ABT brings McKenzie's Swan Lake to Shanghai for the first time

Four principal casts rotate through the lead roles. Chloe Misseldine dances Odette/Odile at both the opening and closing performances, with Catherine Hurlin, Skylar Brandt, and Devon Teuscher also taking the dual role; Aran Bell, James Whiteside, Herman Cornejo, and newly promoted principal Jarod Curley share Prince Siegfried.

Artistic Director Susan Jaffe, who performed in Shanghai with ABT in 2000 and now leads the company, called the return a milestone and said she was especially proud that soloists Fang Zhongjing and Li Fangqi would perform before family, friends, and Shanghai audiences.

The cast's Shanghai ties run deeper: Fang grew up and trained in the city, while Misseldine's mother Chen Yan is a Shanghai Dance School alumna and a former ABT soloist who is now a principal teacher at the ABT JKO School and rehearsal director for ABT Studio Company.

The full-length production also puts the new house to the test. Its automated stage system stores a complete sprung ballet floor above the stage and lowers it for rehearsals and performances in the Soar Theatre — SGOH's 1,200-seat auditorium — a configuration praised by ABT's technical team during site inspections. Around the run, the venue will offer morning company-class viewings and lobby activities keyed to the production's scenery, ballet mime, and the score's recurring leitmotifs.