Media Know Before You Go: Ballet Rehearsals
This resource offers a quick guide to what you may experience at a ballet rehearsal.
Rehearsal: Crime & Punishment
Wed. Feb. 12, 2025
1:30p.m.
Event Information
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Genre
Performances for Young Audiences
Image caption: American Ballet Theatre’s Devon Teuscher and James Whiteside. Photo by Patrick Fraser.
AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE
Rehearsal: Crime & Punishment
Enjoy an insider’s look at our visiting companies as they prepare onstage for performance.
Written in 1866 by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment is a devastatingly modern psychological thriller that provided choreographer Helen Pickett and director James Bonas with a startling source for a ballet. The protagonist Raskolnikov is a brilliant student forced to stop his studies due to brutal poverty, a person capable of great warmth and generosity, a loyal family member and friend…and an appalling murderer. These contradictions are so real and so vivid that this young man’s journey towards redemption has captured readers for over 150 years. The powerful physicality of Raskolnikov’s life, the web of relationships and drama that surround him, and the profound humanity that Dostoyevsky discovers all speak to today’s world and beg to be explored in dance. Pickett brings Raskolnikov’s story to life in this striking new ballet, featuring music by Isobel Waller-Bridge, sets and costumes by Soutra Gilmour, lighting design by Jennifer Tipton, and video design by Tal Yarden.
February 12, 2025
Opera House, recommended for grades 6-12
Estimated duration is approximately two hours with an intermission.
Image caption: American Ballet Theatre’s Devon Teuscher and James Whiteside. Photo by Patrick Fraser.
What to Watch for & Think About at a Ballet Rehearsal
- At an open rehearsal, audiences are invited to watch the final stages of preparation before opening night. You will be able to watch as the artists and technicians work out the final details of their production.
- While the details can change based on what the cast and crew need to be ready, most rehearsals include a full run-through of the piece, with occasional stopping and starting. Watch carefully during these breaks and think about the full elements of a production.
- Although a rehearsal is often very similar to a performance, it’s possible there will be some differences, like some performers will be conserving their physical movements for the real thing or some costumes may be getting their finishing touches off stage. And staff and technicians may be in view, observing and making notes that you might not see during a performance.
- Even though the performance is not quite ready, why do you think the company would want to invite an audience to see a rehearsal?
- For a deeper dive into what you can expect, visit our Know Before You Go: Ballet Rehearsals guide.
Explore More With Our Digital Resources Library:
- Discover how a ballerina’s footwear is specially constructed to look dainty while being amazing gear with the Pointe Shoes feature.
- Explore famous examples of the love dance duet in the resource “Pas de Deux: It Takes Two.”
- Dive into the five major elements in dance and how they aid in artistic expression in “Do You Wanna Dance?”
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