(497) American Ballet Theatre's Summer Season with Susan Jaffe

(497) American Ballet Theatre's Summer Season with Susan Jaffe

From Conversations on Dance by Michael Sean Breeden & Rebecca King Ferraro

June 11, 2026 · 37 min

About this episode

Susan Jaffe discusses the upcoming summer season of American Ballet Theatre and her artistic vision for the company.

Today on the Conversations on Dance podcast we are joined by Susan Jaffe, Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre. Susan reflects on ABT’s Spring Season, the challenges of the Met season shifting later into summer, and the company exceeding attendance goals while continuing strong ticket sales. She talk about how Executive Director Barry Hughson's arrival has strengthened fundraising and operations, freeing her to focus on artistic work. She previews the upcoming Met lineup—two weeks of Swan Lake, Cranko’s Onegin, and 10 performances of Don Quixote with seven Kitri/Basilio casts. Jaffe details her Don Quixote refresh: keeping the 1978 production, tightening storytelling and pacing, making music cuts, adjusting mime and choreography, and more. See ABT at the Met June 17 - July 18th. Tickets available at ABT.org: https://www.abt.org/performances/summer-season/ Listen to our other episodes with Susan here: https://www.conversationsondancepod.com/search?q=susan+jaffe Listen to Conversations on Dance ad-free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/conversationsondance ____________________________________ Introduction: Conversations on Dance with Susan Jaffe Join hosts Rebecca King…

People in this episode

Hosts: Rebecca King Ferraro, Michael Sean Breeden

Guest: Susan Jaffe

Topics covered

  • American Ballet Theatre
  • artistic direction
  • summer season
  • performance preview
  • fundraising
  • choreography

Keywords

  • American Ballet Theatre
  • Susan Jaffe
  • summer season
  • Swan Lake
  • Don Quixote
  • choreography
  • fundraising
  • performance

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: American Ballet Theatre

Books & works: Swan Lake, Cranko’s Onegin, Don Quixote

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