ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts presents three world premieres performed by stars of American Ballet Theatre at their second annual weekend at Bard College on Friday, October 2 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, October 3 at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, October 4 at 3 p.m. There will be a pre-performance talk on Saturday, October 3 at 7 p.m. The program, featuring new works by Aszure Barton, Benjamin Millepied, and ABT Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, along with Jerome Robbins’ Other Dances (1976) and Clark Tippet's Some Assembly Required (1989), will be held in the Fisher Center’s stunning Sosnoff Theater. Tickets are $25, $40, and $55, and may be purchased by calling the Fisher Center box office at 845-758-7900, or visiting the website at www.fishercenter.bard.edu.

Acclaimed as one of the world's great dance companies, American Ballet Theatre (ABT) has been recognized as a living national treasure since its founding in 1940. Directed since 1992 by former Principal Dancer Kevin McKenzie, ABT has appeared in 131 cities in 42 countries, as well as in all 50 states, over the past 70 years. On April 27, 2006, by an act of Congress, ABT became America’s National Ballet Company®. “American Ballet Theatre is a great and grand international ensemble, one of the greatest and grandest ballet companies in the whole wide world,” The New York Times.

Aszure Barton will premiere a new work set to the music of Maurice Ravel. Barton, who previously created Barbara for ABT II, was named the Altria/ABT Choreography Fellow for 2008. She is the resident choreographer for Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal and has been an Artist-in-Residence at the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) since 2005.

The October weekend at the Fisher Center also features Benjamin Millepied’s second work for American Ballet Theatre, which will be set to music by David Lang. Millepied is a principal dancer with New York City Ballet. His previous work for ABT, From Here On Out, premiered at New York City Center in2007. Additional support for Millepied’s new work has been generously provided by Cosby W. and Timothy M. George, and is generously sponsored by Michele and Steve Pesner.

Alexei Ratmansky will present a new work set to Keyboard Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti. The former artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, Ratmansky was named ABT’s artist in residence in January 2009. Ratmansky’s new work is his second for ABT; he previously choreographed On the Dnieper for ABT in June 2009. Additional support for Ratmansky’s new work has been generously provided by Leila and Mickey Straus.

Jerome Robbins’ Other Dances, with music by Frédéric Chopin, is a plotless, classical character pas de deux, set to a waltz and four mazurkas by Chopin, and created by Robbins for a gala evening for the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center’s Metropolitan Opera House on May 9, 1976. It received its Company Premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House on June 22, 1976. Other Dances will be staged for ABT by Isabel Guerin. The ballet was last performed by ABT in 2006.

Clark Tippet’s Some Assembly Required is set to music by William Bolcom. It received its world premiere by American Ballet Theatre on April 14, 1989, at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., danced by Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner. McKerrow and Gardner will stage the ballet for ABT. Some Assembly Required was last performed by ABT in 1997.

American Ballet Theatre’s world premiere works have been generously supported through an endowed gift from The Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund.

Tickets: $25, $40, $55. For tickets, phone the Fisher Center Box Office 845-758-7900, or visit

www.fishercenter.bard.edu.

For photographs of American Ballet Theatre, visit www.fishercenter.bard.edu/press.

For more information on American Ballet Theatre, please visit www.abt.org.

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