Running Start

Within the ranks of American Ballet Theatre, 76 dancers—who will be appearing onstage at the Metropolitan Opera House in just a few weeks—share a common background: they’ve matriculated from ABT Studio Company, where they found their footing in between their training and their professional careers. For more than 30 years, the ensemble group has remained a powerful pipeline of talent, and it’s given audiences the opportunity to catch emerging dancers when they’re just getting started.

Performance

American Ballet Theatre Studio Company: “La Bayadère (Pas d’Action)” after Marius Petipa, “Saudade” by Katie Currier, “An American in Paris (Pas de Deux)” by Christopher Wheeldon, “Variations for Three” by Tiler Peck, “Cornbread” by Twyla Tharp, “Cerulean Skies” by Brady Farrar, “Grand Pas Classique” after Victor Gsovsky, “The Weeping Willow” by Kyle Abraham, “Bernstein in a Bubble” by Alexei Ratmansky

Place

Joyce Theater, New York, NY, May 15, 2026

Words

Rebecca Deczynski

American Ballet Theatre Studio Company in “Bernstein in a Bubble” by Alexei Ratmansky. Photograph by Jyllan Bitalac

At the junior company’s week-long residence at the Joyce Theatre, the dancers tackled a range of classical and contemporary repertoire, including several works from emerging choreographers, including dancers Brady Farrar and Tiler Peck. Through the nine-work program, they proved their potential.

The pas d’action from “La Bayadère” opens the show, and it is the stronger of the two truly classical works performed. Sooha Park, as Gamzatti, has a sparkling stage presence and an easy extension; her arabesques and développés are pristine, as are her controlled pirouettes. Her partner, Geonhee Park, as Solor, is strongest in his solo variation, with big, airy jumps. The greatest opportunity for the small cast, which is rounded out with Chloé Hoffmann (a trainee at the JKO School), Delfina Nelson-Todd, Ptolemy Gidney, and Younjae Park, lies in their performance and their partnering, which at times is marked by hesitation.

“Grand Pas Classique,” which Kiera Sun and Xavier Xué perform in the second act, is the other tutu variation in the program. It’s a challenging one, which leads to some delays in the first variation (which, admittedly, is no walk in the park for even more seasoned dancers). Sun and Xué, similar to their peers in “Bayadère” are most confident in their solos; Sun’s ballonné-développé-pirouette sequence is particularly precise.

American Ballet Theatre Studio Company in “La Bayadère.” Photograph by Hyunseok Lee

There are two solos in the program: “Saudade,” by Katie Currier is a lyrical, day-dreamy work, performed this evening by Xué, who shifts from place to place with a graceful, wave-like quality. “The Weeping Willow,” by Kyle Abraham, is more intense, and danced excellently by ABT trainee Kayla Mak. The cinematic lighting and iridescent costume help, but Mak is so controlled in her rapid, almost insect-like movements that you get the impression of seeing her afterimage more than her body in the present. It’s spellbinding.

In pas de deux, the ABT Studio Company dancers tend to be strongest dancing on their own, though they can execute any manner of complex lifts, turns, and fish dives. These tricks are the best part of Christopher Wheeldon’s “An American in Paris” pas, performed by Delfina Nelson-Todd and Matteo Curley Bynoe, leaving opportunities for more indulgence and style in the dancing in-between. In Twyla Tharp’s “Cornbread” performed by a spritely Audrey Tovar-Dunster and a playful Maximilian Catazaro, the couple pull off the work’s greatest challenge: having fun while keeping up with Tharp’s relentless steps. A few variations in, the two settle comfortably in the attitude that the piece requires.

Ptolemy Gidney, Geonhee Park, and Maximilian Catazaro in “Variations for Three” by Tiler Peck. Photograph by Emma Zordan

“Variations for Three,” choreographed by New York City Ballet’s Tiler Peck (and originally commissioned by the Vail Dance Festival) is one of the highlights of the program. Daniel Guzman, Geonhee Park, and Younjae Park are flashy yet well comported. In unison, simple pirouettes and tours seem sparkling, and in solo moments, they have the chance to show off with impossibly high jumps. It’s a lively number, with a touch of humor—a bit of a jig, a flexed foot—and competitiveness that calls to mind Hans Van Manen’s “Solo.”

Brady Farrar, a member of ABT’s corps de ballet, is the choreographer of “Cerulean Skies,” a poised and expressive neoclassical work. It’s an ensemble number with six dancers who keep the pace of the tumbling piano score—Chopin’s Polonaise in A-Flat Major, and breathe into lingering extensions. A fine balance of simplicity and indulgence.

Closing the program is Alexei Ratmansky’s “Bernstein in a Bubble”—a kind of “West Side Story”-style show piece, filled with little jokes (crawling under a leg in arabesque), jazzy partnering, and sailing supported leaps. It demands a lot of the dancers, who take to it with great enthusiasm. They know, after all, how to put on a show.

Rebecca Deczynski

Rebecca Deczynski is a New York City-based writer and editor publishes the newsletter Mezzanine Society. Her work has appeared in publications including Inc., Domino, NYLON, and InStyle. She graduated from Barnard College cum laude with a degree in English and a minor in dance.

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