cornejo program, celebrating his long tenure with the company. He’s slated to dance in works by Tharp and Balanchine. This diverse season will also feature revivals of Balanchine’s Apollo and Clark Tippet’s Some Assembly Required, as well as the return of Alexei Ratmansky’s The Seasons, Lang’s Garden Blue, Tharp’s Deuce Coupe and Michelle Dorrance’s Dream within a Dream (deferred).