American Ballet Theatre Studio Company Takes Center Stage, Dazzling in Las Vegas
American Ballet Theatre Studio Company. Image by Emma Zordan.
March 11, 2025 — Las Vegas — Do you remember our 21st century's most famous American ballet movie, Center Stage, and its young enthusiasm to reach new heights in the perfectly pointed, polished classical world of dance? The same dream lives on in today's American Ballet Theatre Studio Company—a cast of young, talented ballet dancers selected from across the United States and the world to shape the image of the American Ballet Theatre. Their arrival in Las Vegas offered a glimpse of that American legacy in a stellar evening featuring fun Tarantellas and Interplays, along with powerful solos from Voyager and Human. The brilliant repertoire also included a night full of fairytale excellence and contemporary surprises with Swan Lake (Act III Pas de Deux), The Sleeping Beauty, and U Don’t Know Me.
The University of Las Vegas, Nevada welcomed a fine air of guests from all walks of life, among them vintage ballet enthusiasts, local dancers, students, and famous artist Sascha Radetsky spotted in the audience by a local exalted guest whose childhood dream had come true by meeting him. Radetsky also happens to lead this new ballet movement as its Artistic Director. Although the theatre wasn't as full as our usual Las Vegas focal concerts (at least not yet), there was plenty of applause and echoes of classical 'Bravos!' as well as newfound appreciation for contemporary repertoire.
"This is an incredible performance, quite varied with classical ballet as well as modern, and it's fabulous and the audience is very sad, because there is hardly anybody here. And that's my concern, that we have this wonderful performance, and we have one fifth of what could be here," said Joanne Hilton, a long-time ballet enthusiast.
Nao Hayakawa, a dancer with the Las Vegas Ballet Company based in Summerlin, was inspired beyond words. "It is amazing to see these young dancers shine on stage. It's very refreshing. I can feel their explosive energy. It's just so fun to watch them, and I am really happy to feel that energy."
"Watching them perform and shine on stage is one thing. Being on stage, it's something completely different. You can't have that feeling anywhere else, in my opinion, as a dancer," added Hayakawa.
This cast of twelve American ballet dancers, in style to mirror the rhythms of choreography by the greats George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, celebrated a continuing legacy of American ballet beautifully. The final curtain fell on the silhouettes of Robbins' Interplay, a fun and colorful one-act performed by the lively Viktoria Papakalodouka (Greece), Max Barker (New York), Natalie Steele (California), YeonSeo Choi (South Korea), Paloma Livellara (Argentina), Maximilian Catazaro (Ohio), Elijah Geolina (California), and Aaron Marquez (Mexico). For a moment, the audience felt revived in a teen-like ballet dream of beauty, love, fun, and sacrifice.
The powerful contemporary solos introduced the audience with profound soulfulness, as humanely possible, reminding them of the importance of advancing art and peace in the 21st century. Alexander Mockrish of the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, swam gracefully in a forceful ocean of blue in Voyager, and Kayla Mak from New York in Human, in a swirl of sandstorm-like choreography and rhythms, dedicated, "...to everyone fighting for peace and freedom."
The audience applauded passionately in gratitude to a cast of new American ballet for finding the passion and courage to continue a cherished, centuries-old legacy, and while hopefully creating their own in the process.
